swimming with sharks
As we go through life, we gain experience from the cuts and bruises, the wrongs and rights and hopefully come out the other side a wiser person. It is no different in business. On a daily basis we connect with people from all walks of life, with a wide range of personalities. If you are in the "customer relations" business, as I feel I am, then you know the first challenge is to find the ground by which to navigate a path to successful communication. Most days this goes quite well and you become confident in your abilities to swim in what can quickly become shark infested waters. Then along comes problematic client A. Let's just call this client "Bully".
I was contacted by "Bully" as a response to an ad for one of the businesses for sale that I represent. Bully was quite full of themselves, touting how they are a cash buyer, have all kinds of "friends" and consultants in the industry they are looking to purchase in. Hey, I'll go along with this since it would appear on the surface that it cuts down on the amount of time I will need to spend educating them on this business model. WOW, was I wrong on that assumption!!!!!
After exchanging NDA's , I release my valuation, business records and multiple excel spreadsheets which plot the company receivables and growth over a period of 1 year. All revenue is clearly represented and all operational expenses. Pretty clear right? Not to Bully it is not. We conferenced for about an hour where I had to keep walking back and forth through the information because Mr. Bully was totally clueless on how to read a spreadsheet, how to bring 2 pieces of information together and how to identify revenue. Well, I can accept that- it's my job to make this all transparent and to bring the buyer to a clear understanding. So after all the time we spent with this- Bully comes back next day throwing out a ridiculous offer. Where in the world did this come from? This is where the swimming get's treacherous.
Bully now states that his "friends" know all about this industry and they have advised him that the company can not possibly be making this type of money. Why I ask? And the answer is- because their business doesn't make those types of margins. I review all the financial records with "Bully" again and once again he refutes it, but this time starts to get nasty.
I am told I am a liar. His adviser is a "Pastor" and would never lie. I am told that I knowingly deceive clients with misinformation and misrepresentation. It is clear to me that this communication has reached a very toxic level and I try to sever this by thanking him for his interest, stating clearly this is not the right business for him.
Oh no- "bully" is not done with me yet. He is now on a mission to educate me to his way of thinking. What I need to do is valuate a business he is interested in, the way he wants me to- which is substantially less than fair market value. Bully gets nasty when he doesn't get his way. Bully makes all kinds of accusations. Bully just won't go away. I am faced with insisting communication is severed. It is quiet for about 2 weeks.
Oh no......................Bully has seen another of my ads for a business in Al.. I am quick to nip this in the bud as I know my seller would not tolerate this nut job for 1 New York minute. Bully tries a new tactic of being conciliatory for about 30 seconds and then the attack starts again once he realizes he is not going to get what he wants for the price he wants. Now the attack starts- he knows what I am doing, his friends know what I am doing, we (business brokers) are all liars and are worthless human beings. How can I sleep at night? He and his friends are going to start a blog site that will be #1 on google and he is going to expose us all and name names!
Some days go like that, the waters start off all nice and calm and the next thing you know you are being torn to shreds by a creature that has no ability to reason. As the good book says- when faced with unreasonableness, calmly walk away and knock the dust from your shoes as you leave. All in a days work!
I was contacted by "Bully" as a response to an ad for one of the businesses for sale that I represent. Bully was quite full of themselves, touting how they are a cash buyer, have all kinds of "friends" and consultants in the industry they are looking to purchase in. Hey, I'll go along with this since it would appear on the surface that it cuts down on the amount of time I will need to spend educating them on this business model. WOW, was I wrong on that assumption!!!!!
After exchanging NDA's , I release my valuation, business records and multiple excel spreadsheets which plot the company receivables and growth over a period of 1 year. All revenue is clearly represented and all operational expenses. Pretty clear right? Not to Bully it is not. We conferenced for about an hour where I had to keep walking back and forth through the information because Mr. Bully was totally clueless on how to read a spreadsheet, how to bring 2 pieces of information together and how to identify revenue. Well, I can accept that- it's my job to make this all transparent and to bring the buyer to a clear understanding. So after all the time we spent with this- Bully comes back next day throwing out a ridiculous offer. Where in the world did this come from? This is where the swimming get's treacherous.
Bully now states that his "friends" know all about this industry and they have advised him that the company can not possibly be making this type of money. Why I ask? And the answer is- because their business doesn't make those types of margins. I review all the financial records with "Bully" again and once again he refutes it, but this time starts to get nasty.
I am told I am a liar. His adviser is a "Pastor" and would never lie. I am told that I knowingly deceive clients with misinformation and misrepresentation. It is clear to me that this communication has reached a very toxic level and I try to sever this by thanking him for his interest, stating clearly this is not the right business for him.
Oh no- "bully" is not done with me yet. He is now on a mission to educate me to his way of thinking. What I need to do is valuate a business he is interested in, the way he wants me to- which is substantially less than fair market value. Bully gets nasty when he doesn't get his way. Bully makes all kinds of accusations. Bully just won't go away. I am faced with insisting communication is severed. It is quiet for about 2 weeks.
Oh no......................Bully has seen another of my ads for a business in Al.. I am quick to nip this in the bud as I know my seller would not tolerate this nut job for 1 New York minute. Bully tries a new tactic of being conciliatory for about 30 seconds and then the attack starts again once he realizes he is not going to get what he wants for the price he wants. Now the attack starts- he knows what I am doing, his friends know what I am doing, we (business brokers) are all liars and are worthless human beings. How can I sleep at night? He and his friends are going to start a blog site that will be #1 on google and he is going to expose us all and name names!
Some days go like that, the waters start off all nice and calm and the next thing you know you are being torn to shreds by a creature that has no ability to reason. As the good book says- when faced with unreasonableness, calmly walk away and knock the dust from your shoes as you leave. All in a days work!
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