2027 Deal Flow Plan: Who to Text First and When
A 2027 deal flow plan built on people: who belongs on your list, a touch rhythm by role, the first 10 days of January, and a job for every quarter.
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.
A 2027 deal flow plan is a list of the 30 to 50 people most likely to send you a deal, a touch rhythm for each, and the two or three rooms you will actually work. Spend the first two weeks of January texting that list, then give every quarter one clear job.
Most plans written in December are about sourcing channels. Which platforms, which listing sites, which outreach tool. Then March comes, a broker gets a mandate that fits you perfectly, builds a short list, and calls the buyer who texted him two weeks ago.
The plan that wins is a list of names and a calendar.
What goes in a 2027 deal flow plan?
Four things, and none of them is a platform:
- The list. The people who see deals that fit you before anyone else does.
- The rhythm. How often each person hears from you, with a real reason.
- The rooms. The conferences and dinners you will attend and follow up on properly.
- The review. A date each quarter to check who went quiet.
If you want help picking names, start with the 40 people in your phone who could send you a deal. For the wider map of where buyer deal flow comes from, see deal flow for business buyers.
Who belongs on your 2027 list, and how often should they hear from you?
Put the people closest to a decision to sell on the list, and touch them on a rhythm set by how often they see deals. Here is how I would set it. The rhythms are a starting point, not research.
| Role | Why they matter | Touch rhythm |
|---|---|---|
| Business brokers and M&A advisors | They build the short list | About every 30 days |
| SBA and bank lenders | They see deals at the financing stage | About every 60 days |
| CPAs, estate attorneys, wealth managers | They hear about an exit before it is public | About every 90 days |
| Owners who said not yet | The answer changes on their timeline, not yours | Once a quarter, never pushy |
| Mastermind and event hosts | They decide who sits next to whom | Around each of their events |
| Investors and capital partners | They need to see you working | Monthly while you are active |
A touch means a real reason: they closed a deal, changed firms, posted something, or you have an intro that helps them. A calendar reminder that says “check in” is not a reason.
What should you do in the first 10 days of January?
Spend them on the list, before the first room of the year. In 2027, the first full working week starts Monday, January 4. Here is the order I would run it.
- Day 1: Build the list. 30 to 50 names, each tagged with a role from the table above.
- Day 2: Rewrite your buy box as one text. Industry, size, region, what you need from the owner.
- Days 3 to 5: Text brokers and M&A advisors. Buy box plus one line about their year.
- Days 6 to 7: Text lenders and the CPAs, attorneys and wealth managers on your list.
- Day 8: Book your rooms. DealMAX runs May 3 to 5, 2027 at ARIA in Las Vegas, and its site says registration opens in November. The AM&AA Winter Conference is January 28 to 29, 2027 in Fort Lauderdale.
- Day 9: Ask for coffees. The five people who replied warmest get a real invite for late January.
- Day 10: Put four review dates on the calendar. One per quarter, 30 minutes each.
Three texts for that first week, each under 40 words:
To a broker:
[Name], happy new year. For 2027 we are buying [industry], [EBITDA range], [region]. Saw you closed [Company] in [month], congrats. Coffee before the end of January?
To a lender:
[Name], happy new year. Same buy box as last year, plus [new criterion]. If a buyer drops out of something that fits, I can move fast.
To a CPA or attorney:
[Name], happy new year. Still looking for one owner who is thinking about a transition in [industry]. Happy to return the favor with intros on your side.
Which conferences belong in the plan?
Only the ones where your scarce relationship sits, and only as many as you will follow up on. A broker heavy buyer looks at the IBBA Conference, May 21 to 23, 2027 in Orlando. A buyer who needs bankers and lenders looks at DealMAX. The full calendar, with hosts, cities and who each room is for, is in M&A conferences 2027.
Two rooms you work properly beat six rooms where you only collect cards.
What does each quarter of 2027 need to do?
Each quarter gets one job. The rooms are the easy part. The weeks after them are where the plan pays.
| Quarter | The job | Relationship work |
|---|---|---|
| Q1, January to March | Restart | First 10 days on the list, then 48 hour texts after every winter room |
| Q2, April to June | Work the big rooms | Capture people in the room, text them within 48 hours, book second meetings |
| Q3, July to September | Collect on spring | The 30 and 60 day touches, when spring contacts start sending mandates |
| Q4, October to December | Close loops | Promised intros, quiet deals, then holiday notes and the 2028 list |
For the follow up mechanics after each room, the conference follow up system has the full version.
How do you know the plan is working?
Count two things at each quarterly review. How many deals came to you from people on the list. And how many people on the list you have not touched in longer than their rhythm.
Say you have 40 names and 12 are overdue at the April review. That is illustrative, but it tells you exactly who to text that week. The second number is the one that warns you early. The first only shows up months later.
The system that runs the plan for you
A plan with 40 names and six rhythms is easy to write in December and hard to keep in May, in the middle of a deal.
FRONT OF MIND keeps it. Each morning it opens on your 10 minutes for today, and each person has one line on why today: they posted, a follow up is due, their company was in the news, a pipeline deal has been quiet 7 days, or they are going cold. Capture people at an event by saying a name and a sentence out loud, snapping a card or badge, or taking a selfie together, and it is filed under the event. Every draft is a text style message, 40 words max, and nothing sends without your tap.
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, and you can export or delete anytime. Start free with your first 25 contacts and see who on your 2027 list comes up first. See how it works