Free Assessment

How Effective Is Your
Deal Origination?

The median PE firm sees just 17.6% of relevant opportunities. Score your sourcing process across 5 dimensions in under 3 minutes.

Deal Sourcing Breadth

How do you primarily source acquisition opportunities today?

The best-performing acquirers use multiple parallel channels rather than relying on a single source of deal flow.

Broker-only, we wait for mandates to come to us
Brokers plus our own network and referrals
Brokers, network, plus some proactive outreach
Multi-channel: brokers, network, proprietary outreach, data-driven screening
Deal Sourcing Breadth

What percentage of your pipeline comes from proprietary (off-market) sources?

Best-in-class firms source 40-60% of their pipeline proprietary. Most firms are under 25%.

Under 10%
10-25%
25-50%
Over 50%
Deal Sourcing Breadth

How many new potential acquisition targets enter your pipeline each month?

With an 80:1 average opportunity-to-close ratio, consistent volume is essential to maintain deal velocity.

Fewer than 5
5-15
15-40
40+ with systematic tracking
Target Identification

Do you have a documented, data-driven Ideal Company Profile for the businesses you want to acquire?

A precise ICP reduces noise and focuses resources on the opportunities most likely to convert.

No, we evaluate opportunities as they come
We have a rough idea of what we want (sector, size)
We have a written thesis with clear criteria
We have a scored, data-backed ICP that we actively refine based on pipeline feedback
Target Identification

How do you screen and prioritise the opportunities you see?

Systematic screening separates signal from noise and prevents the best opportunities from getting lost in the volume.

Gut feel and partner discussion
Basic financial filters (revenue, EBITDA)
Multi-factor scoring (financials + strategic fit + market position)
Automated scoring with enrichment data, updated in real time
Outreach & Engagement

When you identify a target you like, how quickly do you typically make first contact?

Speed matters in proprietary origination. The first credible conversation often determines who gets the deal.

We don't usually make first contact, we wait for introductions
Within a few weeks
Within days
Same week, with personalised multi-channel outreach
Outreach & Engagement

How would you describe your outreach approach to owner-managers?

Owner-managers rarely respond to generic approaches. The firms that win proprietary deals do so with personalised, research-backed outreach.

We don't do direct outreach
Occasional emails or calls when something catches our eye
Regular outreach with templates and tracking
Systematic campaigns with personalised messaging, follow-ups, and response tracking
Pipeline & Process

How do you track your deal pipeline?

You can't improve what you don't measure. Pipeline visibility is the foundation of consistent origination.

Spreadsheets or memory
A basic CRM or shared document
A dedicated deal pipeline tool with stages and notes
Full CRM with automated alerts, enrichment, activity logging, and reporting
Pipeline & Process

Over the last 12 months, how many completed acquisitions came from deals you originated (vs broker-introduced)?

This is the ultimate measure of origination effectiveness: how many proprietary deals actually close.

None, all were broker-sourced
1
2-3
4+
Market Intelligence

How confident are you that you have visibility of all the relevant acquisition targets in your sectors of interest?

Most firms significantly overestimate their market coverage. The median PE firm sees just 17.6% of relevant deals.

Not confident, I know we're missing opportunities
Somewhat confident, but it's hard to know what we don't see
Fairly confident, we monitor key databases and networks
Very confident, we have systematic coverage with data feeds and ongoing enrichment
One last question

What best describes your current situation?

This helps us tailor your results and recommendations.

We're actively looking to make an acquisition in the next 6 months
We're building our pipeline for the next 12 months
We're exploring whether to build an in-house origination function
Just benchmarking, no immediate plans
0 out of 40

17.6% of deals seen by median PE firm
80:1 average opportunity to close ratio
40-60% proprietary pipeline at best-in-class

Your Category Breakdown

Deal Sourcing Breadth 0%
Target Identification 0%
Outreach & Engagement 0%
Pipeline & Process 0%
Market Intelligence 0%

Book a Deal Origination Review