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.

You lost the acquisition to another buyer. Today, text the broker, send a gracious note to the seller through the broker, and congratulate the winning buyer if you know them. Then tell the broker one thing clearly: you would still close at your number, and you want to be the first call if their deal breaks.

Picture Tuesday morning. The broker calls, or worse, emails. The seller went with another group. Better terms, a cleaner structure, a faster close, or a story the seller liked more. You spent six weeks on the model, two site visits, and a dinner with the owner and his wife.

Most buyers do one of two things here. They go quiet, or they send a long note explaining why their offer was better. Both close the door. What I tell people is simple: the day you lose is the day you position yourself for the next one, and maybe for this one again.

This is not a silence loss

If you lost because the broker never called you, that is a different problem. I cover it in you didn’t lose that deal on price, you lost it to silence. This page is for the other case. You were in the room. You made an offer. Someone else won.

It is also not the same as a dead LOI on your own deal. If you signed and it fell apart in diligence, read your LOI fell through, text these five people today. Here, the LOI that might fall apart is someone else’s. That changes who you text and what you say.

Why the runner up spot is worth something

The winning buyer has not closed. They have an LOI and an exclusivity window. A lot happens between signing and closing.

CT Acquisitions, a sell side advisor, estimates roughly one in three signed LOIs in the lower middle market never close, and that only 50 to 60 percent close in the Main Street segment under $2M. Their guidance to sellers is direct. A seller who ran a real process has a backup plan built in, and in their example the seller went back to the two runners up from the original process when the first buyer fell out.

So you are not a loser. You are a backup who has not been asked yet. Whether you get asked depends on what you send in the next 24 hours, and whether the broker remembers you in eight weeks.

Competition makes this sharper. In the IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse for Q2 2026, 87% of deals over $5M attracted at least three offers. If you were one of three, two buyers are deciding right now how to handle the broker. Be the one who handles it well.

Text 1: The broker

The broker is the most important person in this whole situation. They control the backup call, and they control the next listing. They are also a little uncomfortable, because they just had to tell you no.

Make it easy for them. Thank them, say you are still a buyer, and ask for the one thing you want.

Thanks for the call. Disappointed, but they picked a good group. If anything changes, we’d still close at our number on the same timeline. Would love to be your first call. And send me the next one like it.

That is 39 words. It does three jobs. It shows you can lose without drama, it puts a standing offer on the table, and it reminds them you are in market for the next listing.

Then ask for feedback on a call, not by text. “What would have made our offer win?” People say things on the phone they will never put in writing. Price, structure, certainty of financing, how the seller felt about you. That answer is worth more than the deal.

Text 2: The seller, through the broker

The seller is probably in exclusivity with the winning buyer. Going around the broker is how you lose the broker for good. So the note goes through the broker, or it goes direct only if you already had a direct line, and it carries no pitch at all.

Mike, I heard you chose another group. Congratulations, and thank you for the time at the plant. I learned a lot about your business. Wishing you a smooth close and a great next chapter.

34 words. No “if it falls through.” No terms. The broker will tell the seller you are still there if it matters. Your job is to be the buyer the seller remembers as gracious, so that if the deal breaks, calling you back feels easy instead of awkward.

Text 3: The winning buyer (yes, them)

This is the one most buyers skip, and it is often the most valuable. The group that beat you is in your market, chasing your kind of business. They will pass on deals outside their thesis. They will need a buyer for a division they do not want. They may need a co investor when the equity check grows.

I have made over 1,000 introductions, and the people who get introduced most are the ones others remember well. Buyers in the same lane talk to each other. The gracious runner up gets remembered.

Heard you won Acme. Congrats, great business. We were in the process too. If you ever see deals outside your box in home services, I’m a buyer. Happy to compare notes anytime.

32 words. Only send it if you know them or the broker shares the name openly. Never ask about their terms, financing or diligence. That is the line between collegial and creepy.

Stay first in line without being annoying

One clear message today. Then quiet, on purpose, until there is a reason.

Ask the broker roughly how long exclusivity runs. My rule of thumb is to put a date on the calendar about two weeks before it ends. That is the stretch where deals either firm up or start to wobble: the QoE is back, the lender has spoken, the seller is getting tired.

Hope Acme is going smoothly. No need to reply. Still in market for anything similar, and our offer still stands if you ever need it. How’s the rest of your pipeline looking?

32 words. One check in like that is right. Weekly texts asking about the deal are not.

Between those two dates, give the broker something useful. A buyer for a listing that is not your fit, a lender who closes fast, an introduction. That is how you stay recent without asking for anything. See how to get brokers to call you first, and why recency beats reputation.

What to learn from the loss

Write down three things the same week, while you still remember them.

1. What the broker said won. Price, structure, speed, financing certainty, or fit with the seller’s story.
2. What you would change. A higher seller note, a faster close, proof of funds up front, a better first meeting with the owner.
3. Who else was in the room. The winning buyer’s name, the other bidders if you know them, the lender and attorney on the deal.

Most buyers keep none of this. Six months later the same broker brings a similar business, and they make the same offer that lost last time.

The part you will forget

Today’s texts are easy. You are motivated. What you will forget is the date two weeks before exclusivity ends, the feedback the broker gave you, and the name of the winning buyer you meant to grab coffee with.

That is the gap I built FRONT OF MIND to close. It opens on your 10 minutes for today, and each person comes with one line saying why today: a follow up due, a pipeline deal quiet 7+ days, a broker going cold. Every draft is a text style message, 40 words max, and nothing sends without your tap. Ask Liala out loud, “who do I know that is a broker in Texas,” and get the right people with the reason.

Start free with your first 25 contacts and see who comes up first.

See how it works