How Raving Customers Create Incredible Business Value…and Attract Multiple Buyers when you Sell Your Business
College Football has gotten it right. Alabama’s Roll Tide or Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish. One or both may have your blood boiling or your excitement rising. You’re a lover or a hater, and no one can convince you otherwise. You’ll post to anyone who will listen, you’ll respond to rivals, you may even gear your entire vacation schedule to tail gate parties and games, no matter how far away they are.
You’re a raving mad, team loving, fan for life, and you’re valuable. So valuable that teams spend millions making sure you’re 100% taken care of. That devotion translates to tremendous value.
Here’s another example. The Dallas Cowboys. Heck, I’m a fan, and even I can admit they’ve been “less than stellar” for many years. Who am I kidding – it’s been a horrible drought. But I’m still a fan, I still watch the box scores, I’m still praying for that elusive Super Bowl. And even after 25 years of bad results and sometimes hopeful seasons, the sports franchise is, if not the most valuable, in the Top 5 worldwide.
Think about the Ultimate Fighting Championship – the UFC. Twenty-five years ago, it was a fringe blood sport, and now it’s the fastest growing sport of all time, and Mixed Martial Arts is mainstream. Even ESPN and Fox Sports have gotten on the band wagon, with Fox for years showing live events, and ESPN buying out the Fox contract recently. The company was sold for just north of $4b to an investment group last year, and in a year’s time, the market cap has increased to $7b.
Raving fans for life who would purchase from you over and over, recommending you to anyone who would listen.
Referrals, repeat customers, viral expansion, increased market share, prices paid “no matter what” to get more. It all translates to value.
Think about Apple. Look, at the end of the day, the phones are way over-priced, and I can say that because I have one. My wife and two kids do, too. When the iPhone hit the market, the customer demand was so great that entire industries shifted to get on the bus. All the wireless phone networks pay full price to make sure the phones are part of their portfolio. And even now, when a new one comes out, the “Think Differently” crowd jumps in and buys. The early adopters continue to adopt, even if their phones are in perfect condition, because they’ll buy whatever Apple comes up with.
That is power… And it translates to tremendous business value.
It may sound obvious, even cliché, that delivering outrageously outstanding service is important. It’s a must in this day and age of 24×7 shopping, too much information and noise, and attention deficit syndrome at an all time high.
What’s less obvious is a little secret. Even little companies can do this, and now more than ever. We’re representing a little company right now that has a global brand. Amazon, Walmart, Target, TJ Maxx, Kohls, JC Penney, Sophera, Ulta, Revlon – they’re all taking notice in this highly competitive beauty and cosmetic sector. The company has a “loved by college students and millennials” fan base to die for, and the big box eTailers have taken notice. The demand for their full suite of beauty and cosmetic products is so high that the little company cannot hope to keep up. We’ll be marketing them to buyers in Q4 2018, and they’ll attract a fire storm of buyers who could 10x or even 100X them next year.
When you deliver out-of-the-park what the market wants, and you’ve created a defendable mote around your competition, you resonate. You’re relevant. You’re what customers want and competitors are trying to get.
Simply put, your company is valuable and will be highly sought after by strategic buyers. Selling your business for maximum value, especially when you achieve high marks in the 8 drivers of business value, is not only achievable, it’s American Dream worthy.