We know that buying a business is a very stressful endeavor. Selling a business isn’t any easier.

Guess what? The person at the center of that stressful and difficult situation isn’t always in the land of sunshine and rainbows.  They’re there to keep the transaction on track. That person is a business broker. 

A business broker’s day is full of sending and receiving emails, conference calls, travel to and from meetings and the meetings themselves. When they aren’t in direct communication with one of their clients they are putting together listing packages, writing purchase contracts, dealing with bureaucratic licensing issues – they’re very busy people.

A business broker’s job is to act as a buffer during negotiations and get a transaction to closing. They are there to help sellers get their business ready for market and there to help buyers find a business that fits with their goals. A big part of a business broker’s job is talking to everyone involved – keeping the business transaction on track by making sure everyone is getting what they need when they need it.

Your transaction is, obviously, a big deal to you. It’s probably the one major thing you’ll have going on in your life. If you’ve got a good broker your deal will absolutely be a priority – but an important caveat to remember is it won’t be their only priority.

If you hired an experienced and qualified business broker, then you probably aren’t (and shouldn’t be) their only client. If you call, text or email your broker, you should expect a response in a timely fashion. Timely, however, does not mean instantaneous. If a broker doesn’t answer the phone during business hours, perhaps they’re in a meeting or on a phone call. An unanswered phone call doesn’t mean you should then call them an additional 30 times in a few hours. A constant barrage of requests for contact – be they calls, texts or emails – isn’t going to get a quicker response. All this lightly-stalker behavior will do is complicate the day of the broker who’s trying to help you. Call once, and if you don’t hear from your broker in a realistic amount of time send a quick text or email to follow up. That should be enough.

A note here. If they aren’t getting back to you at all, where you go days and days without a response – then perhaps you need a different broker.

You should also remember that business brokers have lives outside of work just like you do. If you call at 10 at night on a Friday or at 7 in the morning on a Sunday, you probably shouldn’t expect a broker (or anyone for that matter) to immediately return your call.

Calling or texting constantly doesn’t help your broker help you through your transaction, all it does is fill up their inbox and make it impossible to get back to everyone in a reasonable amount of time.

Calling over and over again isn’t going to get you an answer any quicker, especially if the information you need is coming from the other side of the table. Sometimes your broker‘s hands are tied if the other side of the transaction isn‘t being cooperative. Business transactions are big and messy, and can sometimes involve buyers, sellers, buyer’s brokers, seller’s brokers, buyer’s attorneys, seller’s attorneys, CPAs – the list goes on. Having to get a single information request through that string of very busy people can sometimes take a few days. If your broker says they’re on it and they’re waiting for a response, calling them 16 times a day isn’t going to get the information any faster.

Keeping realistic expectations in terms of response times from your broker, along with a good dose of patience for all of the parties involved, will help immensely in getting your transaction all the way to closing.

Are you looking at businesses to buy and want to know more about how a business broker can help you? Have you thought about selling your business but have questions about the selling process? Please feel free to leave any questions or comments and we would be happy to help.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com
12995 South Cleveland Avenue, Suite 249
Fort Myers, FL 33907

www.InfinityBusinessBrokers.com