Establishing Credibility with Brokers

January 31, 2026

by a searcher from Dartmouth College - Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in Portland, OR, USA

I’m relatively new to the search process and have begun reviewing listing sites regularly, connecting with brokers, and evaluating CIMs. While I’m early in the process, I’m fully committed to finding the right opportunity and have funding in place to close on a deal that meets my criteria. It’s been hit or miss with the brokers I have reached out to in terms of getting replies, establishing a back and forth to learn more about an opportunity. From your experience, what best practices helped you move from being perceived as a “tire-kicker” to a buyer of choice?

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Reply by a professional
from University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN, USA

If you are looking at Main Street deals, most brokers tend to be unsophisticated and greedy and care a lot more about speed and certainty of closing than anything else. So if you lead with things like a net working capital analysis or your extensive plans for due diligence, or get bogged down on indemnification caps and baskets in your $1MM LOI, there's a good chance they will look for an easier Buyer, and for any reasonably priced business, they probably have options. I am not saying you shouldn't focus on these items, but the hard truth is it will not, generally, endear you to the Main Street broker crowd, especially early on in the deal process. It's a Seller's market out there, the brokers control the Sellers who they represent, and the brokers don't owe you anything. The difficult job of the buyer, in this market anyway, is to balance the offense (convincing the broker/Seller you will be reasonable and quick to close) with the defense (executing appropriate diligence on a business where you will presumably be staked to a significant personal guarantee, etc.). This is not an easy task.

Reply by a lender
from Eastern Illinois University in 900 E Diehl Rd, Naperville, IL 60563, USA

I would recommend getting a pre-approval done for financing. That way you take that concern off the table. If you need help with a pre-approval, you can reach me here or directly at redacted

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