Episode 171: An Allocator Said “Keep Me Posted.” Now What? | Story Snacks Series
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“Keep me posted.”
Sounds promising. But also... what does that actually mean?
In this Story Snack, Stacy Havener breaks down one of the vaguest phrases in fundraising, and why “keep me posted” should be the start of the conversation instead of your cue to sit back and wait.
Because if an allocator wants you to keep them posted, your next job is figuring out what they actually want updates on.
Listen in to hear:
The question to ask so “keep me posted” actually means something
Why waiting until you hit the magic number could mean starting the relationship over from scratch
How often to follow up (Stacy has a number)
What to send when there isn’t a huge update to share
How to stay top of mind without becoming the person they stop opening emails from
This is Story Snacks, a bite-sized series for fund managers who want to get better at strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week.
TRANSCRIPT
Below is an AI-generated transcript and therefore it may contain errors.
[00:00:00] 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.
[00:00:20] It's time for Story Snacks
[00:00:26] An allocator said, "Keep me posted." Is that a soft yes, a soft no, or is it nothing at all? What do I do with it? This is a great question, and I'm gonna give you my worst answer. This is the answer I dislike the most, and that answer is, it depends. I ha- by the way, I like, I literally, it makes my skin crawl when people say it depends, so just know that I'm going to give you a point of view in a moment.
[00:00:52] But the thing with keep me posted is it can mean a lot of things. It [00:01:00] could mean get out of my office and please don't keep me posted. It could mean genuinely keep me posted. So, I guess the reason I say it depends is because keep me posted to me is like a whistleblowing, and you take it as a sign of action, not a sign to stop.
[00:01:23] We don't have enough information. And so either you have to quickly run back the tape on the meeting to understand, do I know what this person, what matters to them? So if you run the meeting the way we train and coach our clients to run the meeting, and you gave this prospect floor time, and you asked lots of questions, hopefully during that conversation you were able to understand what's important to them in this asset class, what is the problem they're trying to solve or [00:02:00] opportunity they're trying to harness?
[00:02:01] How are they solving that problem now? What do they like about that problem? What don't they like about that problem? What are they looking for in a potential solution? If you've asked all those questions and you know the answer, then your, your whistleblow take action, you're kind of in a good spot. If you didn't do that or you don't know, then we need to find that out.
[00:02:28] And so my point of view is to take them at their word. If they're saying keep me posted, let's trust them, and let's assume that they genuinely want to be kept posted I guess the thing that we don't know is on what. Now, and I'm not saying that to be a dick, like I don't want you to be in the meeting and be like, "Keep you posted on what?"
[00:02:49] Right? Like, don't say it like that. But again, if you've already asked all those questions, then perhaps you know where you're meeting them, where [00:03:00] they are, maybe where you're not there yet. So for example, if the allocator typically makes a $50 million allocation and you're not at a size large enough to be ready to accept that $50 million allocation in their opinion or by their investment policy, then the keep me posted could very well be how much closer are you to the asset level which you need to be at in order to be viable for them to move forward with their due diligence and consider you as a real solution.
[00:03:34] So to me, it's kind of a sign for more action or more information that we need. I do like the idea of taking them at their word. I do think you need to ask more questions if you haven't already asked them, and then on a go-forward basis, the keeping them posted should not be you have the meeting in January.
[00:03:58] You don't [00:04:00] send them anything until you've hit, let's stay with our number example. You don't send them anything until December when you hit the number, 'cause guess what happens between January and December? I forgot who you are. I forgot why I cared. I forgot why I was interested in the first place. I don't remember the meeting.
[00:04:19] I don't rem- remember you. So, so we, we now sort of have to start over. So the keeping them posted for me should be like once a month, and you could incorporate gifts too into that. But like you don't wanna wait 12 months and then send them a note and be like, "I'm keeping you posted," 'cause it's like, "No, I don't actually remember you."
[00:04:45] So you kinda need to stay top of mind, and so I would come up with a cadence that's like at least once a month you're reaching out to them with updates, and best if they are things that this [00:05:00] allocator cannot get anywhere else. So don't be like, "Our fact sheet's out." Like that's not useful. I hope that helps.
[00:05:08] Let's be real. No one wakes up and says, "I can't wait to build some operational infrastructure today." 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. They're your ops dream team, consolidating all your middle and back office chaos into one clean, scalable setup.
[00:05:36] 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. It's also a box. Know what you can't put in a box? A human who picks up the [00:06:00] phone when you call and need help, real life people who know your name and your fund, and they care about getting it right.
[00:06:07] Ultimus was built on people doing business with people. You get institutional strength combined with boutique level service without getting stuck in a phone tree of doom. 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.
[00:06:30] 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. The information is not an offer, solicitation, or recommendation of any of the funds, services, or products, or to adopt any investment strategy.
[00:06:59] [00:07:00] 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. Managers' appearance on the show does not constitute an endorsement by Stacey Havener or Havener Capital Partners.
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