The Advisor’s First Job Is the Map
Buyer-side advisors — buyer’s agents, brokers acting for acquirers, franchise consultants, equipment finance specialists — sell judgment, and judgment needs a map of the buyer before the first shortlist goes out. This discovery form builds that map: what the buyer actually wants, what they can actually deploy, who else holds a pen, and what the clock says. Gathered in fifteen minutes, before the first showing or the first deal memo.
What They’re Really Buying
The stated purchase is rarely the motivation. A long text asks what the purchase changes about their life or business in two years; a multiple choice separates must-haves from nice-to-haves. An investor chasing yield and one chasing a lifestyle buy different assets with identical budgets — the form tells you which one is at your table before you waste a showing on the wrong fit.
The Money Picture
Budget bands via dropdown start it; financing reality finishes it. A yes/no on pre-approval, a funding-source question — cash, lender, investor, seller-financing — and, tactfully optional, a proof-of-funds upload. Advisors who learn the real deployable number at intake write shorter shortlists and waste fewer Saturdays.
Who Else Holds a Pen
Spouse, business partner, board, banker: the purchase lives or dies in the second conversation the advisor is not in. A short text naming the decision circle — plus what each of them needs in order to say yes — maps the real path to signature. An opinion scale on timeline urgency and a date for the decision deadline complete it: motivation without a clock is browsing.
Fit, and When to Say No
Score every inquiry against your ideal buyer profile honestly: some prospects are better served with a referral than a retainer, and a form that makes fit visible protects both sides of that conversation. When the client book is genuinely full, close the form with a kind message and a reopen date — advising from scarcity serves nobody.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from a sales qualification form?
Direction. Sales qualification serves the seller filtering leads; this serves the buyer’s advisor building the mandate. Same anatomy, opposite loyalties.
Should we ask for proof of funds at intake?
Optional, always — a yes/no on readiness first, documentation when the relationship justifies it. Leading with paperwork scares off exactly the buyers worth having.
What if the buyer's answers contradict each other?
Flag, don’t interrogate. The first consultation resolves contradictions out loud, and the form tells you which contradictions to open with.
First-time buyers and experienced acquirers — same form?
First-timers get the education-forward variant: duplicate and soften. Related revenue-side formats sit in the sales category and the make-sales collection.