In a declining industry such as telephone answering services, the durability of existing cash flows is in question, which results in lowering of values for the businesses. It may well be that traditional TAS businesses will never again be worth as much as they are right now. Outside investors are typically not attracted to declining industries. The number of competitors keeps steadilyd windling and those that remain have larger shares of a smaller market. Competitors may be aggressively buying accounts today, but may satisfy their demand.
Experts disagree over the optimal size for a call center, but consolidation has definite limits.
The larger a call center becomes, the fewer competitors there are who could consolidate it into another office. Industry consolidation tends to have a self dampening aspect to it that gradually slows the pace of the process. There are new and emerging customer needs and market driven demands for innovation as as well as upgrading of the service. Even if retirement is not a factor to a TAS owner, replacement or upgrading of plant and equipment requires careful cash flow planning. Consider the investment required for technology, service enhancements, productivity tools, opportunities to reduce costs, obsolescence of old equipment.