LenderHawk analysis. Not affiliated with or endorsed by The Permanent Podcast.
Brent Beshore, Emily, and the Permanent Podcast team break down how sellers should approach first contact with potential buyers, from identifying the right contact to sending a simple outreach email. They also explain how to interpret rejection, when to move on, and why helpful, transparent buyers are worth continuing with during a sale process.
Business owners preparing to sell, and buyers who want to understand how early outreach and first-pass screening actually work in small-business M&A.
Initial outreach to a buyer can be a short email that introduces the company and asks whether the firm is interested in the opportunity.
The right contact on the buyer side is often the CEO, COO, corporate development lead, or the deals/opportunities team, depending on firm size.
If a buyer does not respond within about a week, it is reasonable to try a different contact or move on.
A buyer’s rejection after only a teaser review is usually a normal fit screen, not a verdict on the quality of the business.
A pass is more useful when the buyer explains why the deal is not a fit and what would need to change for it to become one.
Sellers should be allowed to reject buyers too; a weak or vague response is a signal to remove a buyer from the process.
After mutual interest is established, the process typically moves through NDA, materials review, and management calls that test chemistry and alignment.
Helpful buyers stand out by being willing to give direct feedback and, when appropriate, suggest better-fit buyers in their network.
The first call with a potential buyer typically lasts between 30 minutes and an hour.
Brent and Emily describe the management-call phase after NDA and materials review.
A seller’s outreach email can be as short as a few lines plus a PDF overview of the company.
They give a sample of the initial financial-buyer outreach message.
If a buyer has only two or three team members, almost anyone on the team can be contacted.
They distinguish outreach tactics for small buyer firms versus larger organizations.
If no specific buyer contact can be found, asking for the right person by email is acceptable.
They describe fallback outreach tactics for sellers.
Send the first buyer outreach before over-preparing, because the initial contact is only meant to start a conversation, not commit you to a sale process.
Why: Most sellers amplify the anxiety of the first message far beyond its actual risk.
Use a simple outreach note that explains your company and why the buyer may be a fit, because clarity matters more than polish at the start.
Why: Buyers need only enough information to decide whether to open a dialogue.
If a buyer has not responded after about a week, try another contact or move on, because serious buyers do not leave good opportunities hanging indefinitely.
Why: Delayed silence is usually a sign that the buyer is not prioritizing the deal.
Ask intermediaries to target the right buyer profile rather than simply maximizing buyer count, because a crowded process can attract many buyers who lack the attributes you want.
Why: Process quality matters more than raw volume.
Treat a clear no differently from a vague maybe, because maybes can consume time without creating momentum.
Why: Progress requires buyers to state where they stand and what would have to change.
When a buyer passes, ask for the reason and whether the issue is operational or strategic, because some objections can be addressed over time while others reflect a permanent mismatch.
Why: This helps separate fixable issues from category-level fit problems.
Favor buyers who are willing to be direct and helpful, because transparency in the early stage is a strong signal for how they will behave later in the process.
Why: The right partner should help you understand fit and, when appropriate, point you to better alternatives.
The hosts mention a seller who agonized over a very short first email and rewrote it repeatedly before sending it. They use the anecdote to show how emotionally oversized the first outreach can feel relative to its actual complexity.
Lesson: The first contact is usually much simpler than sellers imagine, so action matters more than perfection.