Sourcing Leads From Financial Planners, Lawyers, Etc.

05/27/2019 Redacted Redacted

The University of Chicago - Booth School of Business Wake Forest University

SOURCING LEADS FROM FINANCIAL PLANNERS, LAWYERS, ETC.

My plan is to do this outreach through email. Maybe that is a bad idea. Tell me what you think. I plan on having some interns scrape email addresses off websites and directories.

Will use staged email market for the introduction and offering phone call or in-person meeting. In the email, I will emphasize our strategies and advantages over other exit strategies.

Am I missing anything major? Maybe this outreach should be via phone? Maybe I should offer remuneration for a successful deal?

Thoughts?

Thanks.

20 likes 186 views 14 comments

intermediary Hamilton College ESADE - ESADE Business School Babson College - F.W. Olin Graduate School Babson College - 05/28/2019

Check out bn.digital social selling package for seller lead gen. We target by job title, specialization etc. via social then email, so it's not a cold approach, but same idea.

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intermediary Hamilton College ESADE - ESADE Business School Babson College - F.W. Olin Graduate School Babson College - 05/28/2019

https://www.bn.digital/social-selling-program

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professional University of Southern California - 05/28/2019

You’re on the right track, generally.

Having for decades advised and guided searchers in the USA, Canada and the U.K. (as their Business Buyer Advocate ®), I know that well-prepared (compelling messaging and optimum frequency of sends) get responses from properly targeted audiences.

Emailing directly to owners is one of the 24 ways the savviest buyers find worthwhile deals; especially buyers who want to avoid buyer competition.

Looking for referrals from professionals is another of the 24 ways. But, keep in mind that advisors to the company or the seller don’t have much incentive to help buyers. After all, only the most naïve buyers retain the seller’s advisory team.

As for remuneration, none of my clients have had to resort to it.

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searcher University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School University of California, Berkeley - 05/29/2019

I tried the financial planners angle. I think the thesis is sound, and there are benefits to both parties...wealth managers get liquidity for their clients which they could help invest! Long-story short, I believe none of them could think outside the box enough, and I received no referrals to business owners despite the effort.

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professional University of Southern California - 05/29/2019

It comes down to relationships. No relationships; no or few referrals. Having advised for buyers for 40 years I can tell you that the best source of referrals are people who already know the searcher/buyer and who trust the buyer. It’s not that it’s a bad idea to cast a search net over everybody who might be a source of referral to worthwhile investments or business acquisitions. But it’s important to realize that the most of the people who actually achieve small/midsize company done deals source those deals by properly communicating directly with owners and/or investors in the types of companies that the buyers can show, upfront, that they are qualified to buy. It’s sad but true that the fantastic resumes some DIYer buyers brandish before business owners don’t impress potential sellers unless, upfront, the buyer hits the owner's/seller's is hot buttons. Too many buyers who have not yet perfected their skills related to search are likely to waste time and money (theirs and people with whom they interact), And even worse the ill-prepared searchers might give up their search because it’s not producing results.

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searcher University of California, Los Angeles - UCLA Anderson School of Management Carleton College - 05/29/2019

I was underwhelmed by most of the attorneys and financial planners I prospected. There were a few were strong referrers, but only after I invested a bit of time into building relationships. Trusted advisers will only refer people that they trust to treat their clients well, and earning that trust takes some time. They don't directly benefit from the referral, so there is more downside than upside for them. Bankers also tended to be poor referrers; P&C brokers were OK. Strangely, the best referrers were solo consultants who specialized in working with small businesses. They introduced me to more qualified deals because they knew their clients and whether they were really ready to sell or just exploring.

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professional University of Southern California - 05/30/2019

Same experience with most of my clients. Messages like yours can really help searchers save time and aggravation.

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searcher Harvard University - Harvard Business School University of Utah - 05/30/2019

Consider including commercial real estate agents to the list.

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professional University of Southern California - 05/30/2019

Good call!

Some of the best marketplace intelligence we (my buyer clients and I) get comes from real estate agents. (I have tons of war stories where agents warned us about things we might not have detected!)

They can also be useful to review leases and premises, and to advise us when sellers' landlords play hardball with buyers.

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searcher University of California, Los Angeles - UCLA Anderson School of Management Carleton College - 05/31/2019

Great suggestion! I did have a commercial RE agent who was very helpful. He really had his ear to the ground regarding the state of businesses and their owners. RE agents also like to trade information because it helps them in their growing their business, so sharing intelligence is mutually beneficial.

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investor The University of Chicago - Booth School of Business - 06/02/2019

Another interesting source could be smaller accounting / tax firms that do valuation work. I find that they are often on the front lines of knowing when clients are even starting to think about selling.

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searcher Harvard University - Harvard Business School Harvard University - 06/02/2019

^[redacted]‌and I sourced our deal through a networking event hosted by BDO where we met a commercial banker from Capital One. Just one data point, of course, but wanted to share.

In general, however, I felt that most lawyers, financial planners, accountants, & commercial bankers did not me seriously during my search. Perhaps because I was a relatively young searcher...

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searcher Dartmouth College - Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth Columbia University University of Mumbai - 06/04/2019

I'd reached out to quite a few asset managers, accountants, lawyers. Thus far I haven't received any leads from them. But of course, doesn't hurt to cast a wide net and see if you get lucky. [Some people say that accountants may be relatively less excited about their clients selling, as the new owners may have their own favorite accountant (hence, less likely to say "check out this person - who's interested in acquiring a business"). While wealth managers would be happy to see their clients have a liquidity event.]

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searcher The University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business Vanderbilt University - 06/04/2019

I second Benjamin's comment about local consultants. I have found that small local consulting firms can be a good source of leads as well as introductions to other helpful individuals. The firms I have worked with don't broker deals but they work with local firms to prepare them to be acquired in the near future so they are a great source of non-auction deals, although a limited number of deals. Also, their business is dependent on networking and relationship building so they introduced me to other helpful people like family offices and others who have bought local businesses. Local family offices have also provided some deal flow and are ready to provide the equity as well.

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