When selling a business, customer testimonial letters can be a powerful tool in a business brokers package to create a positive impression with business buyers. While a few testimonial letters certainly help, having an abundance will be impressive. There are a few things that make testimonial letters more powerful in a business sale package:
1, Testimonials should provide praise about specific strengths of the business rather than general platitudes
2, Ideally testimonials should indicate a desire to do more business with the company or contain a promise to make referrals
3, Customers should state what product or service the business provided to them and how they used it
4, Testimonials should be from a variety of different points in time from the business’ history. Testimonials from different points in time demonstrate that you have a history of satisfied customers, rather than having performed well just at certain points in time.
5, The testimonial shouldn’t focus entirely on how well one particular employee, or worse, yet, how well the owner performed, but rather on how well the company performed. While it is always a nice ego boost to receive personal praise in a testimonial, a business buyer is acquiring a system, and you don’t want them to be concerned that the success of the business revolves around you or one or two key employees. If you get enough testimonials and they praise a variety of employees, that may not be a bad thing because it shows you have done a good job of hiring multiple good employees and training them well. However, if your name (or a key employee) is repeatedly the focus of praise in the testimonial letters, a buyer will wonder if the success you have experienced is based on your individual skill set and personality, rather than the business itself, and will worry that when you depart they may not experience the same level of success.
When a business broker provides a confidential information package on a business that is being marketed for sale, if it contains a few dozen glowing testimonial or recommendation letters it goes a long way toward helping buyers gain comfort with the business. This means the business is not only more marketable, but also may command a higher price.
Codiligent Business Brokers - Portland, Oregon based business brokers representing sellers of businesses with $500k – $20 million in annual revenue. To schedule a free consultation to discuss the possible sale of your business you may contact Eric Williams at 503-535-8817 or E@codiligent.com
