Cold Outreach - The Secret to Winning with RIAs

Cold outreach is a fundamental tool for any investment sales professional looking to engage with Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs). While many avoid cold calling or emailing due to fear of rejection, this approach is critical for building successful relationships with RIAs.

We’ve experienced this firsthand at Dakota, as we’ve been in the field ourselves raising over $35 billion since 2006. However, we are here to tell you to send the email and make the phone call, it will be worth it in the long run.

In this article we are going to review why cold outreach is fundamental if you’re calling on RIAs to raise money. By the end of this, you’ll have a better understanding of how to approach cold email outreach as well as cold calling.

Cold outreach matters

Cold outreach should be a cornerstone of your sales strategy when targeting RIAs. Despite their busy schedules, RIAs are constantly seeking new and innovative strategies to help them retain clients and attract new ones. With due diligence analysts at RIAs dedicating only about 20% of their time to researching new investment strategies, they have limited bandwidth for discovery. This is where sales professionals can provide significant value.

RIAs often rely on sales outreach to stay informed. Many of them discover new strategies because a salesperson made the effort to reach out via a cold email or call. While they may not have time for numerous meetings, they do appreciate receiving thoughtful insights that can help them stay competitive.

RIAs view sales professionals as extensions of their research teams – with limited time to vet new opportunities, they appreciate the direct access to innovative strategies that cold outreach provides. In many cases, RIAs may never have discovered a specific offering if not for a proactive email or phone call.

By positioning yourself as a valuable resource and regularly sharing new ideas, you become an essential part of their investment decision-making process.

Crafting an effective investment sales email

When targeting RIAs, the effectiveness of your email can make or break your outreach strategy. Here’s how to ensure your email stands out:

1. Subject Line: The subject line is the first thing recipients see, and it must be direct. Mention a specific meeting time, like "Meeting Request: October 5th, 3:00 PM."
   
   
2. Body: The content should be concise and impactful. Use one powerful sentence to introduce your firm and clearly communicate the value you bring. Think of this as the “JP Morgan Private Bank test” – what can you say in one sentence that makes your strategy so compelling that they want to meet?
   
   
3. Call to Action: Close your email with a specific, actionable request. Suggest a specific date and time for a meeting rather than leaving it open-ended. For example, “Can we meet on October 5th at 3:00 PM?” is much more likely to receive a response than vague options like “next week” or “sometime soon.”

By mastering these three sections, you significantly improve your chances of booking meetings and making your cold outreach efforts worthwhile.

Leveraging cold calling for success

Cold calling can be intimidating, but it remains one of the most effective ways to engage with RIAs. To succeed, it’s important to have a strategy and a concise script that captures the recipient’s attention quickly.

Here are a few key elements to consider when making a cold call:

• The Script: Keep it short and to the point. Introduce yourself and your firm within the first 15 seconds. For example:

“Hello, my name is [Your Name] from [Your Firm]. We’ve never spoken before, but we partner with boutique investment managers across long-only equity and private alternatives. I will be in [City] on [Date], can you meet at 9 AM?”

• Differentiation: Highlight what makes your offering stand out. Mention your product’s unique attributes or how well-established your firm is within the industry. This differentiator should be compelling enough that the recipient is intrigued to learn more.
• Ask for the Meeting: Don’t over-complicate the ask. Be clear about the date and time you’d like to meet. Follow up with a brief email within five minutes after the call to reinforce the conversation and keep the momentum going.

Start your cold outreach today

Cold outreach is more than just a strategy, it’s the foundation for building strong RIA relationships. With the right mix of persistence, courage, and consistency, you can unlock success and create long-lasting partnerships. At Dakota, we’ve proven it works, and now it’s your turn. 

Start sending those emails, making those calls, and positioning yourself as a valuable resource to RIAs. The results will speak for themselves.

Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace to explore our RIA library!