Angry Owners

February 23, 2018

by a searcher from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Kenan-Flagler Business School in Philadelphia, PA, USA

I got a response today from some cold emailing that I was surprised by. It was just one follow up email The owner responded: "Not interested, never will be. Please stop e mailing. Your persistence is not appreciated."

This got me wondering what other kinds of responses people are getting, again this was just 1 follow up. Other owners have been positive, and those not interested have been courteous. Curious how often you all are getting negative responses, and by negative I mean more than just "not interested".

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Reply by a searcher
from Harvard University in Chicago, IL, USA

@Jim: I can't recall the 4Ds either. @Tim: If you speak with enough owners (regardless of which media you use, though it is easier for them to be angry via email) you will encounter a pretty wide range of responses. The most common one of course is crickets. Do understand that, in this environment of vast amounts of "dry powder", small business owners are CONSTANTLY being asked about selling their business. Many owners have told me that they get at least one contact A WEEK, usually more, from business brokers or lower middle market bankers inquiring about their "likelihood of selling", their "succession plan", or their "exit strategy". I am sure you are communicating that you are not an intermediary, but rather have an interest in a direct transaction; however, not everyone will be thoughtful enough to take the time to read everything you have typed or truly listen to what you have to say. It comes with the territory and so, at a certain level, you have to look at it as a numbers game and keep moving forward.

Reply by an investor
from University of Canberra in Perth WA 6000, Australia

Ben you make a good point. Another thing I picked up from the ETA conference at Harvard is that one successful Search Team used standard mail to make first contact with many of their targets. Snail mail as we call it in Australia has a place these days as it does differentiate the messaging (i.e. not just another email spammer).

Incorporating a mechanism or device within the mail-out that is unique and differentiates you also helps. I cannot remember the device/tool used by the searchers who talked about it but they did say that they were remembered by their targets as "those guys that sent me ..." when you make the subsequent phone call.

I have often sent out tea/coffee vouchers or satchels with some packaged biscuits to invite my target market (mainly clients I'd like to complete a survey on something) to "take a break, spend 10 minutes over a coffee" to help out on a survey etc.

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