Managing an efficient deal sourcing strategy for lower middle market firms can be challenging. And that was the case for SDR Ventures, a lower middle market investment bank that specifically focuses on assisting founders and entrepreneurs in their business capital progression. SDR Ventures’ need for a robust tool was imperative. "Our commitment to founders and entrepreneurs is to really be unconflicted in our approach to them. We make sure we're on their side of the table, not with the investors," says Scott Mitchell, Managing Director at SDR Ventures.
Before Grata, SDR Ventures used a different vendor to identify businesses, yet their reach was limited. Mitchell cited significant challenges with cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and identifying niche companies, serving as primary drivers for change.
Upon evaluating the market for alternatives, SDR Ventures partnered with Grata, drawn by the platform's affordability and sophisticated automation. "We felt like the other vendor was unable to identify as many niche companies as Grata," Mitchell explains, "Grata's tech is much better at quickly identifying companies via its algorithms."
But choosing Grata wasn't just about cost savings and automated efficiency. For SDR Ventures, Grata's product delivered impactful, powerful data that transformed their 'advocacy campaigns,' in which they showcase recent success stories to other businesses in the same industry to market their services.
"One of our primary marketing strategies is advocacy campaigns. Every time we close a deal, it should net a new deal in the same industry." Through the robust data Grata delivers, SDR Ventures has significantly increased its outreach efforts. For instance, "After we sell a company in a specific industry such as a plumbing company, we can use Grata to market the success we had to other plumbing companies," shares Mitchell. The strategy resulted in SDR Ventures reaching out to significantly more prospects than they previously could. Mitchell quantitatively highlights Grata's value to the company with, "We probably three times that amount using Grata."
The collaboration with Grata has assisted SDR Ventures in exponentially increasing the number of founders and entrepreneurs they connect with. Mitchell cites an example where SDR Ventures was able to increase the number of meetings with founders and entrepreneurs by 50% at a pet industry conference, leveraging Grata’s conferences and events data to identify the right attendees ahead of time.
Summarizing the relationship with Grata, Mitchell stated, "They've been really good. It seems like they're very dedicated to continually improving and making their tech better. We find the pricing to be reasonable and the team we've worked with has been great." Miles ahead of their previous vendor with Grata, SDR Ventures has reached new levels of operational efficiency and company growth.
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