Watch: Investor relations strategies and best practices

Helen Chorley (00:04.911)

Yes, as the observant ones among you will tell, I am not Simon Zucchi. I am Helen Chorley. We’ve done the intro here. Lots of property sisters in the audience. Hello ladies. Lovely to have you here. So I wanted to do a brief little chat, something, give you two questions that I think will help you improve your success rate when dealing with and speaking to angel investors. But I find the, well,

I was going to say, I find it works best. Actually, what I mean is I enjoy it most when these are more interactive. So I’m here to answer any of your questions, almost anything is okay. Not too personal. But we’ll start with that. So who here works with angel investors or private investors at the moment? Okay, really, really good proportion of you. And who would like to, who is hoping to? And that makes up…

more less the rest of you. Okay. And let’s get interactive from the beginning. Start as we mean to go on. What type of things, let me ask you the question, what type of things do you think are important when working with or speaking with angel investors?

Go on, someone be brave.

Helen Chorley (01:24.001)

Credibility. Trust. Trust, yeah. Knowing your figures. Knowing your figures, absolutely. Particularly one for me. Anything else? Transparency. Transparency. All fabulous answers, all absolutely critical for when you’re speaking to investors, but there’s a stage before that. These are the two questions I want you to think about, I want you to take away with you today.

You won’t necessarily get answers today, but I just want to plant them there so you can think about it and you have that framework to approach things with going forward. The first question is, who are you dealing with? Who is that person? What’s their age? What’s their interest? What’s their values? Are they a… We tend to think of investors as there’s an investor, there’s a private investor, they’re a pint of milk.

Investors aren’t the pint of milk. Angel investors aren’t the pint of milk. pint of milk doesn’t matter if you buy it at Harrods, doesn’t matter if you buy it at Lidl. It’s the pint of milk, it does the same job, Angel investors are not the same. You’re have different risk appetites. That’s really, really critical to understand. You’re gonna have just different time horizons. They’re gonna want to achieve different things. You’re gonna have different liquidity requirements.

Some people are gonna want their money back quicker. Some people are gonna want their money back. Happy for you to have it for a year and then keep rolling it. And five years later, you’ve still got their money. If you don’t know those things at the beginning or you can’t assess them quickly, how do you even know it to be in your pitch? Yes, absolutely, there’s a formula and there’s a way you can do pitching and there are certain things that should be in there. But if you took your pitch document to my mum and dad,

and it was kind of designed for me, it’s gonna absolutely overwhelm them. You confuse, you lose, and they’re gone. Well, if you come to me with something that’s more appropriate for them, I’m gonna grill you. I’m gonna absolutely grill you and put you on the spot about your numbers and about your credibility and particularly like about why you trust and build in that. So you really need to, before you even get into that pitch deck, start thinking about…

Helen Chorley (03:41.995)

Who do you want to work with? Imagine if someone gives you a magic wand. You can wave this. You dream your ideal investor. Who is that? What does that person look like? Create your avatar. We do this in business, If we’ve got a product or you’re thinking about taking a new product or something to market, you do it when you’re designing your HMOs. If it’s for students, it’s going to look very different. So if it’s for a professional, right?

Do exactly the same with angel investors or private investors. So that’s the first question, who is this? Who is this in front of me? Meet them where they’re at and you’re gonna, honestly, your conversion rate will honestly will skyrocket when you start thinking about that. Second question is also a who. But this time, it’s who are you? And this is where we come to the credibility, where we come to the trust.

What is your USP? So I was working with a client about appealing to investors more. And we were going through, putting a pitch deck together. And we came to the pages that were about her. OK, what’s your story? And she does as we, it’s a really British thing. Let me tell you, the Americans don’t have this problem at all. And the Maltese don’t either, which is where I live. And we were going through her story.

and trying to put a picture together, give some flavor of her, what she does, why she’s passionate about it. And I’m like, okay, but we really need to nail what’s different about you. She’s like, nothing, nothing, very humble, very underselling ourselves. Why do we do that? But we all do it. And I said, okay, let’s go back to your career history and took her through this whole exercise of delving into this and values and…

and exactly what makes her, what are her values, what’s her mission statement. And she drops into conversation, oh yeah, I’ve got a degree in law. Excuse me? I’m like, and where is that in your document? She hadn’t, because it was just, it’s part of her own story, and we’re all so familiar, and let’s face it, a little bit bored with our own story, then she just didn’t even, it didn’t even register for her to mention that because she’s not practicing law.

Helen Chorley (06:05.225)

It’s not something she does every day. She thought it’s irrelevant. I’m like, okay, I got two projects in front of me. Who do you think is the more credible and trustworthy if one’s got a law degree and one’s not? Everything else, setters, parabas, everything else being equal. She’s like, okay, she got it then. So where are those things in your life, in your career, in your projects that make you different? Because there’s something.

And the tip I would give you on discovering that is that it’s often easier to do with somebody else. Sometimes it’s a little bit difficult because we’re English, most of us, and we sit down and we’re like, you don’t necessarily want to own all your achievements or the things that you’ve done. Sometimes that can be a little bit difficult, feel a little bit big headed, can’t it, by yourself. Do it with a friend because somebody’s external perspective, they will see things in you that you aren’t ready to own yourself.

or that you don’t think of value because, as I said, it’s your story. You think it’s a little bit boring because you know it, you lived it day in and out, and you know you only just scraped through to get that lower degree, or you know too much about yourself in one respect. So the values get a little bit lost. So that’s my tip with that. So they are the two questions that I really think will help you increase your conversion rate when working with investors.

And now I would like to open it up to your questions. So I’ve got a comfy chair, I’m to make myself comfortable and I’m happy to take questions on that or anything else that that has provoked. Or if you want clarity on it, let me know.

Helen Chorley (07:59.211)

Neither you.

Helen Chorley (08:02.891)

Are you asking me why they’re doing it? Because that I can’t give you an answer to. I know. I don’t know why the hell they’re doing that. So A, it’s against FSA regulations. So please all keep yourself safe with that. I don’t know. How many of those do think I’ve invested in?

Helen Chorley (08:30.227)

So I don’t know, like you want to make yourself look, I don’t know, like yeah, look, I’m doing loads of things. You want publicity, knock yourself out. You ain’t going to get any investors though. So what’s your point? If your point is to let the world know that you’re doing deals, okay, maybe that’s one way of doing it. Or I there’s better ways of doing it. If you really want to get investors.

Helen Chorley (08:56.852)

at the back.

I guess this all the time. Like we all hang out together somewhere going, let’s all hide. Let’s all hide from the people who are doing money. I still haven’t got a great answer to it.

Helen Chorley (09:18.632)

Rather than, I know where you’re coming from with the question. I think it’s the wrong way round. What happens when you, I don’t know, right, you’re walking through Hyde Park, you see a squirrel, you want to feed it nuts. Do you, what happens when you go and chase that squirrel?

Helen Chorley (09:40.884)

Same thing happens to nesters.

Show us your nuts.

We won’t go off into the kind of law of attraction and all that stuff, which I do love and I’m more than happy to speak about. But I do think that’s the, it’s the most sustainable way round. Make yourself so appealing, these nuts are chocolate covered, that you’re gonna get every squirrel from wherever throwing themselves at you.

Most investors are very kind of below the surface. You don’t know them. Seems to be an exception because I like chatting. I mean on stage. I think that’s the better way round to do it. But one way to do that, to appeal, is to start telling everybody that you meet because you don’t know. You might be sat next to one on the bus. I know somebody, a very good friend of mine, Claire, that started Property Sisters with me.

was pitching to an investor at a hotel in London and somebody overheard her pitching and when that investor left this person said, oh, I’d like to know, could you tell me a little bit more about that? So that was a random in a hotel reception. So they are actually everywhere when you decide they are everywhere, when you be open to them everywhere. If you just think they hang out at the golf club or the yacht club or…

Helen Chorley (11:15.913)

Like, yes, there will be some there, but…

When you know they’re there as well, they’re get pitched at like a lot. They’re the type of people that will get pitched at a lot and they probably don’t want to be pitched at there either because that’s probably their recreation time. you need to be, when you do find them, you need to be appropriate about when and where you have the conversation as well, which is why I say if you do it the other way around and you make it known that this is what you’re doing and that you are open to investment.

and these are the type of people that you’ve worked with in the past and this is why these people are happy with you, then they start coming to you. It’s much healthier dynamic.

Helen Chorley (12:04.808)

Yay.

know what you invest in.

Helen Chorley (12:11.805)

what relationships have you had with the people that you…

Helen Chorley (12:20.861)

channels if you

Helen Chorley (12:26.506)

Yes, great question. for those, I’m not sure if everybody could hear that, but basically why have I invested with the people that I’ve invested with? What relationships I’ve had and also what channels. So I started out in my investment stuff. I’m going to sit down because these shoes are really painful. I started out doing investing in a, I’m very risk averse for those that don’t know me. So I actually started out with crowdfunding.

because it’s a really easy way to test people out with a really small amount of money and see if they deliver. Do they deliver on time? Do they say they’ll do what they do? Do they deliver the investor updates when they say they will? Answer is no. So that’s really good way. You need to be very careful. Crowdfunding has gone through a little, it was the thing to do.

when I started doing that in about 2015 and then it’s had some issues and some challenges and some people have given it a bad name. So be very selective about how and who you do it with and the channels that you do it with. But that’s one way to do it. And actually that is a great place to find investors in terms of the people putting the money in. I’ve probably got more money to put into other stuff.

so you can meet people that way. In terms of the people I invest with, I’m a I’m a total choice. I’m a total choice with most things in life. And I like to watch, sit back and watch and see what people do. Observe them over time. Cause somebody can be fat. I bring this analogy a lot. I’ve written about it in Property Investor magazine. Drop me a note, I’ll send you the article. It’s like dating. Somebody can look amazing on the first date.

Somebody will look amazing. You want to marry them in the first month. Do you still have that opinion of them a year in or two years in or three years in? So I like to sit back and observe because those masks and let’s be honest, we all know people. We shan’t name any names, but we all know people who do have masks and those masks slip eventually. And I’d rather know that before they have my money. Nicola.

Helen Chorley (14:55.657)

So the question is, what do I value in terms of maintaining that relationship? And this is why I go back to the who question. So I like regular updates. If you disappear on me, it’s the worst thing you can do. Whereas I know other people that are like, they don’t want to know. They are super, super, super passive. They give you the money and they’re like, pay me back the interest in a year’s time. And in between, like, yeah, I don’t want to hear from you.

They’re too busy or they just don’t care that much as long as they think their money’s safe. So you need to establish what your particular investor wants and always ask that. Because if you start bombarding, like if you send me an email, I’m just not going to read it. But so there’s a certain way I want my information as well. But you’re not going to know that until you ask me the questions, although I would tell you. But most people, you’re going to have to dig, get that out of them.

Helen Chorley (15:51.497)

technical point of view, expect to see an anonymous today? I mean there’s different formulas and again it depends who the pitch deck is for. For me there has to be a summary. I need a one pager at the beginning like where I can get most of the information of course I’ll have more questions and of course I want this much depth on your numbers that’s just me I’m geeky it’s my background most people don’t want that and

What it would suggest if you know you, that somebody may ask you that, but it’s not your strength, have it in appendix at the back. So it doesn’t necessarily have to be there. And actually that’s what I would say in a pitch deck. It’s a really fine balance. You need enough information in there, but you don’t want to overwhelm somebody. So that’s when the appendices come in. So if you get someone like me that’s like, okay, what’s your return on investment? What’s your return on costs? What’s your return on GDP? Once all that, but actually refer to appendix A.

great salted. If somebody wants more detail on the deal specifics, the area and why it’s a great area. And yes, you’ll have got some of that in the main bit of the document, but add more colour, more depth, more story. That could be a whole other talk. Stories are so important in a pitch deck as well. And I think that’s a mistake I see very often. It’s very factual. We need the facts. We need what it is, how much you want, what’s the return, what’s expectations.

But tell me a story about it. That will increase your conversion rate. No end, let me tell you. And I was going to say something, but I’m having a menopause moment. I forgot what it was. it was really good too. It’ll come back to me. Is that answer the question?

Helen Chorley (17:41.734)

Yeah.

Helen Chorley (17:45.274)

No, I completely agree. I find them too extremes. find them either they’re like wishy-washy and you’re like, yeah, you know, almost like, yeah, what’s in it for me? Or they try and cram too much stuff in. And then you’re like, okay, I actually I have like 10 of these to read today. I don’t have the time to read 40 pages. Like, can we get something in the middle?

Helen Chorley (18:15.879)

The question is what comes first, the investor or the deal? I think it’s never too early to start talking to investors. So even if you don’t have a deal, start talking to people, start telling people this is what you’re planning. know, kind of particularly, well I was going say particularly people you know, but I’ve got strong opinions on that as well. You just need to be very careful with anybody’s money who you take. I hear a lot like find the deal and the investors will come.

show you and give you lots of examples where that’s not happened. And it’s not because that the deal wasn’t good or that the investor didn’t know what they were doing. Generally, it’s what we’ve come back to earlier. They haven’t been clear on who they’re targeting and they haven’t been clear on who they are and the value proposition. You know, you’re investors, you’re developers. That’s what you’re doing. You’re not marketers and salespeople, but you kind of need to be too.

So that’s what I’m trying to give you in as least like sales spin and talking bullshit kind of way. Like let’s not, there’s ways of pitching and positioning yourself, but don’t go out there and misrepresent yourself. I’m absolutely categorically not saying that at all.

Helen Chorley (19:34.503)

My answer, one of my favourite answers ever, it depends.

Helen Chorley (19:41.287)

Right mine.

Helen Chorley (19:45.511)

If someone had to raise investor funds with J.D.

Helen Chorley (19:53.544)

huh.

Helen Chorley (20:00.921)

Your USP.

Helen Chorley (20:08.48)

Yeah, and that’s where kind of story comes in. I don’t even think necessarily that you need to tell me about the deal because literally if you are literally talking 10 seconds, I don’t know if everybody heard, but like what’s your elevator pitch in 10 seconds? What it needs to be? You ain’t got time to tell me what that deal is in 10 seconds. Not if you’re going to win me. So I need to know why you, why now? What’s in it for me?

I should make a course about that.

Time for one more question.

Helen Chorley (20:48.464)

Sorry, top tips for being investable on social media.

authenticity. I do love social media in terms of what it can give you. I hate it when people are too polished and they’re like, look at me in virtue signal, virtue signal. I’m so good. I’m so trustworthy. And you know what they’re doing behind the scenes. And I’ve got zillions of examples of that. Unfortunately, I’m under NDAs, so I can’t tell you who those people are. But

that really turns my stomach and there’s a lot of people out there that owe a lot of people money who are still out there saying that they are God’s gift to property investment and property development. it’s a bit double edged. Be you and I think if you get clear on that question, who are you? Then I think that the social media and the authenticity that

comes more naturally. Nicola’s done a really good job at this over the past year or so. Just like talking about her values. This is who I am. This is what matters to me. And then you follow like her journey and you’re like, oh, OK. Like you’re seeing, you know, you’re seeing kind of again, like she’s so in seeds of this story and you’re buying into it more and more as you go along. Like lots of examples I could have given just Nicola’s in my eyesight. So it has to be has to be authentic.

And it also has to be a little, let’s not try too hard.

Helen Chorley (22:34.118)

So basically, do you tell investors or on social media, do you tell people about your mistakes? If you’ve dealt with it, it depends how traumatic it was. If you’ve dealt with it and processed it and you’re not still getting therapy for about it, you can go there. If it’s still something ongoing, maybe best not to. I just want to finish that. think talking about challenges, because if you come to me for investment, it’s a question I will ask you.

What’s your biggest mistake? And it doesn’t even have to be about investing or property. What’s your biggest? Because I want to see how you’ve recovered from it. I want to see what it’s done, what changes you’ve implemented, how your mindset has changed from. So we can actually be a way to build credibility. But again, there’s a way to do it. It’s not just like, by the way, I lost all my investors’ money. And yeah, that was a shame. So this is my new project. Show us that you did the right thing. Show us that you…

you made those people good and this is what you’ve learned and this is why it won’t happen again. So I wouldn’t steer clear of it because, and depending on how big it is, I’ll find out. Or any investor worth their salt will find out because they’ll ask around and they’ll find out. So if you haven’t addressed it, I’m going to ask why you’ve not addressed it. So I think it can be a way. On social media, you you need to be a bit, take advice on that one. Yeah, cool. Thank you.