direct outreach is difficult and requires a lot of persistence. most business owners have been called on before by brokers or investment bankers, so the message you present when you do get the chance to make your elevator pitch is really important. quality presentation materials are also important, but should be geared towards the specific deal. you've got to make yourself stand out from the pack. track your interactions with sellers and follow up accordingly. rule of thumb is you will look at 100 deals to do just 1, so dont be discouraged, but be focused

Happy to discuss - [redacted] Our firm makes 8,000+ outbound calls per month.

Ryan, if you're looking for a good resource, I suggest you read Buy then Build. The question of business outreach comes up and when dealing with a broker it gives you insights into being a "good buyer". Additionally, questions that you might want to ask a business owner are in there. Finally, if you're reaching out cold to a business owner that isn't actively selling their business you might find their idea of the company's valuation to be prohibitively high. Buy then Build addresses this as well.