How to handle unsolicited agency acquisition emails
In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss the frequent occurrence of receiving offers to buy agencies and how to handle these communications. They share their own experiences of receiving such emails, including the prevalence of fraudulent or unserious offers. Gini describes her method of vetting these emails, such as examining URLs and LinkedIn profiles, and emphasizes the importance of legitimate connections within the industry. Chip provides further insights into the credibility of business brokers and the typical behaviors to watch out for. Both caution against making emotional decisions and underscore the necessity of due diligence, patient decision-making, and listening to one’s gut feelings. They conclude by highlighting the importance of proper advice and support for making sound decisions in the agency selling process. Key takeaways Gini Dietrich: “Just like you would hire people, you really should be looking for organizations that have experience in your industry and have a reputation already.” Chip Griffin: “If someone is legitimately reaching out to you for this kind of thing, it should be a very personalized email.” Gini Dietrich: “Just like you do when you’re selling or buying a home, you would never give the real estate agent money up front because you want them invested in getting you the very best price for your home.” Chip Griffin: “There are some really, really well regarded M&A firms that deal specifically with this space. I don’t know any of them that do cold outreach to drum up business.” Related Choosing the right exit strategy as an agency owner How to get ready to sell your agency Things to know before you consider selling your agency Are you thinking about selling your agency? Agency M&A basics View Transcript The following is a computer-generated transcript. Please listen to the audio to confirm accuracy. Chip Griffin: Hello and welcome to their episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast. I’m Chip Griffin. Gini Dietrich: And I’m Gini Dietrich. Chip Griffin: And Gini, I’ve got a buyer for your agency. I’d like to have a conversation about it. Gini Dietrich: Yes. Okay. Chip Griffin: This is, this is an email that, that a lot of us get. Frankly, I’ve gotten it for all my business agencies, oh my gosh, software companies, everything. That steady flow. It’s, it’s sort of like, I dunno about you, but these days I get a steady stream of, of emails, trying to sell me janitorial services. I don’t really understand Gini Dietrich: janitorial services? Chip Griffin: Yeah. I don’t understand it because I don’t have any actual offices, so. Gini Dietrich: Right. What are they gonna janitor? Chip Griffin: So who knows? But in any case, it is very common for agency owners to receive emails from someone who says that they either have a buyer for their agency they’re interested in, in buying the agency. They have some, some potential opportunities to explore all these kinds of things. And, and I think that it would be helpful for us to have a conversation around this so that, that we can share our experiences and hopefully people can have some perspective on these when they come in. When should you reply? When shouldn’t you, how should you handle those conversations if you do decide to proceed with them? Because it, it certainly… Most agency owners I know have at least explored the idea in their own minds of selling someday. Sure, sure. And so it can be very appealing, particularly if it hits you on the right day when you have just that right level of frustration with clients or employees or whatever to say, ah, okay. Gini Dietrich: Alright. Yeah, yeah. Let’s do this. Chip Griffin: So what, what do you do when you get one of these emails? And I’m assuming that you get a lot of them. Gini Dietrich: I get so many. I usually just delete them. Every once in a while I’ll take the email address and just look up the website. And I would say a good majority of them are emailing from fake accounts. So the websites that they’re quote