The projector fan has a low-frequency hum that vibrates through the laminate of the conference table, a steady, rhythmic thrum that feels like it’s trying to shake the caffeine right out of my teeth. Across from me sits a man in a suit that costs more than my first 6 cars combined, yet he’s currently flipping through a slide deck he clearly hasn’t looked at since the last time he tried to convince a dry cleaner in the valley to liquidate. He is 16 minutes into a presentation about ‘synergy’ and ‘market penetration,’ and I am fairly certain he has forgotten my name. He keeps glancing at his watch-a heavy, gold thing that looks like it’s trying to anchor his arm to the table-and I realize with a sickening jolt of clarity that I am simply a slot in his calendar.
THE REALIZATION
I am deal number 456 in a pipeline designed for throughput, not for thought. This is the moment most business owners find themselves in when they decide to sell the thing they spent 26 years building. It’s a moment defined by a specific kind of architectural silence-the gap between what a broker promises and what they actually provide.
You see, there is a fundamental split in the industry that no one really talks about because it’s bad for business. You are either dealing with a volume-based listing factory or a relationship-driven advisor. One wants your signature so they can add you to a spreadsheet of 106 other ‘active leads’; the other wants your story so they can find the one person who will actually value it.
The Cloud Analogy: Box vs. Web
I remember trying to explain the concept of the ‘cloud’ to my grandmother last Christmas. She kept asking where the physical box was. ‘But where do the pictures go, Billy? Is there a warehouse in Nebraska with all our faces in it?’ I spent 46 minutes trying to explain that the cloud isn’t a place, but a relationship between servers and access.
“I once knew a man named William J.D., a handwriting analyst by trade and a skeptic by nature. He told me once that you could tell a liar by the way they crossed their ‘t’s-if the bar was too high, they were overcompensating for a lack of substance.”
When I look at the typical brokerage ‘listing,’ I see those high-crossed ‘t’s. They use words like ‘unprecedented’ and ‘turnkey’ 66 times in a single page, but they can’t tell you why the lead technician has stayed for 16 years or why the biggest client only orders on Tuesdays.
Brokerage Success vs. Volume Strategy
They are selling volume. They are playing a numbers game where if they sign 126 listings and only sell 16, they still have a profitable quarter. But for the 110 people who didn’t sell? They just wasted a year of their lives.
Commoditization is the Enemy
This is where the frustration boils over. You’re told you need a ‘platform’ and a ‘network.’ You’re told that having 456 brokers under one roof is an advantage. But have you ever tried to get 6 people to agree on where to go for lunch? Now imagine 456 people trying to coordinate the sensitive, highly confidential sale of your life’s work. It doesn’t happen. What happens is your data gets dumped into a generic portal, your financials are stripped of their nuance, and you become a commodity. You are the corn in a silo, indistinguishable from the bushel next to you.
“
You are choosing between being a number or being a priority.
– Value Alignment Principle
The contrarian reality is that the best results come from the smallest footprints. When you move away from the ‘factory’ model, the entire nature of the transaction changes. You stop being a ‘listing’ and start being a ‘client.’ It’s a subtle shift in vocabulary that carries the weight of $1,256,000 in potential valuation difference.
The Mortgage of Success
An advisor who only takes on 6 clients at a time has no choice but to succeed with you. Their mortgage depends on your exit. The ‘factory’ broker’s mortgage is covered by the sheer volume of entry fees and the law of averages. They don’t need you to win; they just need someone in their pile of 456 to win.
Bland, processed, tested on 86 groups.
Knows your allergies; exceptional value sought.
When you sell a business, you aren’t looking for consistency; you’re looking for the exception. You’re looking for that one buyer who sees the 96% retention rate not as a statistic, but as a testament to the culture you’ve built. A volume broker doesn’t have the time to explain your culture.
The Illusion of the Big System
I’ve made mistakes in my time, plenty of them. I once thought that the biggest firm was the safest bet because, well, they were big. I assumed they had ‘systems.’ What I realized, much like my grandmother did with the cloud, is that the ‘system’ is often just a way to hide the fact that no one is actually looking at your pictures. They are just storing them in a warehouse in Nebraska and charging you for the privilege of forgetting they exist.
The Worth Beyond the Balance Sheet
In the world of high-stakes transitions, the most effective tool isn’t a database or a generic slide deck. It’s the ability to sit in a room, look a buyer in the eye, and tell them exactly why this company is worth more than the sum of its assets. That requires a level of intimacy that a factory simply cannot scale.
This is why firms like
KMF Business Advisors focus on a model that prioritizes the person over the process. They understand that a business isn’t a commodity to be traded; it’s a legacy to be transitioned.
When you work with someone who limits their intake, you aren’t fighting for air in a crowded room. You are the only person in the room.
The 6 Stages of Brokerage Grief
Stage 1
The Pitch
Stage 2
6 Weeks of Silence
Stage 3
Lowball Offer
Stage 6
Devaluation of Work
I’ve seen owners lose 26% of their potential sale price simply because the broker didn’t understand how to defend the add-backs in the financial statement. They just accepted the buyer’s first audit because they had 6 other deals closing that week and didn’t have the energy to fight for $156,000 of the owner’s money.
The Margin of Thought
William J.D. once told me that the most honest part of a person’s handwriting is the margin. It’s the space they leave for themselves. When I look at how an advisor works, I look at the margins. Do they have the space to think about your deal on a Sunday morning? Do they have the margin to call you back within 6 minutes when you’re panicking about a due diligence request? If they are managing 456 listings, the answer is no. Their margins are non-existent. They are squeezed tight against the edge of the page, rushing to the next line.
The Necessity of Friction
We often fall for the ‘big firm’ trap because it feels like a safety net. But selling a business is a path of high resistance. It requires friction. It requires someone willing to stand in the gap and argue for the value of things that don’t show up on a balance sheet-things like the way the morning light hits the warehouse floor or the 16 different ways the receptionist knows how to handle a difficult vendor.
Read The Ink, Not Just The Price Tag
So, when you’re sitting across from that man in the expensive suit, and he’s flipping through his 36-slide deck, ask him one question: ‘How many other people are you talking to today?’ If the number ends in anything other than a dedicated, focused attention on your specific needs, you might want to consider if you’re the client or just the inventory.
Legacy
Transitioned
Focus
Limited Intake
Worth
Defended Value
Because at the end of the day, you aren’t just selling a company. You’re selling the last 26 years of your life. And that deserves more than being deal number 456 in a factory line. It deserves someone who knows how to read the ink, not just the price tag.