At Dakota, We Have Been On A Mission...

Our mission is to help other people get what they want out of life. 

Who We Are

Dakota is a group of extraordinary people who try and do extraordinary things every day while playing at the highest level of professionalism in their domain.

We believe by being extremely hard charging, but doing it with kindness creates an environment where our teammates can serve, take risks and delight our customers. 

We believe work should be fun and enjoyable and you should be able to do it with nice people who treat one another well.

We all spend more time at the office than with our families or friends, which is why Dakota is so committed to our teammates and our work environment.

Gui Teaching Team

Our Core Values

Sell Apples To Apple Buyers

Be A Master Messenger

Have A Killer Follow Up System

Focus On What You Can Control

Walk The 8 Feet

Don't Go Cowboy

Ask

Turn Your Brain Off

Never Say "Great Meeting"

Throw Your Hat Over The Wall

Have Fun!

1

Sell Apples To Apple Buyers

At Dakota, it’s our goal never to be in the convincing business. Our mantra is to call on people who buy what you sell, because this eliminates a lot of wasted time trying to convince the wrong audience.

2

Be A Master Messenger

This means knowing how to bring your firm’s story to life. You never want to spend an hour with someone and have them leave without having a clue what you do. Bring your story to life with passion and your prospects will feel it too.

3

Have A Killer Follow Up System

Good sales people can get a lot of meetings. They can even tell a great story. However, the follow-up that comes after those meetings is really the mark of a great salesperson. Having a killer follow up system means having an organized plan for following up with your prospects, and never leaving anything to chance.

4

Focus On What You Can Control

There are a lot of things going on that we as sales people can’t control: the state of the market, the weather, the outcome of your favorite team’s most recent game. These can get in the way of your day to day, but the goal is to focus on what you can control: setting meetings, diligently following up, and becoming a master messenger.

5

Walk The 8 Feet

This originated back in 2006, in our original office, where everyone was relatively close together — roughly eight feet apart. Walking the 8 feet means tapping into the collective knowledge of the team. Never be afraid to get up and ask questions.

6

Don't Go Cowboy

At Dakota, we work as a team. In a sales parlance, this means always touching base on what everyone is working on. Don’t keep opportunities to yourself — share them with the team. By not sharing what you’re doing, you’ll never know who might have key experience needed to help you through this opportunity. Put everything on the table, and share information. Don’t go off on your own.

7

Ask

If you’re in a sales role, your primary mission is to ask for something from your prospects. Getting in the habit of asking for a meeting, call, or follow up, the better you will get at it. After all, if you don’t ask, the answer will always be no.

8

Turn Your Brain Off

We’re all guilty of overthinking. There’s always a reason not to do something. The goal is to stop getting analysis paralysis, turn your brain off, and just do it.

9

Never Say "Great Meeting"

At Dakota, we never say “great meeting.” No meeting was truly great unless you left with a $10 million allocation. Instead, we like to focus on what worked, what didn’t, and what the prospect’s interests are so that you can move forward.

10

Throw Your Hat Over The Wall

Sometimes the most important thing is just to get started. This means forcing yourself into action by throwing your hat over the wall. To get the metaphorical hat, you have to climb the wall and get it. Overcome the obstacles in front of you and just do it.

11

Have Fun!

Have Fun!

Our Dakota Family

History of Dakota

  1. 2006

    Founded, launched our outsourced fundraising business for investment firms.  

  2. 2018

    First Dakota Live! Call aired from our conference room in Bryn Mawr, PA

  3. 2019

    Launched Dakota Marketplace, a database of LP’s and investment allocators

  4. 2020

    100 customers, Opened our Dakota Studios in downtown Philadelphia to host Dakota Live! and Dakota Live! for Alternatives

  5. 2021

    Launched Dakota Marketplace for Salesforce integration app, hosted our 100th Dakota Live! Call, Launched Dakota Searches service

  6. 2022

    500 customers, Re-platformed database on Salesforce

  7. 2023

    900+ customers, 2,000+ users, Named Great Places to Work for 3 Years