Dark Matter in the Hedge Fund Marketing Universe

Hedge fund sales and hedge fund marketing

If someone can tell me the difference between the two. I would be quite impressed. In other industries and sectors sales and marketing are distinct functions but in the hedge fund world they are seen as one and the same due to the limited nature of the market.

Systems that have been developed for hedge fund sales and marketing processes tend to misunderstand how a fund is marketed and sold. They force hedge funds to either:

1. Invest in a complex integration exercise
2. Change their processes to match what already exists in the system

Both are flawed approaches and no one I have met using either approach is happy with the systems that have been implemented.

Whilst managers may be convinced that sales and marketing is the same process they all seem to say:

Not understanding the difference contributes to a number of implementations missing the point when systems are deployed in a hedge fund.

Now here is the really scary bit – even systems that have been developed for fund managers seem to lead to a high level of discontent. The shelf life of a product seems to be three years before it is replaced. This is, however, not specific to our industry and mirrors a trend with system implementation in both the private and public sectors.

There is a simple way to solve this – build a defined marketing process that feeds into a defined sales process. Once these processes are mapped, then look to implement software and systems that support, rather than hinder them.

The glue that binds these is the process. What breaks the glue is when sales and marketing are not process-led but charisma-led – where it is the force and personality of the sales person that drives the business, something that is not replicable by anyone else. At best, the charisma approach needs to be broken down into distinct, replicable tasks.

The real value is having a process that is able to track which prospects in the marketing process are interested in your funds and which are not. Then pass the interested contacts to the sales team and keep nurturing contacts that are yet to respond.

Whilst there are a number of products that provide some element of tracking, none are built around hedge fund marketing processes. ProFundCom aims to bridge this gap, as it is built for hedge fund marketing by hedge fund marketers. ProFundCom is a hedge fund marketing and sales intelligence software platform that reports how your communications are being received, offering insight into its marketing effectiveness.