Why every good M&A advisor needs sales skills

When we started our M&A business in 2008, we strongly believed that we could add value to our clients with the know-how we had gained from our own transactions. However, we quickly learned that we needed to build some key skills on the buy-side: Sales! Why sales of all things?

When we accept an M&A buy-side mandate, we are convinced that we can find the right companies for our client and, more importantly, open the doors to the decision-makers in these companies. This is where it becomes clear that we have an analogy to the classic cold call. Not only do we have to find the right contact person, but we also have to convince them (or their assistant) to meet with us. This process requires a lot of tact and, above all, sales experience.

Once we are successful and have the decision-maker in the room, the real supreme discipline comes. We have to sell our client to the decision maker. Yes, right! We sell our customer. Because in this day and age, we, or our customer, are not the only people interested in the company. So why should we sell to our customer? You can see it: Sales is in demand!

Once the contact is made and both sides start the M&A process, of course the other classic M&A consulting skills come into play, but sales skills are also required throughout the process.

For this reason, we regularly train our team in sales and have even created a brand for outsourced sales services that builds on decades of experience in our core business.

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