21 Mar How to Leverage Technology to Achieve More
Morgan Tate of DealBuilder recently joined us for a very insightful and thought-provoking webinar entitled “How to Close More Deals with Less Work Broker Technology 101.” During this presentation, he shared the best tools and technology to help business brokers and M&A advisors to close more deals. Tate is the Co-Founder of DealBuilder, which to date has facilitated over $75 million worth of transactions. In the process, Tate has acquired some keen insights into the best practices implemented by the industry’s top performing brokerage professionals throughout North America.
In his webinar, Tate covered five key areas: Prospecting, Valuation, Marketing Deals, Accepting LOIs and the 60-Day Close. In this article, we will explore some of Tate’s key points and how you can utilize his insights to make more deals with less work.
The Silver Tsunami
Tate wants business brokers to understand that they must change and adapt their practices to prepare for an upcoming potential deluge of work. He points to the so-called “silver tsunami” and how it is possible that there will be an upcoming multi-trillion-dollar opportunity, largely due to mass retirement. He doesn’t treat the “silver tsunami” as a certainty but believes business brokers and M&A advisors should realize that it is possible and adjust accordingly.
In short, he feels that there could be a huge shortage of brokerage professionals. That will either lead to a higher workload for business brokers and M&A advisors, or the need to hire and train more new brokers. He notes, “There’s an opportunity to use technology to get more work done without having to work ourselves to the bone.”
There can be little doubt that Tate’s strategy is working. He points out that he has managed thirty listings without an admin assistant, and he was still able to generate $25 million of sell side leads without being a full-time broker. Prospecting is key with inbound leads coming from a mixture of referrals, search engine searches, social media and general advertising.
Leveraging Your Past Deals
Morgan Tate feels strongly that the best source of leads are referrals based off your successful deals, noting, “Every deal should be used as an excuse to grow your buyer list and/or bring in more sell side prospects.”
He points to the example of selling a gym. After a successful deal involving a gym, he then used that sale to build a script that focused on the geographical region. The goal of this script was to be very specific. It noted that Tate has sold a gym in the region and asked other gym owners if they would be interested in selling. The result of this approach is that potential sellers realized Tate can find buyers for gyms. This approach was able to capture their attention and generate new leads.
The Best Tools for the Industry
There are several technology-based, streamlined and inexpensive tools that Tate points to as being excellent for business brokers and M&A advisors. He states, “LinkedIn is a great tool to enrich your list. You can find actual email and phone numbers for each of those leads on your list.” He continues that Apollo.io and ZoomInfo can also be used, but Apollo.io is the more economical option. Further, he points out that it is easy to use an Upwork contractor to build the list and even send out emails on your behalf.
