Access to better employee data means closing better deals for your firm.
A bold statement. Seems akin to saying a better pen will make you a better writer. But the equation better data equals better deals holds water.
Dealmaking is a numbers game. For every 1,000 companies you reach out to, you’ll likely see 1 closed deal. Access to private company information at scale changes the game. If you can accurately target more companies, you’ll have more options resulting in better deals getter done for your firm. What’s more, you’ll be able to use your resources of time and expertise in a more focused way. Increasing your close rate.
Where Do Dealmakers Find Private Company Employee Estimates?
LinkedIn is the primary resource for employee headcount for private companies.
And it’s great. For some industries.
One company type where LinkedIn data is usually spot on is software companies. Their profile pages are complete and their employees are more likely than not, on the LinkedIn platform. The headcount that LinkedIn displays will give dealmakers a fairly accurate estimate of how many employees work there.
Other industries, the data is less reliable or not available at all.
LinkedIn under-represents some industries.
Take agriculture for example. This industry by and large is underrepresented on LinkedIn. A company employing 200-300 people, may only show 5 on LinkedIn.
Healthcare is another example where a LinkedIn presence is unimportant for companies. People do not find their doctors on LinkedIn, so there is no benefit for a family office to have a LinkedIn presence.
LinkedIn over-represents some companies.
There are two ways employee overcounts can happen.
- LinkedIn can occasionally incorrectly map employee counts. Especially companies with common names like “Private Doctors Office” or “Jones and Jones Construction.” It’s possible the LinkedIn page will show hundreds of employees from different companies in one profile.
- LinkedIn employee ranges are self-reported and companies are much more likely to exaggerate their employee count to be higher than lower. When LinkedIn presents a range of employees, it is much more likely to be higher than lower.
LinkedIn does not guarantee the accuracy of its employee count information.
Go Beyond LinkedIn
Unlike other M&A databases, Grata is incorporating multiple factors into our employee estimates. Factors that will account for industries that do not have accurate employee estimates on LinkedIn.
How?
We’re using proprietary data sources to create scale factors for different company types–showing the most accurate data possible, at scale. Executive contact information that was once exclusive to sites like LinkedIn have become available in Grata thanks to an array of government sources.
So how does better employee data verified through multiple sources result in better deals?
By far the most common way to find a private company’s revenue estimate is to calculate revenue by employee count.
Better inputs for that equation mean better outside-in due diligence. Less time spent on unqualified targets means more time to search for and engage better ones. More time spent on qualified deals, means better deals for your firms.
Try Grata
Grata’s deep search technology, and data science, eliminate digging through multiple websites to find the information you need to find out how many employees work a private company. Start sourcing smarter. Set up a demo.
