How to be a salesperson for your business

You want to find the right buyer for your business…someone who will love and nurture it as you have. But it’s not enough to just have a great business: you also need to sell it.

Doing that can take a little bit of know-how. But the good news is you don’t have to have bundles of previous experience. With a little prep you can be the salesperson your business needs.

You don’t have to be pushy, or a dodgy smooth-talking used car salesperson. The important thing is putting yourself in a buyer’s shoes, and helping them see your business’s potential. And who better to do that than you? You know your business best, after all.

We’ve created this guide to help you prepare to champion your business. Here are our top tips to help you feel confident and prepared.

See the big picture

Unless selling businesses is something you do everyday, there’s no better way to start the sales process than by understanding your wider business sales environment. This will help you talk from a place of confidence and understanding when you’re speaking to buyers.

That includes:

• The timeline – it takes 6-9 months to sell a business, on average. So be prepared to screen multiple buyers before finding “the one”, and be ready to build a relationship with a buyer over a period of time. Pushing for an early sale might scare them off, so understand you might have to invest some time in your buyer. Just make sure you vet them first!
• Business sales in your industry – if you can, find out how quickly businesses like yours typically take to sell. A lawyer or accountant specialising in business sales can help here (see further down!). Some industries typically have short sales periods, others take far longer. If you know roughly where your business sits, you can manage the buyers’ expectation, but also decide which potential buyers are worth persevering with if they’re taking up a lot of time.
• Your business’s value – to credibly negotiate with a buyer, you need to know roughly what your business is worth (learn how to do that here). You’ll also need to explain how you came to that figure. Write it down, and be prepared to justify it to a potential buyer when discussing price. It could help you get a better price during negotiations.

Help buyers see the potential

You know your business better than anyone. And you’ll know the best bits about it. Be prepared to extend your horizons, though, and imagine what your business could be. Buyers don’t just want a profitable business, after all. They want something they can grow, develop, and call their own. For this reason, you’ll make your opportunity much more appealing if you can paint a picture of what the business could look like with them at the helm. Things you can discuss include:

• Opportunities you didn’t explore – show a buyer ways you wanted to grow or evolve the business, but didn’t have the time, energy, or inclination to do. It’ll help you prove the business was thoughtfully run, and has growth prospects.
• Discover their ‘why’ – more often than not, business purchases are emotion-driven decisions. Find out what a potential buyer is looking for from a business – emotionally as well as financially. Do they want financial freedom? Do they want to do something they love? Show them how your business could help make it a reality.
• The good bits – write down the best parts of owning your business, and make sure you tell every potential buyer what they are.
• Get a sales pitch together – You don’t have to be a used-car salesperson, but do prepare a quick summary ahead of time! It only needs to be a 30-second ‘elevator pitch.’ It’ll help you quickly and effectively tell potential buyers what your business does, what it stands for, and the value it can provide them.
• Why your business is special – why should a buyer buy your business, instead of someone else’s? Think hard about what makes your business unique, and champion it to your buyer. Maybe it’s the community connection. Maybe you have exclusive or special relationships with suppliers. Whatever it is, focus on your business’s point of difference to make it stand out to buyers. The more you can highlight what is unique about your offering, the more buyers are likely to be interested.

Be confident…and honest

You mightn’t have been born with the ‘gift of the gab.’ But that’s not what buyers are looking for. They’re trying to get a real feel for you, and what your business is really like. Give yourself the best chance for success with these simple steps:

• Be confident – it’s easier said than done, but muster all the bravery you can, and communicate clearly and confidently with potential buyers. Slow down when you speak, to ensure you’re not nervously rushing. It’ll help the buyer trust you, and prove you’re not a pushover when it comes to price negotiations. As per the above, it’s much easier to be confident if you know what you’re talking about. Prepare yourself ahead of time!
• Set clear expectations – both with the buyer, and with yourself. If you’re not willing to budge beyond a certain price, or you’ll only sell the business to someone with specific skills or experience, be prepared to tell enquirers if they ask. Similarly, work out what you’re willing to be flexible with, so you know where there’s room to negotiate. Perhaps you’ll consider a longer handover period, for example. Knowing where there is (and isn’t) room to negotiate will help you find the right buyer, and could save you lots of time communicating with someone who doesn’t meet your bottom lines.
• Be honest – buyers can often sense when a seller’s not telling the truth, and will quickly move on if they think you’re withholding important information. Be honest about the challenges involved in running your business. In fact, proactively think about them ahead of time, and explain to the buyer how you’ve managed them in the past. It will help you weed out less committed enquirers, and it will build trust. That, in turn, will help the sale progress more smoothly.

Do the background preparation

Confidence often comes down to your preparation…both for you and the buyer. If you’ve done all the legwork, you’ll feel more confident communicating with buyers. And they’ll feel more at ease if you prove you understand how things work. Here’s what you can do to ensure you’re well prepared:

• Find the right people – find a lawyer and accountant with specific business buying experience. Preferably, find individuals or companies who’ve worked together before. They’ll be a huge asset when it comes to the nitty gritty, and can give you valuable insight into business sales like yours.
• Become an expert…or a knowledgeable novice – prepare yourself for the process by checking out our Ultimate Guide to Selling a Business. If you know the process and have a heads-up on what’s coming next, you’ll be in the best position to guide your buyer through the process.

Being a good salesperson for your business doesn’t require lots of experience. Nor do you have to be a slick talker.

If you’re well-prepared, honest, and you’re willing to champion your business, there’s no reason you can’t successfully sell your business.

Remember, the buyer wants what you want: a smooth sales process. If you invest the time and energy in the right buyer, there’s no reason you can’t drive a successful sale. And you’ll be one step closer to your next adventure.