Nicole Markowski, Manager and Corporate Development at Wipfli LLP This episode is sponsored by the M&A Science Academy, DealRoom, and FirmRoom.  To join our growing online community of M&A practitioners, visit www.mascience.com/academy.  Ready to take your M&A to the next level with software made to manage each stage of the deal process? See how DealRoom can facilitate your next deal at www.dealroom.net. FirmRoom provides 80% cost savings over VDRs that bill by page and delivers a far better user experience to boot. Sign up in under 2 minutes by going to www.firmroom.com Episode Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 07:04 The importance of relationships in M&A 09:25 Key people to build relationships with 15:55 How to foster and develop relationships 23:03 How to engage with key people 25:27 Approach to build relationships 28:30 People assignment for developing relationships 30:47 Delegating tasks in building relationships 34:22 Key acquired company people to build relationships with 36:31 Handling resistant groups 39:25 People problems and how to address them 45:57 Advice to first-time practitioners 47:45 Craziest thing in M&A