We have had a couple of situations lately that have been really bothersome, because we couldn’t work with folks who wouldn’t level with us about their financial strength.

We understand that some of our customers are going to be sensitive about sharing financial information with us. We also understand that some customers think that if they tell us what they have for resources that we will try to push them to make more of a down payment than they are comfortable making. We all have to get over those fears if we are going to work together.

For our point of view we are representing, and protecting, our clients. We represent people bringing their businesses to market, and in order to price them properly and market them we have to have access to tax returns and other sensitive financial and operational information. In order to help customers make intelligent choices we also have to share our clients information with them. We have to assume that if you won’t tell us how you are going to come up with the down payment that you are not going to be able to, and we can’t work with you.

It is not appropriate for us to share the financials for a company priced at $1,000,000 with a customer who is looking for 100% seller financing and has no money to put down on the deal.

We use the information requested in our online confidentiality agreement as part of our process of finding out what customers have to work with. If the forms are not made out properly we have to get on the phone and ask customers what they have for liquid assets to work with. If the customers can’t trust us enough to share that information we are not going to be able to work with them.

We very frequently get messages from customers that they don’t know what they have for a down payment. Or even worse they tell us that they have less than $50,000 to work with but want to have an income of $150,000. We can’t really work with either situation.

There is a large education component to our work. For example we help people who have resources figure out how to use home equity for a down payment, or how to use a 401K to set up an investment in a company they want to purchase. We also have to explain to folks who don’t have sufficient funds for a down payment that the are not going to be able to support a very high income level without a whole lot more to put down.

My plea is that you have to trust us, just like we have to trust you, to get a deal done. One of the reasons that the Code of Ethics of the International Business Brokers Association is such a big part of our orientation of new Associates is that we don’t tolerate anyone on our team who is not going to earn that trust.

Business Brokerage is different than real estate brokerage. We are dealing with a lot more sensitive information, a lot more complex factors, and their has to be a whole lot more trust on the part of all parties to make a deal work.