Every day I come across business owners posting ads revealing their location and name of their business. They say, “I am very transparent, My business has nothing to hide.” Being transparent is great, having nothing to hide, even better. But, this is not the best way to run an ad, when selling a business all things and all information have their time and place. Below is the most effective way to advertise your business and a few steps to take when you have interested buyers.
Writing the Ad – When writing your ad keep in mind the purpose of the ad, to get buyers to contact you. When all information is revealed in the ad, buyers will do research and come to their own conclusions, not giving you the chance to explain anything. This is why when writing the ad it needs to be short, compelling and just enough information to get that call or email. Now that you have more calls, you need to respond properly.
Responding to a Buyer – You are getting calls, and the buyer asks, tell me more about your business. Excited you give the all the details. This is wrong, the next statement to the buyer is, “Great, what is your email so I can send you a confidentiality agreement.” Instruct them so they know once the agreement is singed you will send them a profile of your business. This response will do a few things for you right off the bat.
1. It will save you time by having the buyers who are not serious drop off.
2. It will keep your serious buyers engaged and ready to tour your business. (Tours are key to getting offers. More On that later.)
3. Lastly, this will protect your business, employees and customers from getting scared away.
So to answer the question blind ads are the most effective approach. If you are running a transparent ad it is time to reconsider your approach.
Please commit with any questions or opinions.
Call us today for any questions on how to sell your business, 801.820.0381
Greg Brown is the Co-founder of Koselo an innovative and effective company helping business owners sell their business. He can be reached at Gregory@koselo.com.