Sarah and I grabbed coffee last week—first time in a while. We worked together years ago when I handled some early marketing work for her firm. She’s still in the industry, still in sales, but her job looks a lot different now. The kind of different that comes from finally having the right support.

We met at this little café tucked into the corner of her building, nothing fancy. She was more relaxed than I remembered. No rush in her voice. No eyeing the clock. Once we sat down, she got right into it—how switching firms had completely changed the way she worked.

Going It Alone

At her last firm, Sarah was doing everything herself. Technically, she was part of a sales team, but it didn’t feel that way. There were two of them covering hundreds of advisors across multiple states, and no one behind the curtain helping them get noticed. No real marketing. No PR. No digital. Just a shared spreadsheet and a monthly performance update from ops.

Her territory list? Enormous. And most of it cold.

“I’d spend mornings picking names out of Discovery Data, then trying to piece together a reason to call,” she said. “It felt like digging for water in the desert.”

Calls went out. Voicemails followed. Then nothing.

“I was leaving all these detailed messages, trying to explain what we did, why it mattered, why someone should call me back—and most of the time, they didn’t.”

One or two callbacks for every couple dozen calls was a good day. A meeting might come out of that. But even if it did, she was often starting from scratch. Who are you? What’s this fund? What do you guys do again?

There was no buildup. No brand awareness. No momentum.

“Even when we found good prospects—folks who just dropped a manager in our category—we couldn’t move fast enough,” she said. “We didn’t have anything to send them. Nothing timely to point to. Just our own voices on repeat.”

Every now and then, someone would ask how the fund was performing. And that was supposed to be enough. But quarter after quarter, performance didn’t sell itself.

It rarely does.

Things changed when she moved. The new firm had marketing. Not just a pitch book designer—a team. They had digital campaigns running. They tracked engagement. They sent content to prospects. They got quoted in the press. They actually gave her something to work with.

“I wasn’t just cold calling anymore,” she said. “I’d reach out and people already had some idea who we were.”

Not everyone was ready to talk. But they weren’t starting at zero either.

Less Guessing, More Connecting

Marketing gave her a starting point. Sometimes, a running start.

They had campaigns going out to advisors who weren’t quite ready to engage directly. Sarah would get alerts when someone clicked on a piece of content, registered for a webinar, or spent more than a few minutes on the website. She could prioritize the advisors who were already leaning in.

“The system also shows me who’s been quiet since our last contact,” Sarah explained. “If I’m planning check-ins for the week and see someone hasn’t opened a single email or visited our site in months, I might bump them down the list. I’d rather focus on the advisor regularly engaging with our content – they’re ready for a conversation.”

“It was like someone flipped a switch,” she said. “I stopped chasing ghosts and started talking to people who were actually paying attention.”

The difference showed up fast. Her meetings tripled within a few months. And the quality of those meetings? Night and day.

Marketing didn’t just dump names into a CRM. They created content that opened doors—short articles, commentary, videos, explainers. Stuff that showed up in inboxes at just the right time, matched to what advisors were thinking about.

“When inflation spiked, I told marketing that was the number one question I was hearing. Three days later, we had a piece out on how our strategy handled inflation. I used that in every follow-up for the next two weeks,” Sarah said. “It gave me a reason to reach out, and advisors were actually glad I did.”

Real Conversations, Not Cold Pitches

She still manages around 300 relationships across her territory—down from the 500+ she struggled to juggle before—but now she’s more effective. And she’s not going it alone.

Marketing extends her reach. Advisors she meets at conferences get added to campaigns. Prospects she’s not quite ready to call stay warm through thoughtful touchpoints. If she follows up three months later, they already know her name. Sometimes they’ve read two or three things the firm published in the meantime.

“At my old firm, every follow-up felt awkward—like I was interrupting their day,” she said. “Now, I’m just continuing a conversation they’re already part of.”

She doesn’t feel like a telemarketer anymore. She feels like a peer. Someone with insight to share, not just a product to push.

“When I show up with something relevant to talk about, it changes how advisors see me,” she said. “I’m not asking for time. I’m giving them something they can use.”

It’s Not Perfect—But It’s a Lot Better

Of course, the new setup isn’t flawless. Compliance slows things down. Marketing sometimes focuses more on clicks than conversions. And bigger strategies still get the bulk of the resources.

“But even with all that,” she said, “it’s nothing like the scramble I came from.”

The pressure hasn’t gone away, but it’s not all on her shoulders anymore. Marketing gives her tools. Context. Backup. And that makes the entire sales process feel less like a cold start and more like momentum.

The Real Competitive Edge

Sarah’s story is a familiar one. I’ve seen it again and again—boutique managers with strong investment ideas, stuck in neutral because they haven’t figured out how to tell their story.

They expect salespeople to open doors without giving them anything to carry in. Maybe a fact sheet. Maybe a stale slide deck. Maybe one good quarter of performance to lean on.

That’s not enough.

“You can’t expect more conversations and more sales when you’re not giving your team any support,” Sarah told me before she left. And she’s right.

The firms that are winning right now? They’re not just managing money well. They’re showing up. Consistently. With substance.

Sarah didn’t suddenly get better at sales. She just stopped being invisible.

Is Your Sales Team Set Up to Succeed?

If your team sounds like Sarah’s old firm—relying on outdated lists, cold voicemails, and crossed fingers—it might be time to rethink the support you’re giving them.

We help boutique asset managers build marketing engines that fuel sales. Not just with content—but with strategy, visibility, and momentum.

Let’s talk. Schedule a free strategy session to see how marketing can start working with your sales team, not against them.

No pitch. Just a real conversation about what’s working, what’s missing, and what might move the needle faster.

Dan Sondhelm is the CEO of Sondhelm Partners. He works with boutique asset managers to help them raise AUM, stand out in crowded markets, and create more meaningful conversations with prospects.