Intros through a buyer's auditor or outside counsel

Your buyer's auditor and outside counsel sit closer to the executive team than almost anyone outside the company. They see the hard problems early. They get the call when something breaks.

That makes them tempting connectors. It makes them careful ones too.

Done well, an intro from a trusted advisor is one of the strongest paths into a senior buyer. Done badly, it costs you the advisor and the account at once.

Why these advisors are different

Auditors and lawyers live under rules most connectors don't. An audit firm has independence obligations to its client. A law firm owes its client confidentiality. Neither can share what they've learned on the engagement, and neither wants to look like they're steering vendors.

So the ask has to respect those lines. You're never asking for inside information. You're never asking them to endorse you to their client. You're asking whether a conversation might be useful, and letting them decide.

If you can't make the ask without crossing that line, don't make it.

Start with your own advisors

The cleanest path usually runs through someone you already know. Your own firm has an accountant and a lawyer. So do your clients. Partners at those firms know partners at the firms your buyers use, and often work on the same deals or in the same industry groups.

Ask your own advisor first. They know your work, and they know the norms of their profession better than you do. They'll tell you whether an intro through a colleague is reasonable or whether it would put someone in a bad spot.

Former colleagues who moved into audit or legal work are good paths too. So are people you've met on the same side of a transaction.

When the timing fits

Advisors see change before it's public, and they can't tell you about it. But you can see the public version and know they've lived it.

A new audit firm named in a proxy. A material weakness disclosed in a filing. An outside counsel named on a big acquisition. These are moments when the advisor knows the buyer is busy with real work, and when a services firm might be worth a call.

The 8-K items every services seller should watch covers a few of these.

The ask

Keep it short, put the public fact up front and make declining easy.

Say Tomas, a partner at your firm's law firm, knows a partner at the firm that handled Brenwick Foods' acquisition of a smaller rival. You've done integration work on three food deals.

You ask Tomas whether his colleague would be open to mentioning you to Brenwick's CFO, if and only if it feels natural. You say you're not asking for anything about the deal. You give him a note he can pass along as is.

Saw Brenwick close the Marlow acquisition last month. With two finance teams and two ERPs now reporting to you, my guess is the first close as one company is the part keeping people up. Is that accurate, or is the bigger issue something else?

Nothing in that note relies on inside knowledge. Everything in it is in the press release.

Don't ask the advisor what problems the client has. Don't ask who the other vendors are. Don't ask them to recommend you. Don't ask them to join a call.

Each of those puts the advisor in conflict with their duty to the client. They might say yes. You'd still be asking them to take a risk for you, and they'll remember it.

The when not to ask for an intro post covers the broader version of this judgment.

Give back in their currency

Advisors value referrals of their own. If you're asked who your firm uses for legal or accounting work, mention the people who've helped you. When a client of yours needs an advisor, recommend one you trust.

That's the give and take that keeps these relationships warm. It's slow, and it's worth it.

The point

A buyer's auditor or outside counsel can open a door that's closed to everyone else. Respect their rules, ask only for a light touch and never ask for what they can't share. When the path is clean, it's one of the best you'll find.