In October 2014, LFM Capital opened its doors in Nashville, Tennessee, and successfully closed its first fund. LFM invests in lower middle-market North American manufacturing and industrial service companies and is led by a successful Fortune 50 team with experienced global operating executives and private equity professionals. During the firm’s early years, the direct deal sourcing model that LFM employed to find new deals was a non-traditional approach and required nothing more than a simple CRM system to keep track of their contacts.
The Challenge
As LFM’s volume increased, they discovered new tools that were instrumental to their direct sourcing process. Tools such as Outreach.io, SourceScrub, and DataFox gave LFM the performance metrics they needed to optimize their operations; however, even with technology in place, efficiency for the team remained an issue.
After doing some research, Ginsberg realized the best solution for the team would be a CRM that could integrate with their favorite applications. While doing her due diligence on private equity CRM vendors, Ginsberg was referred to Altvia through LFM’s outsourced investor relations resource, who also works with several other firms and had seen the Altvia platform first hand.
Around that same time, Ginsberg attended a private equity event and shared with her peers the initiative their firm had to switch CRMs. “A senior-level executive was raving about their firm’s recent switch. When I asked who they switched to, he said Altvia.” The word of mouth referral by not one, but two independent sources was a clear validator.
The Solution
Ginsberg recognizes the level of customization Altvia has to offer, “I have access to one interface, while my colleagues on another team use a separate interface that works more effectively for them, and all the data comes together all in one place that we can all have easy access to.”
To get the LFM team back up and running with their favorite applications, like Outreach. io, SourceScrub, and DataFox, Altvia trained their team on AIM, and how to use their third-party tools within the system, providing a seamless deal sourcing workflow that gives them back time in their day. “We were blown away; the entire process was painless and it was a seamless transition to get up and running on Altvia,” Ginsberg shared about the communication with Altvia during the time of implementation.
The switch to a more robust private equity CRM system was necessary for LFM’s future growth. “Private equity technology is changing so quickly. I feel really good that we are now on Altvia and Salesforce because I know that we can add more tools and applications over time very efficiently.”
Ginsberg was asked what advice she would give another firm that was searching for a new CRM. “Do your due diligence with vendors,and always get references and speak to them directly.” Ginsberg went on to add, “Believe it or not, it has already happened to me, and I’ve told them to check out Altvia.”
