How to Talk to Family Offices

Video transcript

Family offices represent a large and potentially attractive target for fundraisers looking for investors as well as service providers looking to grow their business private family wealth can often move quickly and can bring domain expertise and flexible patient capital however because many family offices operate under the radar business development professionals are often unsure of how to best engage or build their network with family office gatekeepers in this short overview on how to talk with family offices tfoa's community of buy side single family office principals and professionals will share a few tips and pointers on how to have more productive conversations with family offices tip 1 be personal a blessing and a curse of working in a family office is that you have opportunities pitched to you 24 hours a day seven days a week while family offices are often looking for unique investments and services that fit their mandate they are also a prime target for retail focused mass marketing approaches that can clog up inboxes and precious bandwidth ideally a senior executive should always leave the conversation with the family office and there should be a personal touch to the communication this is an intimacy for the sake of intimacy sharing your vision is key to helping the family office understand the ask this means being clear about what makes you different without relying on generic sale-centric language that the family office will have heard a thousand times before remember the person you're speaking to has already seen more hockey stick projections than wayne gretzky and more than likely has already been pitched to by your competitors tip two be transparent the burden of proof rests on you to show why your investment product or service stands apart transparency is essential in this process a willingness to be transparent and to present clear metrics are essential to getting the relationship off to a good start don't needlessly gate information and be willing to go the extra mile to share information if requested a quick no saves everyone time open honest and candid communication is key to building long-term relationships and since family offices are often the ultimate patient capital you will be best served by being less transactional and more relationship oriented tip 3 be a good partner understand what the family office is looking for and be honest with yourself about the extent to which your company fits their their mandates sometimes being a good partner means preserving the relationship at the expense of a quick win which ultimately isn't a good fit family offices rely on relationship capital and even though you might not close the sale you may get a good referral or find yourself with a valuable advisor mentor or even a friend preserve the relationship and understand the conditions under which what you're offering may be a good fit for the family office in the future thank you for listening if you'd like to learn more visit our website and read our publications at tfoa.info