Questions about their track record
- 01How many deals have you closed in the last 24 months in my specific industry?
- 02Of those, how many were within 30% of my company's size?
- 03What's the largest and smallest deal you've closed in the last two years?
- 04Can you name two or three deals (even anonymized) that are comparable to mine?
A firm's overall deal count means less than its deal count in your specific size and sector. A firm that closes fifty $200M deals a year has a very different practice than one that closes fifty $10M deals a year, even if the headline number looks similar.
Questions about how they'll run your process
- 05Will this be a broad auction, a targeted list, or a single-buyer negotiation, and why that approach for my business specifically?
- 06How many buyers do you typically approach, and how many of those usually submit an indication of interest?
- 07What does your typical timeline look like, from engagement to closing?
- 08How do you keep the process confidential from my employees and customers?
Questions about who actually does the work
- 09Who specifically will be my day-to-day contact, and is that the same person in this room right now?
- 10How many other active engagements will that person have at the same time as mine?
- 11Can I speak directly with two or three recent clients in a similar size range?
This is the single most commonly skipped question, and the one most likely to reveal a gap between the pitch and the reality. Senior partners sell engagements; associates frequently run them day to day.
Questions about fees and structure
- 12What's your full fee structure: retainer, minimum fee, and every success-fee breakpoint?
- 13Is any portion of the retainer credited against the success fee?
- 14What's the length and scope of the tail provision if I end up closing after our engagement ends?
See our full M&A Advisor Fees guide for what typical answers to these should sound like.
What a bad answer sounds like
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"We'll figure out the team once we're engaged"
You should know who's running your deal before you sign anything, not after.
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"References aren't really something we do"
Recent references in your size range and sector are a reasonable, standard ask. Reluctance here is a signal.
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A confident valuation before reviewing your actual financials
A number offered before real diligence is a sales tactic, not an analysis. See the red flags in our How to Choose an Advisor guide.