Off-Market Deal Sourcing | Using LinkedIn Triggers to find your next hot buy

Since my last post on Off-Market deal sourcing was so popular, I received quite a few DMs asking where would I start from the list I gave. I'll do you one better; below is my formula, swipe it, use it, enjoy the leads. # New CFO LinkedIn Trigger | Weekly SOP ## 1. Ideal Target Filters - Headcount: 30–250 employees - Geography: Same time-zone or ≤3-hour flight - Sector: <INSERT YOUR THESIS VERTICAL> - EBITDA proxy: 1. Grab headcount from LinkedIn. 2. Multiply by industry rev-per-employee (e.g., $200k SaaS, $150k services). 3. Multiply by industry EBITDA margin (e.g., 20% SaaS, 15% services). → Keep if estimated EBITDA ≈ $1-8M. ## 2. Build LinkedIn Alerts - Sales Navigator → Saved Search Title contains: ("Chief Financial Officer" OR CFO OR Controller) Changed jobs: past 30 days Company headcount filter: 11-200 Industry: <INSERT> Save search and set weekly email. ## 3. Capture Leads - Export new profiles via Wiza CSV → Google Sheet “New CFO Leads”. Columns: Company | Website | New CFO | Hire Date | Headcount | Founder | Founder Email ## 4. Quick Screen (1-Minute Check) - Crunchbase: raised >$5M? (skip VC-heavy) - Founded ≥7 years ago? (maturity signal) - Multiple finance hires in last 60 days? (strong exit-prep signal) ## 5. Outreach Sequence Email + LinkedIn DM (≤75 words): Subject: Congrats on the new CFO at {{Company}} Hi {{Founder}}, Noticed you just welcomed {{CFO Name}}, a smart move when gearing up for a transaction. I run {{Search Fund}}, backed by operators who acquire and grow businesses like yours. If external capital or succession is on the 12- to 24-month horizon, could we grab 15 minutes? – {{Your Name}}, {{Calendly Link}} Follow-ups: Day +3, +7, +14. Stop after 3 touches. ## 6. Triage - Any reply mentioning “valuation / price / timeline / EBITDA” → auto-send Calendly link - No reply → move to Nurture tab; revisit if another CFO or Controller change occurs ## 7. Weekly Cadence Mon: Pull Sales Nav alert → add to Sheet Tue: Screen and tag HOT leads Wed: Send first-touch emails and DMs Thu: Check replies; book calls Fri: Log metrics (# leads, replies, calls, NDAs) Target: 30 new leads → 6-8 intro calls → 1-2 NDAs per week ## 8. Automation (Optional) - Zapier: Sales Nav email → Airtable row - n8n: Airtable HOT tag → Woodpecker sequence - Slack webhook: Calendly booking → instant Slack ping