Target companies are constantly bombarded with outreach from PE firms. Inboxes fill up fast. Everyone’s requesting meetings. The noise is overwhelming.

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So how does someone in a deal sourcing role break through?

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I’ve had the chance to speak with several founders who sold to PE. From these conversations, I’ve gained some unique perspectives on how to cut through the noise.

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Let me share a few key takeaways:

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What you should do

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• Show you’ve done your research - spend the time during outreach to demonstrate to targets that they are exactly that - targets, being thoughtful and precise about who they are.
• Add value - this one gets thrown around a lot, but spend the time
  figuring out what could be valuable to your targets. Have a portfolio company in the same industry? Find some data about their headcount or some type of industry benchmark that might be valuable for the target to see.
• ‘Happen to be’ places more often - this continues to work for deal sourcing professionals. Prospects are often more responsive to timely requests to meet in person in their city.
• Ask for intros. Spend the time finding out who knows who and ask them to make introductions.

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What you should not do

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• Automate to the point that it’s obvious.
• Make a mistake describing their business, further exposing the first point above.
• Forget to Google the company to see if it recently did a transaction.
• Ask for financials right away.
• Follow up too much.
• Forget to follow up at all .

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What am I missing?

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