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.

Text the broker one line on why you went quiet, one line on what you are buying now, and one question they can answer in a sentence. Keep it under 40 words, and pick the opener based on what actually caused the six month gap.

You are scrolling your phone between calls and her name comes up. The broker who sent you two teasers last spring. You signed the NDAs, looked at the books, passed on one, never answered on the other, and then got buried. Six months later she has listings you have never seen, and you have no idea what to say first.

Most advice on this says “open with something in their world.” That works when you have a fresh reason, and how to reconnect with someone you have not talked to in months covers it. This page is for the other case. The gap itself is the awkward part, and the broker remembers how it started.

The reason for the gap decides the text

A broker does not remember you as a name. She remembers you as the buyer who did a specific thing. Passed without a word. Vanished into a deal. Took three NDAs and never made an offer. Your text has to land on top of that memory, not pretend it does not exist.

So before you write, answer one question: why did the silence start? The answer picks the opener. Everything after the opener is the same: what you buy now, and one easy question.

Seven texts for seven situations

Swap in your own names, sectors and numbers. Every one is under 40 words.

1. You passed on their last deal and never said why.

“Dana, I owe you a real answer on the HVAC deal from last spring. We passed on customer concentration, not the business. Still buying home services under $3M EBITDA. Did that one find a buyer?”

This is the most fixable gap. A searcher on Searchfunder put it bluntly in a post on being a broker’s worst nightmare: a simple “pass” is polite but “fairly useless,” and a short message rich with feedback is what helps. Late feedback is still feedback.

2. You went quiet because you closed your own deal.

“Mark, the reason you have not heard from me: we closed a landscaping company in Tampa in August. Now hunting add ons in Florida, $1M to $4M revenue. What are you seeing down there?”

A close is news. It tells the broker you can finish, which is the thing every broker wants to know about a buyer. Open with it.

3. You went quiet because your deal died.

“Priya, the deal that ate my spring fell apart in diligence. Lesson learned on working capital. I am back in the market for B2B services, $1M to $3M EBITDA, and can move fast. Anything early on your desk?”

Do not hide a dead deal. Deals fall apart all the time, and brokers know it better than anyone. Saying it plainly, with one line on what you learned, reads as a serious buyer who is available right now.

4. You never closed anything with them.

“Tom, we met at the IBBA conference and I signed NDAs on two of your listings, then went quiet. Still buying, lender lined up. What does a buyer have to do to be your first call?”

The question at the end is real. Ask it straight and most people will answer it straight, and the answer is worth more than the text.

5. They just announced a closing.

“Lisa, saw the Dayton machine shop closed. Congrats. Curious what got it over the line, financing or the seller staying on? I am still in precision manufacturing in the Midwest if you get another one.”

Ask about the deal, not about you. A broker who just closed has a fresh list of buyers who lost, and a question about how it closed is easier to answer than “anything for me?”

6. You lost their deal to another buyer.

“Jim, I saw the distribution deal closed with another group. Good outcome for the seller. Our offer was light on the earnout, and I would structure it differently next time. Keep me in mind for the next one?”

Naming where your offer fell short shows the broker you will be a stronger bid next time. That is a reason to call you.

7. Your criteria changed while you were quiet.

“Ana, quick update so you do not send me the wrong deals: we now buy up to $5M EBITDA, not $2M, and we added the Carolinas. Anything sitting on your desk that was too big for us before?”

A broker filters buyers by the criteria they last heard. If yours moved, the old version is quietly keeping you off lists. This text fixes that and opens her pipeline from a new angle.

What every one of these has in common

Look at the seven again. Here is what I tell people to check before they hit send. Each one does three things in under 40 words.

• It names the gap by its cause. Not “sorry it has been a while.” The actual reason: the pass, the close, the dead deal, the lost bid.
• It restates what you buy. One line. Sector, size, geography. The broker should be able to file you without asking.
• It ends with one easy question. Something she can answer from her phone in ten seconds.

Clearly Acquired’s piece on broker relationships makes the same point from the other side: giving specific feedback on listings is how a buyer gets taken seriously. Every text above is feedback in some form.

What is missing on purpose: a paragraph about your fund, a request for a call, three asks stacked together, and “just checking in.”

Text or email

Text if you have texted before or they handed you their cell. Otherwise send the same words as a short email with a plain subject line. The words do the work. A 35 word note with a clear reason and clear criteria is easy to answer, whatever the channel.

After the text

If she replies, answer the same day and keep it moving toward one listing or one call. If she does not, my rule of thumb is to wait two to three weeks and send one new reason, never the same text twice.

Then stay on a cadence so you never need a text like this again. How to stay top of mind with brokers during a 12 month deal cycle lays out the rhythm for the brokers who matter most.

The reason the cadence matters is simple and you already know it: recency beats reputation. The buyer she talked to last week gets the call.

The hard part is noticing it has been six months

Nobody decides to go dark on a broker for half a year. You think it has been six weeks. You were in diligence, then on a plane, then closing. The gap sneaks up, and you only notice when her name surfaces by accident.

I watched this happen to operators again and again while making over 1,000 introductions. They met the right people, had real conversations, then disappeared for six months into diligence or a raise. By the time they came back, someone else had the relationship. That is why I built FRONT OF MIND.

It notices for you. It opens on your 10 minutes for today, and each person comes with a one line reason why today: a follow up is due, they posted about a closing, a deal in your pipeline has been quiet for 7 days, or the relationship is going cold. The draft is already written like a text, 40 words max, and nothing sends without your tap. Edit it, send it, move to the next one. It learns from your edits, so the drafts start to sound like you.

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