Code of Conduct when visiting a business for sale

admin May 5, 2025

Code of Conduct when visiting a business for sale

For a business owner, listing his business can be unnerving. The thought of employees and customers finding out can send chills down their spine.

For most of you the below will be common sense.

BUYERS CODE OF CONDUCT

Please refrain from:

Contacting an owner directly through any channel of any business we have for sale
Talking to Vendors of any business we have for sale
Interacting with employees in a manner beyond normal conversation for the business type. IE “I noticed it was slow today, is it normally this slow?”, “Any new competitors you know of opening near here?”
Approaching any customers of any business we have listed
5 family members walk into a business all at once and start pointing at things and talking to each other making it obvious they are not there as regular customers.
Buyer: “I could plainly see it was the owner I was talking to, and no one was around, so I decided to introduce myself”
For a week straight, a buyer visits a business without buying anything
Speak to employees or owners of nearby businesses asking their opinion
You mention to your buddy you’re looking at buying Johns Mattress store and he then mentions it to his CPA, who then tells one of his customers who owns a competing mattress store in the area.
Do not walk in holding a flyer open and exposed with the business info on it.
I asked the Seller if this place was for sale and he said “yes”, so I decided to talk to him.
Watching our trend setting video tours will help reduce unnecessary visits to businesses you don’t care for.
Looking at a business for sale when you have no funds and no real plan to acquire the business.
If you decide you are not interested in one of our listings, we ask you to delete any information you have on your hard drive related to the business.

Ramifications of a breach

Employees quit or threaten to, moral drops
Customers stop visiting or buying
Competitors start using the fact the business is for sale against it.
Landlords may be less responsive if they know a business is for sale
Vendors may not extend credit or make it more difficult to buy

Code of Conduct when visiting a business for sale

Code of Conduct when visiting a business for sale

For a business owner, listing his business can be unnerving. The thought of employees and customers finding out can send chills down their spine.

For most of you the below will be common sense.

BUYERS CODE OF CONDUCT

Please refrain from:

Contacting an owner directly through any channel of any business we have for sale

Talking to Vendors of any business we have for sale

Interacting with employees in a manner beyond normal conversation for the business type. IE “I noticed it was slow today, is it normally this slow?”, “Any new competitors you know of opening near here?”

Approaching any customers of any business we have listed

5 family members walk into a business all at once and start pointing at things and talking to each other making it obvious they are not there as regular customers.

Buyer: “I could plainly see it was the owner I was talking to, and no one was around, so I decided to introduce myself”

For a week straight, a buyer visits a business without buying anything

Speak to employees or owners of nearby businesses asking their opinion

You mention to your buddy you’re looking at buying Johns Mattress store and he then mentions it to his CPA, who then tells one of his customers who owns a competing mattress store in the area.

Do not walk in holding a flyer open and exposed with the business info on it.

I asked the Seller if this place was for sale and he said “yes”, so I decided to talk to him.

Watching our trend setting video tours will help reduce unnecessary visits to businesses you don’t care for.

Looking at a business for sale when you have no funds and no real plan to acquire the business.

If you decide you are not interested in one of our listings, we ask you to delete any information you have on your hard drive related to the business.

Ramifications of a breach

Employees quit or threaten to, moral drops

Customers stop visiting or buying

Competitors start using the fact the business is for sale against it.

Landlords may be less responsive if they know a business is for sale

Vendors may not extend credit or make it more difficult to buy