Episode 155: The Story Allocators Need Before They Say Yes | Story Snacks Series

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Every fund manager wants the story that gets allocators to lean in and say yes every single time they tell it. 

So, this is often a hard pill to swallow…A story that actually works doesn't always get you a yes. 

A powerful story either gets you a heck yes or a heck no, but never a maybe. 

And even though hearing heck no is uncomfortable, getting closure in sales is everything (so you don’t waste your time on allocators who’ll never be the right fit). 

That’s why in this Story Snack, Stacy’s sharing the one kind of story that gets allocators off the fence without fail. 

She’s also breaking down how to own the sharp edges in that story that’ll help allocators finally decide: this is for me. Or it isn't.

Listen in to learn:

• Why "maybe" is the outcome you should be trying to avoid

• How to connect who you are, why you invest the way you do, and who your strategy is built for

• Why your differentiators need to attract and repel

• A question that’ll help you find your sharp edges fast

This is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week.

TRANSCRIPT

Below is an AI-generated transcript and therefore it may contain errors.

[00:00:00] Stacy Havener: Craving more knowledge, but don't always have time to sit down for a five-course meal? Take a quick snack break with Story Snacks, bite-sized content to feed your funnel. Each short episode features Stacey digging into one question. This series has her talking stories, sales, and so much more. Oh, yeah. It's time for Story Snacks

[00:00:26] Be cool if you could diversify your investor base and add some non-US investors? Europe could be fun, or Latin America. Maybe Antarctica. Hey, icebergs aren't really my jam, but you never know. You've only got one problem. How the heck do you do that? Fair question, but maybe this is a who not how thing. Meet my friends at GEMCAP.

[00:00:51] Not only do they handle all the back office stuff, the how, they'll also solve the who in your distribution conundrum. [00:01:00] They have an incredible network of distribution partners who can help you sell the thing once you've built the thing. And GEMCAP won't just help you launch globally, they'll tell you where to go and maybe more importantly, where not to go, saving you time, money and annoying headaches.

[00:01:18] Want to find out if your investment firm is ready to go global? Visit

[00:01:25] billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap, G-E-M-C-A-P. We've created a quick quiz that'll help you figure out if you're ready to expand beyond the US, and side note, it's pretty fun too. Get your firm in front of the right investors in the right places with GEMCAP. Take the quiz and get more info at billiondollarbackstory.com/gemcap, G-E-M-C-A-P.

[00:01:57] You talk about a lot of different [00:02:00] types of stories, but what is the story that you tell allocators that you know works every time, and why does it work? We want like a guarantee on this? Just like a guaranteed story? 99.99% of the time it works. Okay. This one works 100% of the time if done well. Okay. The story I have for you, culture of compliance, you can asterisk that or whatever.

[00:02:23] Past performance not indicative of future results. Okay. But it does. But when we say work, again, air quotes on work, we're gonna define that for a second. Okay. My point of view on a sales funnel is there are great outcomes and there are good outcomes. If someone says yes throughout each phase of your due diligence cycle, that is a great outcome at every stage.

[00:02:49] And if someone says no at any stage of your due diligence process, that's a good outcome. The bad outcome is the meh in the [00:03:00] middle. It's the no definitive. It's the six seven. I'm doing the six seven thing. Uh, is that passe? I don't know. It's the middle part of no commitment, no conviction, and that happens a lot in funnels because it is difficult for prospects to say no.

[00:03:19] It is also difficult for salespeople to go for the no. So in my mind, when we say works, I think either I get a yes or I get a no. I do not want maybe. Okay? So if we can establish that that is working, yes or no, then this story typically works all the time. Okay. Usually works all the time. And it's the backstory, if done well.

[00:03:49] And I'm not talking read your resume, bullet points, not that. I'm talking a backstory that touches on who you are, [00:04:00] why you do what you do, what makes what you do different, and how it works well for a certain specific group of people. So a very powerful backstory is almost like a CliffsNotes across the entire story stack that we have.

[00:04:19] And if you tell that backstory well, especially around the differentiators, you know, our peers believe this and we believe that. So if we're brave enough to embrace our sharp edges in this backstory, it allows the allocator to assess that and either say, "Yes, that's for me," or, "No, that's not for me." "Yes, please," or, "No, thank you."

[00:04:46] And the only way we can get there is with bravery and courage to say something that is going to attract or repel. And [00:05:00] oftentimes when we work with challenger brands and boutiques and specialists, that's really difficult. Not just because we've been trained on how to sell and which means like market to everyone, which requires us to water it down, but also because just as humans, like we all intellectually know that we need to stand out, we need to be different, all those things, but actually as human beings, we're not wired that way.

[00:05:26] We are wired to fit in. That's survival. That's like deep in our DNA, that we want to belong. And so it does take practice and bravery and courage to own what makes us stand out, but that is also what is going to guaranteed, if done well, get a yes or a no. We're gonna do away with maybe. We don't want maybe.

[00:05:51] I hope that helps. Let's be real. No one wakes up and says, "I can't wait to build some operational infrastructure today." [00:06:00] You're here to manage money, to build something that lights you up, not chase down reports across five systems and 15 service providers. That's where Ultimus Fund Solutions comes in.

[00:06:12] They're your ops dream team, consolidating all your middle and back office chaos into one clean, scalable setup. Registered funds, private funds, SMAs, all integrated. One team, one tech platform, one rock solid source of data. But here's the real differentiator: service. I know that fund in a box sounds convenient.

[00:06:38] It's also a box. Know what you can't put in a box? A human who picks up the phone when you call and need help. Real life people who know your name and your fund, and they care about getting it right. Ultimus was built on people doing business with people. You get institutional strength combined with boutique level [00:07:00] service without getting stuck in a phone tree of doom.

[00:07:03] If you're ready to simplify, scale, and start working with a team that feels like an extension of yours, check out billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus. That's U-L-T-I-M-U-S. You've got the investment strategy, the vision, the track record. Now it's time to upgrade the engine behind it all with Ultimus This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

[00:07:35] The information is not an offer, solicitation, or recommendation of any of the funds, services, or products, or to adopt any investment strategy. Investment values may fluctuate, and past performance is not a guide to future performance. All opinions expressed by guests on the show are solely their own opinion and do not necessarily reflect those at their firm.

[00:07:55] Managers' appearance on the show does not constitute an endorsement by Stacy Havener or [00:08:00] Havener Capital Partners

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