Business Brokers Guide to Finding their Next Listing

Comprehensive guide for business brokers on sourcing and securing their next listings, covering strategies like lead generation, data enrichment, and multi-channel outreach.

George Wellmer
George Wellmer

Business Brokers Guide to Finding their Next Listing


Finding quality listings is the name of the game for business brokers, but sourcing opportunities can be challenging. This guide dives into the most effective strategies to help brokers find their next deal and maintain a steady pipeline.


Goal: Help business brokers find their next listings


Introduction


There are approximately 10,000 business brokers in the U.S., but most—about 7,000—have fewer than three listings at any given time. For brokers, the question of “Where’s the next listing coming from?” defines their livelihood. The answer lies in combining networking, hustle, and tools with a strategic approach.


In this guide, we’ll explore the most effective ways to source leads and execute outreach. While some strategies overlap, we’ve broken the process into two phases:

  1. Lead Sourcing
  2. Outreach


Why Do Brokers Struggle to Get Listings?


The reality is stark: 70% of business brokers have three or fewer listings. Why is this so common? Here are the primary reasons:

  1. Lack of Awareness: Many business owners don’t understand what a business broker does or the value they bring
  2. Generic Positioning: Brokers often operate without a clear niche, making it hard to build targeted SEO and visibility
  3. Hesitant Investment: Brokers are reluctant to invest in systems, lead sourcing, and outreach due to lumpy cash flow
  4. Part-Time Focus: Part-time brokers often lack the drive or capacity to grow their listing pipeline


Even a simple Google search for “sell my business” rarely surfaces brokers prominently, further compounding the challenge.


How Do Business Brokers Source Leads?


Brokers typically source leads using three primary methods:

  1. Networking: Building relationships with centers of influence (COIs) like accountants, bookkeepers, fractional CFOs, insurance agents, and bankers
  2. Outsourcing: Leveraging third-party services to augment lead sourcing and outreach efforts
  3. Hunting: Actively building a pipeline of prospects through direct efforts


This guide focuses on the third approach: hunting for leads.


Building a prospect pipeline may seem daunting, especially at the outset, but it’s essential for maintaining deal flow.


Lead Sourcing: A Four-Step Process


Step 1: Identify Your Target


Define the industry, location, and position of the business owners you want to contact. Clarity in targeting ensures your efforts are focused and effective.


Step 2: Aggregate Data


Once you’ve outlined your ideal target, the next step is to collect contact details (email, phone, address). Fortunately, tools have made this process faster:


Top Data Providers:

  • ZoomInfo
  • Data Axle
  • Apollo.io


Other Common Tools:

  • Lusha
  • UpLead
  • Seamless.AI
  • Clearbit
  • DiscoverOrg
  • AeroLeads
  • LeadIQ
  • CloudLead


Underutilized Tools:

  • Dun & Bradstreet
  • LinkedIn Sales Navigator
  • Clay
  • OpenMart


Step 3: Enrich Your Data


Data lists often lack critical details, such as the owner’s name or email address. Use data enrichment tools to fill in these gaps and improve accuracy.


Tools to enrich your data:

  • Clearbit
  • LeadGenius
  • Kaspr
  • Enricher.io


Step 4: Clean Your Data


Ensure your data is valid before starting outreach. Some providers offer cleaning services, but it’s always good to double-check:

  • ZeroBounce: Verifies email addresses
  • Hunter.io: Confirms email validity and domain accuracy
  • NeverBounce: Removes duplicates and invalid addresses


By the end of this process, you’ll have a refined list of prospects with accurate contact information. Depending on your outreach plans, your list should range from hundreds to thousands of leads.


Outreach


With a validated prospect list, the next step is to execute your outreach strategy. The key is consistency—outreach isn’t a one-time message but an ongoing effort to stay visible to your prospects.


Four Primary Outreach Channels:


  1. Email
  2. Cold Calling
  3. Social Media
  4. Direct Mail


Email:


Arguably the most common way business brokers contact business owners, email is becoming increasingly difficult to drive meaningful results. Business owners are inundated with hundreds of emails—many of which are spam. To succeed, it’s crucial to stand out in their inbox with relevant, well-crafted messages.


When it comes to email marketing, there are two main approaches business brokers should consider:


1. Email Campaigns


Email campaigns are designed to deliver a consistent message to achieve specific objectives. These are typically short-term, action-oriented emails that aim to prompt the recipient to take immediate steps, such as responding to an inquiry, exploring a listing, or scheduling a meeting. Think of campaigns as tools for driving immediate engagement. The most common campaigns we see:


  1. We have buyers looking to buy a business similar to your’s….
  2. Free valuations


2. Newsletters


Newsletters focus on delivering consistent, valuable content to the recipient over time. Instead of a direct call to action, newsletters aim to nurture relationships by sharing insights, updates, and educational information that resonate with the audience. By positioning yourself as a trusted expert, newsletters ensure you remain top of mind when business owners decide to sell.


Cold Calling:


For business brokers, cold calling is a challenging outreach strategy that often delivers mixed results. The difficulty lies in two primary hurdles:


  1. Getting Past the Gatekeeper: Administrative staff or assistants often screen calls, making it hard to reach the decision-maker directly.
  2. Timing: Even when a broker reaches the business owner, it’s rare to catch them at a moment when they’re free to engage in a meaningful conversation. Business owners are typically busy managing operations, leaving little room for unsolicited calls.


Despite these challenges, cold calling can still play a role in an outreach strategy when combined with preparation, persistence, and a well-researched approach. By targeting the right prospects and delivering a compelling, concise message, brokers can improve their chances of success.


Social Media:


No matter how you’re contacting prospects, you can guarantee one thing—they’ll look you up. Prospects will Google you and your firm to see who they might be working with. Having a professional, active presence on your website and social media is no longer optional; it’s becoming essential for building credibility and keeping leads warm.


For business brokers, social media serves as both a first impression and a tool to showcase expertise. The four main platforms brokers often use to produce content and engage with their audience are:


  1. LinkedIn: A hub for professional networking, industry insights, and thought leadership. Brokers can share market updates, success stories, and articles to connect with business owners and buyers.
  2. Facebook: Ideal for engaging with local communities and small business groups. Brokers can post listings, share success stories, and connect with a wider audience.
  3. X (formerly Twitter): Best for sharing quick updates, insights, and links to longer content. This platform is great for building a professional brand and engaging in industry discussions.
  4. YouTube: A powerful platform for creating video content, such as explainer videos, listing walkthroughs, or market trend analyses. Videos help brokers build trust and provide value in a more personal, engaging way.


Direct mail:


Tried and tested AND it delivers results, sending flyers and drop cards to businesses has been a strategy business brokers have used for years now to drum up leads. This messaging is often very similar to email campaigns brokers run like - “we have buyers looking to buy businesses similar to yours, would you be interested in a valuation to understand what your business is worth?” Direct mail is incredibly powerful AND is becoming more-so. While a business owner’s inbox is being filled up with spam their mailbox is becoming lighter and lighter. Response rates for direct mail are significantly higher than email, with open rates of 80-90% compared to 20-30% for email.


To be more efficient with your direct mail campaigns check out these tools:


  • Lob
  • Post Grid
  • Modern Postcard
  • ClickSend


Each of these outbound mediums provides unique advantages but layering them together will provide the best results, this is Multi-Channel Marketing.


Recap


To grow your listings and maintain a consistent pipeline:


  1. Buy a lead list.
  2. Enrich the list to fill in missing details.
  3. Clean the data to ensure accuracy.
  4. Execute a multi-channel marketing strategy (email, cold calling, social media, direct mail).


Happy Hunting!


How Tupelo Helps


Tupelo works with hundreds of business brokers, simplifying the complexities of sourcing and outreach. Our holistic operating system includes tools to:


  • Track leads
  • Manage listings
  • Automate email marketing
  • Build data rooms for storing, requesting, and sharing documents


In 2025, we’re launching a lead sourcing and outreach component to bridge the gaps brokers face today, making it easier than ever to find your next listing.


Interested in testing Tupelo’s lead sourcing and outreach tool?

Sign up for an early release.