Darren Smith sold Smith Consulting Group to his largest partner. Across the whole deal, the buyer never asked him about profitability.
Darren spent more than sixteen years building a consulting practice around large bank technology projects. One partner was far larger than his firm. That partner's own customers kept telling them Darren's team was the reason their projects went well.
He had been doing the exit prep work to have good exit options. EBITDA, multiples, repeatable revenue, the things that set a sale price. He expected all of it to come up.
Then the partner's CEO asked to talk. The two had never met. The call was on a Saturday, both of them in ball caps, and they spent the first part of it talking about their kids. What the CEO wanted was to put customer service at the center of the company, and he wanted Darren's team to be the proof.
Darren's advice to the room was direct. If you have a deep relationship with a much larger partner, and that partner's customers tell them your work matters, ask whether they would consider buying you. Put it in their head. When they already see the value, it is a completely different kind of purchase.
He had one goal he would not trade away. He wanted every person on his team to come with him. All of them did.
Why it matters to you.
Preparing the firm for sale is still important. Darren did it, and it is part of why he could move quickly when the call came. A buyer with strategic reasons still has to get the deal past their own finance people, and clean books are what makes that fast. But there is a second kind of value, and it does not sit in your P&L. It sits in what your partner's customers say about you when you are not on the call. A financial buyer builds a case out of your numbers. A strategic partner has watched your work land with their own customers for years. They are not estimating what you are worth. They already know. That is also the catch. The reputation a buyer pays for is built years before anyone makes an offer. You cannot assemble it in the quarter you decide to sell.
Your one thing.
Name the one partner whose customers already know your firm by name. What would their leadership say about your work if you were not on the call?
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