How IEG Investment Banking Group is able to showcase the strength of its network with Affinity

‍Introduction

IEG - Investment Banking Group is a leading global investment banking boutique specializing in transactions for the Internet and Technology sectors. Founded in 1999, IEG has its own international offices in Asia (Bangalore, Mumbai, Shanghai), Europe (Berlin, Oslo, Istanbul), North-Africa (Tunis) and the USA (NYC). IEG offers entrepreneurial solutions for the business model transformation in the areas of M&A, financing & principal investments. IEG has completed over 200 successful transactions to date with approximately 85 technology investment bankers. 

In the investment banking sector, advisors are selected not only for securing a desirable purchase price but, moreover, for knowing which prospective purchase partners are the right fit. When clients approach IEG, they want to be assured that it has established strong relationships that will set them up for success.

Challenge

Prior to adopting Affinity, IEG used RelateIQ as its CRM. After RelateIQ was acquired by Salesforce, the platform became too complex and inhibited IEG from clearly understanding its relationships with key partners. 

Without a purpose-built CRM solution, IEG had no way to manage its relationships and drive visibility across the team and its network. To stay competitive and efficient --they needed to re-evaluate the tools they were using to ensure long term success. 

Solution

IEG turned to Affinity CRM to better understand the nature and strength of its relationships across its global teams. With Affinity, the team can automate contact and company profile data from inbox and calendar data, and enrich every contact and profile with industry data that provides actionable insights. With this information, they are able to source and market mandates more effectively, as well as better showcase the strength of its network.

"Our clients want to know that we have key access to decision-makers. We’re able to show them this by showing them the core of our CRM system—Affinity. It’s about being honest and truthful—that is what matters to clients." - Mirko Heidi, Managing Director at IEG

Results

Thanks to Affinity, IEG is now able to clearly showcase the depth of their network. Unlike other banks that simply display a slide with logos of who they know, IEG proves the relationships by opening up Affinity. There they show a list of potential buyers with the lineage of communication and IEG’s team’s relationship scores automatically tracked in the system.

Relationships are critical in the investment banking sector. Yet, so often, these relationships are a black box, unknowable to anyone but the person that made the connection. By showcasing to its client that it has the network to open the right doors, IEG is able to forge not only trust but also a sustainable competitive advantage.

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