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.

Return the signed NDA the same day with a one line note on what you buy, confirm the CIM arrived within 24 hours, and give the broker a yes, a no, or specific questions within a week. Silence after the NDA is the fastest way to drop off a broker’s short list.

Every follow up with broker after signing NDA has one job: tell him where you stand before he has to ask.

Here is the scene. You sign the NDA at 9pm on a Tuesday. The CIM lands Wednesday morning. You are in a QoE call on another deal, so it sits. Eleven days later you open it, love it, and email the broker. He already has three buyers in management meetings. You are a name on a sign up sheet.

You did not lose on price. You lost on the 11 days.

What should you send right after signing the NDA?

Send the signed NDA back the same day with two lines: what you buy and when you will get back to him. PrivSource’s guide on how new buyers get deal flow from brokers puts it plainly: return the NDA the same day, and reply to every teaser within 48 hours.

The note matters more than the signature. A broker sees dozens of NDAs. The one with “HVAC and plumbing, $1M to $3M EBITDA, SBA plus seller note, I will have a read on this by Friday” gets remembered. The one with no note becomes a row in his tracker.

If you do not have a crisp buy box yet, fix that first. The searcher profile brokers actually remember covers what goes in it.

What is the follow up timeline from NDA to decision?

Four touches over roughly two weeks: NDA back, CIM received, status, decision. Here is the timeline I would run. The days are a working rule, not an industry standard, so tighten them if the broker gives you a deadline.

Day	What happens	What you send	Channel
Day 0	You sign the NDA	Signed NDA plus your buy box and a date you will respond by	Email
Day 1	CIM arrives	“Got it, reading this week”	Text
Day 3 to 5	You have read it	Your first questions, numbered, or an early pass	Email
Day 7	Your promised date	Yes with next step, no with a reason, or a new firm date	Text, then email
Day 10 to 14	Broker answered your questions	Request for a seller call, or a clean pass	Email
Day 21 and on	Deal moved on or you passed	One line on what you want instead	Text

Notice the pattern. You never let more than about four days pass without the broker knowing your status. That is the whole system.

How do you follow up with broker after signing NDA when the CIM never arrives?

Text once at 48 hours, and keep it short. Many brokers screen buyers before they release anything. International Business Associates describes screening to “financially qualify potential buyers prior to disbursing specific information.” So a delay may mean they are waiting on you. Ask what they need.

Do not send three emails. Send one text that makes it easy to answer: “Hi [Name], signed NDA went over Tuesday. Anything else you need from me before the CIM? Happy to send proof of funds today.”

If nothing comes back in another few days, the deal may be under LOI already. Ask, thank him, and tell him what you want next.

What do you say when you want to pass?

Say no fast and say why. The IBBA’s piece on what defines a serious business buyer says a serious buyer recognizes that a “quick no” is far better than a “slow no.”

The reason is the valuable part. PrivSource’s guide makes the same point: the reason lets the broker filter the next one. “Pass, project revenue, we need recurring” is a gift. “Not a fit” is a door closing.

A clean pass with a reason is how you get the next CIM before it goes wide. How brokers decide which buyers to call first goes deeper on that short list.

Example texts after signing an NDA

Each one is under 40 words. Swap in the real details. A text with a specific detail reads like attention. A text without one reads like a template.

1. Day 0, with the NDA: “Hi [Name], signed NDA attached for [Deal Codename]. We buy [industry], $[X] to $[Y] EBITDA. I will have a read on it by [day].”

2. Day 1, CIM received: “Got the CIM, thanks [Name]. Reading it this week. First questions to you by [day].”

3. Day 5, questions: “[Name], read it twice. Three questions on customer concentration and the GM’s role. Sending by email now. If those check out, I would like a seller call.”

4. Day 7, a pass: “[Name], passing on [Deal Codename]. Top customer is 40 percent of revenue, too much for us. Under 20 percent and I would be on a plane. Thanks for sending it.”

5. Day 21, after the pass: “[Name], still looking for [industry] in [region]. If anything comes in under $[Y] EBITDA with recurring revenue, I can turn an NDA same day.”

What happens with the broker if the deal is not for you?

The relationship matters more than the deal. One CIM is one listing. The broker will bring many more to market, and the buyers who answered fast and passed clean are the ones he calls first.

So the follow up does not end at the pass. Put the broker on your list for a real touch every few weeks: a deal he closed, a post of his, an intro to a lender or CPA he would want. That keeps you recent between CIMs. The full sourcing picture is in deal flow for business buyers, and where relationships break across the deal timeline shows the stages after this one.

The system that keeps the clock for you

The timeline is simple. The hard part is running it on six NDAs at once while you are inside another deal. That is when Day 7 quietly becomes Day 19.

Here is how I would run it: let a system watch the clock on every broker waiting on you, and keep my attention on the work.

FRONT OF MIND opens on your 10 minutes for today. Each person has one line on why today: a pipeline deal has been quiet 7 days, a follow up is due, they posted, their company was in the news. Every draft is a text style message, 40 words max. Nothing sends without your tap, and it learns from your edits so the next draft sounds more like you.

It runs in your phone’s browser and can be saved to your home screen. Your contacts are encrypted. No one on our team looks at them. Start free with your first 25 contacts and see which broker is waiting on you first. See how it works

See how it works