Case Study - DRG&E
Top investor relations firm offers C-level clients a smart alternative to travel with LifeSize HD
Organization
Dennard Rupp Gray & Easterly, LLC (DRG&E), Houston, Texas, USA
DRG&E is the largest investor relations firm headquartered in the Southwest United States. Based in Houston, the firm has offices in Texas and Georgia with over 30 public and private clients nationwide. Each senior IR professional at DRG&E has 15 to 20 years of industry experience and former Wall Street senior analysts bring extensive sell-side, buy-side and investment banking experience and expertise to their client programs.
Clients include Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc., Quanta Services, Inc., Bristow Group, Inc. and Men’s Wearhouse, Inc.
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Challenge
At DRG&E, relationships are their business. One of the firm’s ongoing struggles is how to get their clients, who are CEO’s and CFO’s of public companies, more face time with regionally dispersed institutional investors while simultaneously reducing travel expenses. Typically, clients’ management teams meet with shareholders and potential investors several times per year. DRG&E needed a way to increase the frequency of these vital, face-to-face meetings, as audio conference calls and e-mail are much less effective for building these types of trust-based relationships.
In order to increase their visibility to potential investors, DRG&E needed to offer clients an alternative to travel that rivaled the inperson meeting.
Solution
DRG&E turned to UnifiedCommunications.com for assistance in evaluating the various video conferencing manufacturer’s products on the market and DRG&E chose LifeSize.
“The LifeSize systems really hit the mark,” said Ken Dennard, Founder and Managing Partner for DRG&E. “The product is easy to use, gives the user an incredible experience and the service and support of our integrator really made all the difference.”
LifeSize® Room 200™ systems were soon set-up in the company’s headquarters in Houston and were met with positive feedback from clients and employees.
Results
Since deploying LifeSize HD video systems, DRG&E has seen significant increase in not only in communications, but also their business.
“Just in the first few weeks, management teams were able to have several meetings with institutional money managers in New York, Boston, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Baltimore, without ever leaving Houston,” Dennard said. “The response has been very positive from investors who like to see companies use creative money saving initiatives in the current economy.”
The firm has also utilized video communications as a service offering to clients. By developing a solution called AnalystDirectTV®, DRG&E is able to save clients time and money, while at the same time increasing their visibility with Wall Street professionals.
“Our clients and their investors have reacted positively to AnalystDirectTV. Clients appreciate that they can get more done with less time and money, while investors appreciate that companies are finding creative ways to save money in this challenging environment.”
Several top DRG&E clients are actively using the LifeSize systems as part of their IR program with the firm and increasing their face-to-face interactions with investors.
“By utilizing DRG&E’s AnalystDirectTV program and our own inhouse LifeSize system, we’re now able to see more investors, in more parts of the country than ever before,” Neill Davis, Chief Financial Officer, Men’s Wearhouse.