Actually the opposite. If chips represent time, I'm advising that the seller force the buyer to spend time (in person) with them to reflect commitment. A classic example is whether or not the seller can get a meeting with the buyer's CEO (depending on the relative sizes of the two companies, it could be a lower level exec too). A CEO will not waste his or her time on a dozen meetings with a dozen different companies to support an m&a fishing expedition. But if the list is narrowed down to just 1 candidate, and certainly if the deal is progressing, then the CEO (or other C level exec) is usually eager to meet with the seller's management team.

This still requires the selling side to guess the buying side's time commitments/availability and intentions. The escrow cuts through all the bullshit.

Clearly we will disagree with eachother here; but I am truly at a loss for how a 1 hour lunch is commensurate with a month+ of discovery effort.