Value · 3 min read
The specific ways an M&A advisor increases the price and improves the terms of a business sale — competitive tension, positioning, and negotiation leverage.
By John Norton · April 27, 2026
The single biggest thing an advisor delivers isn't a phone call to a buyer. It's competitive tension.
A buyer talking to you one-on-one has all the leverage. They know they're the only conversation. A buyer competing against five other interested parties knows exactly the opposite. That psychological shift is worth 15%–30% of purchase price in most deals.
How the business is presented in the CIM materially affects valuation. Highlighting the recurring revenue base, the growth trajectory, the customer concentration story, and the strategic fit for specific buyer types — all of that is craft.
Most owners can name five or ten likely buyers. A good advisor is running outreach to 50–150. The best price often comes from a buyer the owner had never considered.
Working capital pegs, earnout structures, escrow amounts, reps and warranties, non-competes, transition services. These are all negotiable and each can move six or seven figures. Advisors negotiate these professionally, every day, against buyers who do the same.
Perhaps most importantly, an advisor knows when the price is right and when it's not. That perspective — grounded in current market comps — is hard to have when it's your own business and your own life.
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