How Reply helps Mauve Capital Business automate their outreach

What makes a good acquisition

The biggest challenge we face when making these acquisitions is finding the right type of business; one that fits our investment criteria and our culture criteria. We’re very specific in our approach, and we have a few different metrics which we consider when we’re looking for the right fit for our investment thesis.

When we’re evaluating a business, we’ll look at:

• The profitability of the company,
• The industry in which the company operates,
• The growth prospects in that industry,
• The growth prospects of that company.

There are also some non-financial metrics we consider when we’re evaluating our potential acquisitions. High level, we look at the culture of the organization: how the employees interact with each other, what the management team looks like, the staff tenure, and the management team.

In order to make an acquisition, it requires outreach; we have to perform a lot of research and speak to a lot of business owners. At the same time, the market is very competitive; there are plenty of companies out there looking to make similar acquisitions. In order for us to remain competitive, we need to reach out to a great number of different businesses that fit our investment thesis, both from an industry standpoint and a size standpoint. Then, we also need to be consistent with our outreach.

It would be a big task to carry out manually, so that’s why we decided to use Reply.

Automating the process with Reply

We use Reply in a few different ways. The first is sourcing, where we reach out to business owners and see if it makes sense for us to partner together. We also use Reply for developing relationships with intermediaries: the people who influence decisions, those who know business owners looking for a succession plan or interested in transitioning their business. Examples would include:

• Accountants
• Lawyers
• CPA
• Business brokers
• Investment bankers
• Lenders

We use Reply to create a drip-like campaign for those people, a way to introduce ourselves, explain what we’re looking for, and see if it makes sense to connect.

The sourcing process is critical to creating a funnel of highly qualified opportunities for investment. That sourcing starts with having a methodical process. As a result, I knew I had to have some sort of automated process for our email campaigns.

Reply was able to answer all of our questions and provide the guidance I personally needed. Based on the service provided, they were the right fit. Rather than having to manually send our outreach messages, then track and follow up with the responses, it has freed up hours each day that I can now use for more strategic work.

I’m also a big fan of Reply’s user interface. It’s easy to generate very particular and specific campaigns and sequences. It’s very simple and doesn’t require a ton of training to learn how to use the software properly. The pricing was reasonable; it may be on the higher end, but it’s definitely worth it. I also like how I can customize and generate sequences quickly, in a matter of minutes.

I would just be too burdened by all the administrative tasks. There are too many strategic decisions that need to be made every single day, decisions that require focus and attention. Reply allows me to focus on them.

I would just be too burdened by all the administrative tasks. There are too many strategic decisions that need to be made every single day, decisions that require focus and attention. Reply allows me to focus on them.

Writing cold emails that stand out

As a business owner in the finance industry, I get cold emails all the time, and I have to say I’m not a fan. That’s why I put a lot of effort into the messages I send out. In order to get the attention of whoever you’re trying to reach, you need to be specific with your message. That includes having information relevant to the industry in the body of the email, but also in the subject line. Having a personal approach in the subject line helps differentiate yourself from that cold generic outreach we all ignore.

We’re living in the age of automation, and there’s a lot of people trying to get the attention of the C suite owners. To succeed, you need something that’s unique. You need to be true to yourself and your message, then you need to make sure that all shows in your subject line and body of your email. You need something that shows you’re human, but also isn’t something that’s been overused by other marketers.

One of the subject lines I currently use that’s been particularly successful is ‘Coffee chat with’ along with the name of their company and my company in the subject line.

I also customize the body. For example, instead of asking: “Are you open a conversation?” I usually ask something more specific, such as “Can you speak this Thursday at 10 am?” Of course, I’m very conscious when I’m sending those emails, that if I email 15 people and 10 say they can meet on Thursday at 10 am, I don’t have a scheduling conflict.

Still, being specific with my question and request with the coffee chat subject line seems to be working well for me. When used with industries and geography I’m familiar with, I enjoy open rates of anywhere between 71% and 83%, along with reply rates of 34% to 43%.

If you’re interested in exploring a succession plan for your business, contact Mauve Capital Partners to explore your options.