A decline in email response rates is forcing deal searchers to be more creative, says Entrepreneur-Through-Acquisition searcher Christine Koval, currently on the hunt for a lower-middle-market, back-office services business to acquire.

In an interview with Search Party, Koval notes the increasing competition to find deals in the vast US lower-middle-market, as well as the ubiquity of powerful business-outreach platforms that help deal searchers discover and contact business owners. The problem is, as every searcher has become armed with turbo-charged sourcing capabilities, business owners are becoming so inundated with inbound interest, their response rates have begun to plummet, requiring searchers to revert to pre-email methods, like cold-calling.

“It is back to the olden days a little bit where your boots are on the ground, you're getting out there to learn, you're getting your face in front of business owners,” she said.

Among the key takeaways of Koval's interview:

Email outreach is fading—searchers must build in-person, personalized relationships. Koval emphasizes that email has become commoditized as more searchers adopt AI-enhanced bulk outreach, lowering reply rates and forcing a return to personal, high-effort engagement.

ETA differentiation has diminished—searchers must now sell themselves, not just the model. As many pockets of the lower-middle-market M&A landscape becomes saturated with investors, ETA searchers can no longer rely on the novelty of their model to stand out. “Just selling the alternative to private equity isn’t a differentiator anymore,” says Koval. “So I focused on, where do I have a unique insight or what are the industries that I've worked in my past career where I can draw an initial connection with that business owner.”

A compelling personal brand is now critical for effective deal sourcing: With searchers facing lower response rates and heightened competition, Koval has embraced thought leadership, podcasts and LinkedIn as essential tools for building trust before a first call. “As search continues to evolve, think of yourself as a personal brand,” she says. “You need a unique value proposition. You need to be different, and you want owners to get to see that as early as they can in the process.”

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