By Brett Kaufman. 8 years using relationships to build sales pipelines, from political fundraising to a 7 figure business to running matchmaking for two communities. Over 1,000 introductions facilitated.

To follow up after submitting IOI, send the banker or broker one short confirmation the same day, one useful touch within a week, and nothing that asks where you stand until the date they gave you passes. Meanwhile keep every other intermediary warm, because an IOI is a range, not a seat at the table.

It is Friday at 4:52 PM. You hit send on the indication of interest eight minutes before the deadline. A range, a structure, a paragraph on your financing, a paragraph on why you. Then the inbox goes quiet.

By Tuesday you are refreshing it. By the next Monday you are drafting a “just checking in” note you know you should not send. Here is a timeline that gives every touch a reason.

What happens after you submit an IOI?

The banker or broker lines up every IOI and picks a short list for the next round. That round usually means management meetings, a deeper data room, and then a request for LOIs. An IOI is nonbinding. It is a range and a set of assumptions, and the people running the process are comparing your range, your structure, and how credible your money looks next to everyone else’s.

They are also comparing you as a person to deal with. The IBBA describes a serious buyer as someone “decisive and capable of moving through the process in a timely and methodical fashion.” Your follow up is evidence for or against that, so every touch should be useful to them, not reassuring to you.

How to follow up after submitting IOI: the timeline

This is the information most guides skip: what to send, when, and what each touch is for. Adjust the days to the date in the process letter.

When	What you send	Why
Day 0, same day	Confirmation text plus the date question	Proves it arrived, gets you a timeline
Days 1 to 3	Nothing to the banker	They are reading every bid. Let them.
Days 3 to 7	One useful touch: a clarifying question or proof of funds	Shows you are already working the deal
Days 7 to decision date	Silence on this deal, texts to everyone else	Your next deal is on someone else’s desk
Decision date plus 2 business days	One check in tied to the date	Now it is a fair question
You advance	Thanks, plus your availability for management meetings	Speed is a signal
You are cut	Thanks, one question, runner up ask	Sets up the next call

What should I text after submitting an IOI?

Short, specific, and tied to something real. Every example below is under 40 words. Swap in your own details.

Day 0, the confirmation:

[Name], IOI on [Project Name] just went over. Thanks for the time on the CIM call. When do you expect to pick who moves to management meetings? I’ll keep my calendar open.

Days 3 to 7, the useful touch:

[Name], one question so our number holds up: is the [Owner Name] salary in the adjusted EBITDA at market rate, or will we need to hire a GM? Happy to take it by phone.

Or, if your money is the weak spot in your IOI:

[Name], sending over the lender support letter for [Project Name] now, so you have it before you pick the next round. Anything else that would help you compare?

Decision date plus two business days:

[Name], you mentioned the [Day] decision for [Project Name]. Any update on round two? Either way is fine, I just want to plan my next few weeks.

Notice what is missing. No “just checking in.” No new number. No paragraph about how much you love the business.

What should I never send while I wait?

Three messages cost buyers ground in a process, and none of them feel risky when you send them.

1. A revised range by text. If something in the CIM changes your view, write it up properly with the reason. A number in a text reads like you are bidding against yourself.
2. “Where do we rank?” The banker will not tell you, and asking tells them you are worried about the answer.
3. Silence on the date. Missing their decision date by a week looks like you moved on. Check in once, on time.

Should I keep working other deals after submitting an IOI?

Yes, and this is where most buyers slip. You spent two weeks inside one CIM and one model. Every other broker, banker and CPA who sends you deals stopped hearing from you the day you opened the data room.

Use the quiet days, days 7 through the decision date, for them. Three texts a day is enough. A broker who just closed a deal. A banker whose new mandate you saw announced. A CPA you promised an update to after your last coffee.

[Name], saw [Firm] just closed the [Company] deal. Congrats. Still buying in [Industry], [EBITDA range]. If anything similar crosses your desk, I’d love an early look.

That one text is worth more than a fourth check in on the IOI. If you want the deeper version of why recency decides who gets the call, read which buyer a broker calls first when a listing hits.

What if my IOI does not make the cut?

Reply within a day, thank them, and ask one question. Then make it easy to call you if a buyer above you drops.

[Name], thanks for letting me know on [Project Name]. Was it price or structure? Either way, if one of the finalists falls out, we can move fast at our range. Still buying [Industry].

Finalists do drop out. When they do, the banker calls the buyer who handled the cut well and is still recent. If you end up in that spot, read the deal came back to market, who knew first. And if you made it all the way to an LOI and someone else won, here is what to text when you lose a deal to another buyer.

Here is how I would run it

The hard part of this timeline is not writing the texts. It is remembering that day 5 is the day for the useful touch, that the decision date is next Tuesday, and that the CPA you met in August has not heard from you since. That is three different clocks running while you are buried in a model.

I spent years running those clocks by hand. In fundraising I raised $3M with a manual tracking system, and it worked because I logged what each person told me and used it the next time. It was also exhausting. It is the same job here, just with bankers and brokers instead of donors.

That is why I built FRONT OF MIND. It opens on your 10 minutes for today. Each person has one line saying why today: a follow up due, a pipeline deal quiet 7+ days, a broker whose company was in the news, someone going cold. Every draft is a text style message, 40 words max, written from that reason. Nothing sends without your tap, and it learns from your edits so the drafts sound more like you.

It runs in your phone’s browser and saves to your home screen. Your contacts are encrypted. No one on our team looks at them. Export or delete anytime.

More on building the whole system in deal flow for business buyers. Or start free with your first 25 contacts and see who comes up first.

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