In the last video, I made the case that you can’t really know what you have at your current firm until you look elsewhere. So let’s say you’re persuaded. You’re willing to have a conversation.

Here’s the next mistake I see partners make: they explore only one firm. A firm reaches out, and that firm’s process becomes the whole search. That leaves significant value on the table.

Three things to sit with here — why the firm that found you isn’t necessarily the right one, how you actually find the ones that are, and why a single offer tells you almost nothing about what your practice is worth.

Start with the firm that came looking. It’s tempting to treat their interest as a signal — they want you, so they must be a good fit. But a firm that happens to be looking right now isn’t the same as the right firm for you.

Think about it like dating. If you only ever consider the people who express interest in you, you’ve handed the decision to someone else. Your options narrow to whoever showed up. Wouldn’t it serve you better to also pursue the firms that meet the criteria you care about — not just the ones who found you? The market is far wider than your inbox or voicemail.

Which raises the obvious question — if the firm that finds you isn’t necessarily the right one, how do you find the ones that are? And that part doesn’t start with a firm at all.

It starts with you — not with whatever firm happens to have an opening. So: what matters to you? What’s missing in your current platform? What resources would help you grow your practice? What friction would you want gone?

With that info in hand, an experienced recruiter can put real market knowledge to work: identifying the firms that fit that picture, then quietly kicking the tires — without ever attaching your name — to see whether it’s worth opening a formal conversation. You learn what’s possible. And you’ve risked nothing to find out. That’s the whole point of doing this with someone who understands your market.

There’s a second reason one conversation is not enough — and this one is about money.

One offer isn’t your market value. It’s a data point. Here’s an assumption I hear from partners regularly: if a firm is actively recruiting me, the need is greater — so they’ll pay more. Reasonable. Also, frequently wrong.

Firms vary greatly in what they’ll offer the very same partner with the very same book of business. Much of it comes down to the acquiring firm’s own profitability — and many factors beyond that. A pre-identified need can factor into your offer, but it guarantees nothing. Need is one input, not the whole equation. Which points to the real reason to look wider: one offer isn’t your market value — it’s a data point. You only understand your practice’s actual value when you have more than one number to compare it against.

So put the two together. The firm that finds you isn’t necessarily the right one, and a single offer can’t tell you what your practice is worth. Both problems have the same solution — look at more than one firm.

None of this is about being disloyal, or difficult, or shopping yourself around for sport. It’s about information. Leverage. And making the decision with your eyes open, on your terms — instead of letting it be made for you by whoever happened to reach out first.