Promoting Operational Improvements in the Deal Lifecycle

Advisory business managers reflect on ongoing challenges

Managing a successful team of dealmakers is not for the faint of heart. It requires the right skill set and a keen understanding of business dynamics. How will potential regulatory actions influence your operations? Which changes need to be made in headcount or geographic footprint in the coming year? What macro trends are influencing the business? Do you have the right internal technology to enable growth and accurate reporting? The list goes on, but one thing is certain – the advisory business manager's role is becoming ever more important as investment banks look to optimize the value they bring to clients.

For advisory COOs, having detailed data on business activity drives success. Understanding past and current deals and what outcomes clients are looking for is key to COOs partnerships with revenue producers. Investment banks have become savvier with their reporting, and senior sponsors have encouraged their teams to input activity into CRMs – however, this information tends to be two dimensional and cannot give COOs a strong point of view of which deals have been successful or why. Without an objective grasp on these metrics, it is tougher for business managers to make key decisions.

One of the critical areas where datasets tend to be incomplete is through the marketing phase of an M&A or capital raising deal. In Datasite’s recent global survey, dealmakers stated that lack of insights and visibility create big challenges.

For COOs, this problem is pronounced. When deal teams track processes via manual spreadsheets, critical information tends to get lost over time. Valuable data that can help business managers understand industry dynamics cannot be maximized to its fullest potential. Forecasting the timing and outcome of deals becomes harder to identify. For advisors who have already invested in a CRM, metrics captured in spreadsheets may not trackback to your reporting hub. This creates visibility challenges for COOs, and hinders productivity for deal teams.

Better data and improved productivity with Datasite Outreach

Datasite Outreach looks to solve this problem with one integrated platform. More data is automatically captured throughout the deal lifecycle and is consolidated in a central reporting hub for COOs, connected to their CRM, offering ultimate visibility on all past and current deals. The platform also serves as a productivity tool for deal teams – not only are metrics captured, but Datasite Outreach enables bankers to conduct buyer outreach at a record pace. Features such as bulk email and customer watermark generation are done in a fraction of the time versus their current process.