RECEIVED AN APPROACH?
Don’t reply yet.
The first reply is where owners give the deal away. Yours can wait 48 hours - and should.
That letter was written by someone who does this every month. The number is an anchor. The deadline is choreography. The exclusivity clause is the expensive part, and it’s dressed as a formality. None of that makes the approach bad news - it might be the best thing that’s happened to your business - but you’re one reply away from negotiating their process instead of yours.
$15,000 ex GST, fixed
Within about a week: what the offer is really worth against market. What the letter is doing tactically. Whether to respond, hold, or acknowledge - and the holding response drafted, ready to send, that buys back the clock without closing any door.
Knowledge of the approach stays restricted to the people you name. I never contact the buyer.
$25,000 ex GST, fixed
Everything in the triage, plus a rapid scan of what their due diligence will find, an indicative value range, and a board-ready decision: respond and negotiate, run a competitive process, or decline and prepare.
Engage within 30 days of the triage and the full triage fee is credited.
If your client just got a letter: call this week, before they reply. Triage is fast, fixed-fee, and takes nothing from your relationship - when the deal proceeds, the legal and tax work is yours.