'You’re a perfect fit'… until they stop replying

Why so many business owners get overly excited after the first meetings with a buyer

“They called me a couple of weeks ago. A fund that was very interested in acquiring my company. They came with a lot of information, they seemed eager, and it looked like they knew more about us than you would expect.”

“And then?”

“They say they move fast. We’ve signed an NDA, we’re going to share some information, and they told me that in about ten days they’ll send me a letter of intent. If we reach an agreement, they’ll complete the due diligence in six weeks, and in three months the sale of the company would be closed and the funds in my bank account.”

“And is there anything you want me to help you with?”

“When they send me the offer, I’ll let you know and we’ll see if you can support me from Bondo Advisors. But things look good. Álvaro, the investment director, and the other guy on the call—I think his name was Hugo—were extremely nice and super, super, super interested.”

Two weeks later

“Joshua, thank you for your WhatsApp asking how things were going. I haven’t called you because I haven’t heard anything back from Álvaro. When they send me the LOI, I’ll let you know. Count on me, don’t worry—you know I want Bondo to support me in the transaction. Thanks for checking in.”

Four weeks later

“Joshua, thanks again for asking about how this matter was going (author’s note: Joshua won’t drop this under any circumstances, it’s clear he wants the sale mandate). I haven’t written to you because, after weeks of hearing nothing, I received this email:

‘We have reviewed the opportunity internally and, after analysing it in detail, we believe it does not fully meet our investment criteria at this time. We truly value the time you have dedicated to us and your transparency throughout the process. We wish you all the best and will certainly reconnect in the near future.’

“Understood. It’s quite clear this isn’t moving forward. Anything you need, I’m here.”

“I just don’t understand it. In the first call they knew everything about our company, the sector, the competition, our financials for the past years. They even almost guessed our revenue for the current year. They knew how many employees we had, they called me directly on my mobile—which I don’t even know how they got—and they kept repeating that they were looking for a company exactly like ours. That we were a perfect fit. They had studied us thoroughly.

“In the second video call, they seemed even more enthusiastic. Their eyes lit up every time I answered a question. We signed the NDA, they explained the timeline, we sent the information, and I really can’t understand how they go from that level of enthusiasm to disappearing for four weeks and then sending that email.

“I hid nothing. The numbers were exactly as I told them. We have no customer concentration and no supplier dependency. What could they have seen to cool down so much? They were boiling hot. They kept repeating that we were a perfect match.”

What happens behind those first calls

Professional buyers understand something many sellers don’t see: the process of buying well is very similar to the process of selling. Good buyers are seducers. When they contact you, they tell you what they “know” about you and say they are looking for exactly what you do.

Now, let me assure you that most of the time they don’t know as much as they seem to. With the public company registry data, a decent search on ChatGPT or Gemini, a look at LinkedIn to check the team’s current structure, and RocketReach to get a phone number or email, they can easily appear to be true experts on your company.

In the SME acquisition world, it’s all about volume. They contact a huge number of companies to find one that truly fits, meets their criteria, matches the price range, and has a founder willing to sell.

And in that initial phase, they need to keep your enthusiasm high. They can’t show doubts. They can’t lose you before deciding whether they want to move forward. They behave like any good salesperson, telling you what you want to hear until they themselves know what they want to do.

That’s why:

They won’t raise objections until the moment they decide to discard you.

They won’t cool the tone until they are sure they’re not interested.

They won’t risk you being the one to walk away.

Why let something slip away too early?

The buyer knows how to play your ego

They will make you feel special, because it works.

The experienced buyer will praise your skills, your track record, and what you’ve achieved, and with a bit of luck will make you blush because they know perfectly how to play with your ego. You’ll leave the call with the feeling that someone has finally recognised how special the company you’ve built truly is.

This is how the world works and how good investment managers operate—they understand very well the effect this type of discourse has on an entrepreneur who has been fighting for years.

If you pay attention, you’ll see the seduction is obvious, almost a technique. It’s reminiscent of that overly flattering employee who always tells you how much they admire you and that they “want to help you with everything.” Come on, darling, nobody loves their boss that much—we all know it.

And it’s fine, just like with the flattering employee. If they do their job well and are useful, great. The same applies here. The professional buyer is doing their job: they seduce you, keep you close, and create the sense that everything fits perfectly, but you must read between the lines and only move forward when they prove it with actions, not with pretty words or speeches about a perfect fit.

Until that moment, it is simply another commercial opportunity. Some deals move forward and many don’t, and there is no problem in accepting that.

If you think you’re going to sell your company after two video calls with a charming fund, you’re in for quite a few disappointments.

One last note

I’ve seen buyers who, unlike all this, believe that buying is an exercise of power.

“I have the money. They need to sell.”

In many cases they treat the founder in front of them as if they were the small supplier trying to offer storage cabinets to the purchasing department at El Corte Inglés, in those meetings where the purchasing manager says:

“I have many alternatives like yours. If you don’t give me this price, I’ll look for another option.”

The reality is that when someone thinks this way and doesn’t make even the slightest effort at seduction, the only sellers they attract are the desperate ones. Business owners who have good companies choose who they want to dance with (because they have many suitors), and when they don’t like what they see, they simply move on without any problem.

By Joshua Novick, partner at Bondo Advisors

Source: https://www.joshuanovick.com/p/encajas-perfecto-hasta-que-dejan