Assign an evidence request—not just a listening assignment. The following is the desk’s proposed workflow.
Before a bid
- Use Peachtree and Savier to identify the investment thesis and the conditions that could invalidate it.
- Have one team member list every unsupported revenue, margin and renovation assumption.
- Require a price sensitivity that separates operating improvement from financing or exit assumptions.
- Do not describe the result as a formal appraisal.
Before an operator appointment
- Use Sorensen, Campbell and Ferguson to frame operating capability, business mix and staffing questions.
- Put each bidder’s fee structure through one common operating case.
- Review each bidder’s forecast separately; do not reward the highest forecast automatically.
- Use Twachtman and Blood to challenge implementation capacity and integration risk.
Before a brand decision
- Use Zhang and Kopit to prepare affiliated and independent cases with explicit replacement costs.
- Ask which demand is incremental and what evidence supports that assertion.
- Obtain contract-specific advice before modelling termination, renewal or transfer options as executable.
Before financing or conversion expenditure
- Use Friedman and Edwards to formulate debt and monthly-liquidity questions.
- Use Sanborn to brief technical specialists before irreversible design commitments.
- Keep missing information visible rather than replacing it with an interview anecdote.