A professional business Intermediary develops his platform for success by prospecting for listings. Listings are the life blood of the business sales industry. They constitute the inventory we offer to the buying public. Selling this inventory is our business. Advertising this inventory is what attracts the buyers to our offices. It is imperative that our shelves are well stocked with sellable businesses to increase opportunities for a transaction.
Each sales intermediary must lay his or her foundation for financial success by building and maintaining a professional listing portfolio. How do we build this professional portfolio of listings? We prospect. We meet with the business owners and tell them about the services we offer. Prospecting is generating leads which result in appointments to meet and explain your services to business sellers. Appointments result in inventory, which is the very foundation for your success in your career as a professional business intermediary. Therefore, prospecting deserves your attention, principally because it is where the selling process begins. This is where you build your foundation on which future business will grow.
The seeds of service you plant each day in the minds of every business person within your community, if nurtured properly, will grow and give fruits of harvest for tomorrow and for many years to come. In order to reap the harvest, a professional intermediary must first plant the seeds and work the fields. Prospecting is the first order of becoming a prosperous business intermediary. If we aren't out there talking with the business owners in the community, our competitors will be. Paul J. Meyer, founder of the Success Motivation Institute, once said, "I'd rather be a master prospector than a master of speech ... and have no one to tell my story to!"
A professional portfolio has ample quantity and a sufficient quality of listings. "Ample quantity" means sufficient inventory so a buyer can make comparisons when selecting a business. "Sufficient quality" means listings that are attractive and desirable in the buyer's market. By "attractive" we mean in terms of price, terms, and the overall opportunity.
We as business intermediaries must maintain a variety of businesses in inventory to attract buyers of varied interests, needs, skills, financial capabilities. Quantity alone is not enough; you must have the right mix of inventory. Successful intermediaries consistently maintain a balance of their inventory mix and are able to find the right fit.