SourceX's screening guidance counts an introduction the decision-maker never knew about as a poor fit, and a sale is when that failure is easiest to commit: the advisor knows the most, the seller is busiest, and a buyer is watching. The instruction below is built for an engagement already underway. If you are still before the CIM, the pre-process checklist for a business sale comes first.
Two permissions, and when one person gives both
Your client is whoever signed your engagement letter. The company is the legal entity that holds the records. They are often not the same party, and the instruction has to say which is which.
The shape of the sale changes who the seller is. In a stock sale the owners sell their shares and the company stays the same entity, so its records stay with it under new owners. In an asset sale the company itself sells a group of assets, and the IRS asks the seller and the purchaser of a group of assets that makes up a business each to report such a sale on Form 8594 when goodwill or going-concern value attaches or could attach. SourceX's guide to records after an asset sale explains where each kind of record usually lands.
| Who engaged you | Who decides on licensing before closing | Who decides after closing | What the instruction needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| The owner, who is also the CEO | That person, as CEO | The acquirer's CEO | One signature, given twice and labeled with both capacities |
| Several shareholders, one of them the CEO | The CEO | The acquirer's CEO | The client's line plus the CEO's own line; a shareholder who is not CEO cannot sign the second |
| A private equity fund selling a portfolio company | The portfolio company's CEO | The acquirer's CEO | The fund's line for your conduct and the CEO's line for the company |
| A parent selling a division's assets | The CEO of the entity that holds the division's records | The acquirer's CEO, for the records it bought | The entity named exactly; a division head can sponsor the idea but does not decide |
Two cases break the table. Where ownership is split 50/50, or the company is in a formal insolvency process, the CEO alone may not be enough, and SourceX's screening guidance says so. Stop and find out who controls the records before drafting anything.
The seller instruction and consent template
Ten lines on one page. The example wording is Illustrative; every bracket is filled by the client or the CEO, never by you.
| Line | What it records | Example wording (Illustrative) | Give it again when |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Parties | Who is client, which entity is the company, and who its CEO is | "Client: [name], seller under the engagement dated [date]. Company: [legal entity], through its CEO, [name]." | The client, the entity or the CEO changes |
| 2. Permitted steps | The widest step you may take | One of: (a) describe the program to the CEO; (b) also send the company your partner link; (c) also submit an introduction from your partner account | You want to go one step wider |
| 3. Approved facts | The only facts that may reach SourceX | "Peak full-time headcount [n] in [year]; record types and year spans [list]; systems [list]; CEO contact details." | A fact changes or is added |
| 4. Withheld facts | What the engagement taught you that never travels | "Nothing from the engagement: financials, buyer identities, process dates, data-room contents." | Never; no later line overrides it |
| 5. Who may hear | Who outside your firm may learn of it | One of: SourceX only; SourceX and a named buyer, if the CEO chooses; nobody before [date] | The CEO widens or narrows it |
| 6. Timing | When anything happens | One of: explore now; after counsel has read a signed LOI; after closing, when this instruction ends | A milestone in the next section arrives |
| 7. Your compensation | Your partner status and what you would be paid | "Advisor [is / is not] a registered SourceX partner. Default reward: the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap, funded by SourceX. Advisor [accepts / declines] it." | Your status or your choice changes |
| 8. Engagement fee | Whether your engagement fee could reach a license | "Whether the engagement fee applies to a license is answered by [counsel's name]." | The engagement letter is amended |
| 9. Lapse and withdrawal | When it ends | "Ends at the earliest of [date], a signed LOI, a signed purchase agreement or closing. Either signer may withdraw it by email at any time." | Always at closing |
| 10. Signatures | Who signed, in which capacity, and when | Client; CEO for the company; date | Every time it is given again |
Line 7 is yours before it is the client's. SourceX's own homepage tells licensed professionals to check their own rules on referral fees, and the referral fee rules by profession table has an entry for M&A advisors and business brokers. Line 8 exists because a broad engagement letter can reach further than a sale; the engagement letter transaction definition guide shows what to look for, and your counsel answers it.
Method note. The ten lines combine SourceX's program facts (terms version 2026-10-22.2, since replaced by version 2026-11-04 and its screening guidance, both checked 2026-10-27) with the ordinary milestones of a sale. The template records decisions; it does not judge whether the company fits, what its records are worth or what the deal documents allow. No response or completion rates exist for it, and none are claimed.
Milestones that end the instruction
An instruction given at engagement does not survive the whole process. Treat each milestone below as a reason to stop and, where the table says so, to have it given again.
| Milestone | Status of the instruction | Who decides for the company | What you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engagement signed | Can be given | The target's CEO | Draft lines 1 to 10 if the CEO wants to explore |
| Teaser, CIM and buyer outreach | Stands | The target's CEO | Keep every approved fact out of the marketing materials |
| LOI signed | Give it again | The target's CEO | Ask whether counsel has read the LOI before anything moves; licensing during an LOI explains why |
| Purchase agreement signed | Give it again | The target's CEO, within whatever the signed documents allow | Pause unless counsel has cleared the step |
| Closing, stock sale | Ends | The acquirer's CEO, for the same company | Start again from the acquirer's side |
| Closing, asset sale | Ends | The acquirer's CEO for purchased records; the selling entity's CEO for records it kept | Find out which records moved before asking anyone |
After closing, a different question takes over: who should make the introduction now that the acquirer's CEO decides. That is the subject of who makes the introduction after a sale closes.
Approved facts, engagement knowledge and the gap between them
Apply two tests to every fact before it goes on line 3. First: did the CEO tell you this for the purpose of a data introduction? Second: could a stranger confirm it without your engagement? A fact passes only if the first answer is yes. Public facts that fail the first test, such as a founding year on the company's website, are harmless but unnecessary; leave them out anyway, because the CEO should see the complete list of what travels.
What fails every time is anything you hold because you were hired: a quality-of-earnings finding, the reason a bidder dropped out, the customer list in the data room, the owner's retirement plans. None of it helps an introduction, and SourceX does not need it, because the company applies itself and SourceX runs its own review. A three-fact line 3 (headcount at peak, record types with year spans, the CEO's contact) is a complete instruction.
A filled instruction, two ways (Illustrative)
Illustrative. Two invented companies; neither row describes a real engagement or outcome.
| Line | 190-person commercial landscaping company, owner-CEO, asset sale, LOI signed | 260-person software services company, fund-owned, stock sale, in marketing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Parties | Owner signs as client and again as CEO | Fund partner signs as client; the company's CEO is asked separately |
| 2. Permitted steps | (a) only: describe the program to the CEO | Not reached; the CEO declined |
| 5. Who may hear | Nobody before closing | Not reached |
| 6. Timing | After closing | Not reached |
| 7. Your compensation | Advisor registered as a partner; discloses the default reward and accepts it | Not reached |
| 9. Lapse | Closing | Not reached |
| Result | Nothing moves until closing; then the acquirer's CEO decides whether to hear about it | No introduction: the fund's line alone does not speak for the company |
The second column is the case to remember. The fund wanted the introduction and had every reason to give the instruction, but the company's CEO did not want the conversation, and a client's enthusiasm is not the company's decision.
The quietest way into the conversation
Once both lines are signed, take the least visible route the instruction allows. Usually that means sending your partner link and letting the company apply itself when the CEO is ready; you do not join its calls, and nobody else hears of it unless line 5 says so. SourceX's standard deal terms add that neither side publicizes a deal, and the company approves scope and terms and signs before any data is delivered.
Time the submission to the moment the company will actually apply. Credit goes to the first valid introduction inside the 90-day attribution window and attaches only when the company submits a verified application, and section 2 of the terms adds: "The 90-day window does not extend because contact protection under the agreement continues." An introduction submitted in month two of marketing, for a company that waits until after closing, can simply run out of window. Before submitting anything, sign the SourceX Channel Partner Agreement, and ask the CEO whether anyone at the company has already applied to, corresponded with or been introduced to SourceX; a company SourceX already knows is reviewed as a duplicate and is not credited to a later partner.
Where the template falls short
- It is not legal advice or a legal document. It does not change your engagement letter or anything the company signs with a buyer, and counsel may want different wording.
- It does not make the company a fit. The published fit facts still apply: 50 or more full-time employees at peak, contractors left out; years of its own records; the rights to license them; and an eligible location. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 70% of the data is in English.
- Simple ownership can hide a second owner. A 50/50 split or a trustee can sit behind a company that looks owner-run, and then the CEO's line alone may not be enough.
- It ages. A signed instruction is a snapshot. If the sale stalls for months, ask whether it still reflects the CEO's view before acting on it.
The sell-side context for these introductions is set out for M&A advisors and business brokers.
Next step
Refer a company. No cap on rewards. Default reward on a company's first qualifying transaction: the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap; further qualifying transactions first agreed within 12 months of the first Closing pay 15%. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, including the USD 100,000 Minimum Transaction, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
When both lines of the instruction are signed and its timing line says now, open a partner account, test the company against who qualifies and read the program terms before your link goes out. More transaction guides are in the guides library.