We have signed the LOI and the buyer's legal team is slow-walking the definitive purchase agreement while their operational team inundates us with daily data requests. How do we use our weekly EOS cadence to drive this deal to a close without allowing the buyer to wear us down?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic buyer tactic known as deal fatigue. By delaying the drafting process while constantly requesting more information, they hope to exhaust you until you agree to price concessions or unfavorable terms just to get the deal done.

To combat this, you must run your transaction process with the same operational discipline you use to run your business. Keep your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ active for your leadership team, and add a specific, time-boxed agenda item to IDS® transaction issues. Create a dedicated deal milestone tracker that outlines the exact steps from LOI to close, including specific dates for draft agreements, disclosure schedules, and regulatory filings.

Share this tracker with the buyer and establish a joint weekly fifteen-minute stand-up meeting with both deal teams to review progress. If the buyer misses a critical milestone without a valid reason, use the hard-stop dates negotiated in your LOI to threaten termination of exclusivity. Your strength in negotiation comes from your willingness to walk away. By maintaining your weekly operational rhythm and holding the buyer accountable to a visible schedule, you signal that your business is run by highly disciplined leaders who will not be ground down by administrative delays.