Had a meeting this morning with one of the companies interested in acquiring my company. The meeting was myself, the owner/nominal CEO of the other company, their CFO, and their Executive Vice President. I say "nominal CEO" because the owner has little to do with the day-to-day operations of the company, and sees himself as a deal guy.

I was fascinated to watch the owner work. First he said he was going to lay all his cards on the table, and proceeds to tell me how uninterested he was in a company like ours. He comes from a background in car sales, so I half-expected this tactic.

We talked about synergy, we talked about business, we talked about numbers. "Look," he said at one point, "I could take five guys from my team and build a new practice doing exactly what you're doing. Why shouldn't I do that instead?"

I welcome such a negotiating strategy, since it shows that he's at least interested in what we have to offer. I also happen to know how much it would cost to replicate our business, and buying us would probably be cheaper, and certainly faster.

"How are we ever going to make any money off of you guys, when your average ticket is only ten grand? I need half-million dollar projects to make it work." Keep in mind that this is a consulting company, not a service bureau like us. So, I patiently explained that our customer value is in the relationship, not the individual project. If a customer does a whole bunch of ten-grand projects, pretty soon you're talking serious money.

He was one of the hardest people to read I've ever met, and he kept his poker face on the entire meeting. At the end, his concession was, "My initial reaction is positive."

Considering the source, I took this as a major victory.