Lessons from the field
“Casting a Wider Net” as a Business Broker: How to Find Listings Beyond Your Town
When Lou Brill started as a business broker, he planned to knock on every door in his town. Almost nobody wanted to sell. Here's how he learned to cast a wider net, why the best listings often come from far away, how to win a listing you never visit, and how to tell when you should get in the car after all.
Quick answer
Casting a wider net means looking for business listings wherever they are, not just in your own town. Instead of relying on door-to-door prospecting, successful brokers find sellers by phone, email, for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) ads, referral partners and online marketing across a whole region, then win and manage those listings remotely with financial documents, video calls and e-signature. Small businesses usually sell to buyers who live nearby, so a listing an hour away is still easy to sell, as long as you market it where its buyers are. Before taking listings in another state, check that state's broker licensing rules. A free, printable remote listing checklist with first-call questions, documents to request and FSBO call scripts is available to download from this article.
A broker's first plan: knock on every door in town
Lou Brill started as a business broker in 2002. His first prospecting plan was simple. He walked into every business in the strip mall where he'd had his new business cards printed, and handed those cards to every owner he could find.
The plan was to work his way across his whole central New Jersey town, door to door, until he was the go-to business broker for everyone in it.
“I just assumed someone, anyone, would want to sell.”
Almost nobody did. “Okay, so maybe a pizzeria and a clothing store. Oh, and a dry cleaner. That was it. Business was good. Why sell?”
Why the local plan didn't work
There was a second problem. Lou's buyers didn't come from his town. They came from all over the New York Tri-State region, and a buyer won't drive hours for a small business.
“Why would a guy in Brooklyn want to buy a dry cleaner on the Jersey Shore? … But to drive two hours for the change in the machines? Not that attractive, to say the least.”
So the plan failed twice: too few local sellers, and listings that didn't match where his buyers were. Lou was working hard in the wrong place.
Be an air traffic controller
A few months into Lou's career, I asked him a simple question: “Why not get listings wherever they are?” Lou later called it a breakthrough moment.
I think he might have lost the forest for the trees. You need to cast a wide net, if you will.
“It's better to be an air traffic controller, sitting at your desk, getting listings over the phone and via email.”
Think about how many listings fall through. Owners change their minds, skip meetings, insist on unrealistic prices, or turn out to be about to close. Why kill a day driving to a restaurant to find out the lease expires next week? Sign it over the phone. Honestly, the owner does not care where you are. He or she just wants a buyer.
The map, and the biggest deal
On Lou's office wall hangs a map of New Jersey and the surrounding area, covered in flags. Each flag marks a deal he closed, and each color stands for a different year, going back to 2001. The flags cover New Jersey and beyond.
“You see that? My biggest deal was here, in Pennsylvania.”
That deal was about an hour outside Philadelphia. “I found him on a FSBO (for sale by owner) ad. Signed him over the phone. Sold it to a guy five minutes away.” And the most remarkable part: “Didn't meet either until the closing.”
“That's how you do business brokering,” Lou says. He's absolutely right. Why chase when there are so many businesses that need you?
What “casting a wider net” means for business brokers
For a business broker, casting a wider net means prospecting for sellers across a whole region, or even a whole industry, instead of only the town where you live or work, and running most of the listing process from your desk. It doesn't mean giving up local relationships. It means not limiting yourself to them.
| Narrow net | Wide net | |
|---|---|---|
| Territory | Your own town | Wherever the right listings are |
| Prospecting | Door to door | Phone, email, FSBO ads, referral partners and online marketing |
| Listing appointments | Drive to every one | Financials first, a video call, then e-signature |
| Time per listing | Often a day on the road | Mostly time at your desk |
| Buyers | Hope they come to your area | Market where each business's buyers are |
| Risk | Few sellers, wasted trips | Licensing rules and verification, both manageable |
There are more sellers out there than you think
Lou's town didn't have many sellers in 2002. Look across a whole region today, and the picture is very different. In research from the Exit Planning Institute, 91.55% of business owners said they plan to transition out of their business within the next 10 years, and 70.89% within five.
Most of them aren't prepared. In the IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse survey for Q2 2026 (press release), advisors reported that between 60% and 90% of sellers had less than a year of exit planning, or none at all. Those owners need a broker who finds them early and stays in touch until they're ready, wherever they are.
Where to find business listings beyond your town
Lou's biggest deal came from a FSBO ad. That's one of many places a wider net catches sellers:
- For-sale-by-owner ads. Owners trying to sell on their own, on business-for-sale marketplaces, classifieds and local listings sites, often discover how hard it is. A respectful call offering help can turn into a listing.
- Referral partners across the region. Accountants, attorneys, bankers and financial advisors in other towns see owners who are ready to sell. (Your best listings come from 20 people.)
- Online marketing aimed at each area. Articles and pages that answer owners' questions, optimized for the towns and counties you serve, bring sellers to you. The Vertica Sites hub includes GEO targeting for localized SEO.
- Email and drip campaigns to business owners. Owners who say “not yet” today can be ready next year. (Where your next listing comes from.)
- An industry specialty. Brokers who specialize in one industry, such as dental practices, HVAC or manufacturing, can win listings across a much larger area, because owners look for expertise.
- Past clients and buyers. Buyers become owners, and owners eventually sell again, wherever they are.
| Source | Cost | Speed | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| FSBO ads | Low | Fast | Owners already ready to sell; some have unrealistic prices |
| Referral partners | Low | Slow to build | High-quality, pre-qualified introductions once relationships form |
| Online marketing and SEO | Medium | Slow to build | Steady inbound inquiries from owners researching a sale |
| Email and drip campaigns | Low | Long term | Owners who become ready months or years later |
| Industry specialty | Medium | Medium | Owners who seek out expertise, across a wide area |
| Past clients and buyers | Low | Varies | Repeat sellers and warm referrals |
| Door-to-door | High (time) | Slow | Few sellers ready right now; useful for relationships |
How to win a listing you never visit
Lou signed his biggest seller over the phone. Today, it's even easier. Here's a process that works:
- Make the first call count. Learn the owner's goals, timeline and reasons for selling. This is where you find out whether the listing is real.
- Ask for the financials first. Tax returns, profit and loss statements and the lease tell you more than a site visit, and an owner who won't share them isn't ready. Sellers can upload documents straight into the CRM. (Direct seller uploads.)
- Do a video walk-through. A video call lets you see the business, the equipment and the location, and lets the owner see you.
- Verify ownership. Remote listings make verification more important, not less. Check state business records, the lease, licenses and tax returns before you market the business. (How to verify who owns a business.)
- Sign the engagement agreement online. With Vertica Sign, the owner can sign the engagement agreement from a phone or computer, and the signed copy is saved to their record.
Scripts for calling a for-sale-by-owner seller
FSBO sellers are often proud of handling the sale themselves, so lead with help, not criticism:
Opener: “Hi, this is [name] with [firm]. I saw your [business] is for sale. I help owners in [area] sell businesses like yours. Do you have a few minutes to tell me how it's going?”
If they're handling it themselves: “That makes sense. Many owners start that way. If it would help, I can share how we screen buyers with NDAs and proof of funds, so you only spend time with serious ones.”
Voicemail: “Hi, it's [name] with [firm], calling about the [business] you have for sale. I work with buyers looking for businesses like yours. Call me back at [number] when it's convenient.”
Free download: Remote Listing Checklist (printable PDF)
Everything you need to win a listing you never visit, on one page: 8 first-call questions, 8 documents to request first, a video walk-through checklist, the verify-sign-launch steps and the FSBO call scripts above. Download the free remote listing checklist (PDF).
Think about where the buyers are
Lou's Pennsylvania business sold to a buyer five minutes away. That's typical for small businesses: most buyers want a business they can reach every day, so the right buyer for a business is usually near the business, not near the broker.
That's exactly why a wider net works. Your job is to market each listing where its buyers are: on marketplaces, through your buyer database and to local referral partners. And today's buyers are easier to reach than ever. In BizBuySell's 2026 survey of small business buyers, 54% had never owned a business before, 46% described themselves as “corporate refugees” leaving corporate careers, and 78% were considering SBA financing. Many of them start their search online, long before they ever call a broker.
Inquiries from those buyers can flow straight into your CRM. With lead parsing, marketplace inquiries become contact records automatically, wherever the business is.
When you should get in the car
Casting a wide net doesn't mean never leaving your desk. Some situations are worth the drive:
- Larger or more complex businesses, where the relationship and the details justify a visit.
- Anything that doesn't add up. If ownership, the books or the seller's story raise questions, see the business in person. (Bad deals: how to spot them.)
- A seller who needs reassurance. Some owners won't sign until they've met you, and that's fair.
- Before an offer is accepted, a buyer will want to visit, and it often helps if you're there.
The point isn't to avoid travel. It's to make every trip count, and to stop spending days on listings that were never going to happen.
Cast a wide net, but qualify fast
A wider net catches more fish, and more of the ones you'll throw back. The more listings and buyers you attract, the more important it is to qualify quickly:
- Sellers: an unrealistic price, missing financials or an owner who's “just testing the market” are reasons to pass. (See when should a business broker tell a client to walk away?)
- Buyers: no NDA, no proof of funds and vague criteria are signs of a tire kicker. (How to spot tire kickers.)
Check the licensing rules before you cross state lines
One caution: many states regulate business brokers, and some require a real estate or broker license, especially when real estate is part of the sale. Before taking a listing in another state, check that state's rules, and consider co-brokering with a local licensed broker where required. (See our guide to referral fees and co-brokerage agreements for more on state licensing. This is general information, not legal advice.)
How a CRM helps you work a wider territory
- Every listing and seller in one place, wherever they are, with documents, notes and emails on the record.
- Region and industry fields on every contact and listing, so you can see where your business comes from and where it's growing. (Reporting.)
- Pipelines that show every deal's status at a glance, so a listing two hours away gets the same attention as one down the street. (Pipeline tools.)
- Drip campaigns that keep you in touch with owners across the region who aren't ready yet. (Email marketing.)
- E-signature, seller uploads and the data room, so the whole process works remotely.
- Workflows that create the next task automatically, so nothing slips. (15 automations that save brokers time.)
What's changed since 2019
When this article was first written, signing a seller over the phone was unusual. Today, remote work is normal, and the tools have caught up:
- Video calls are everywhere, and most owners are comfortable meeting on screen.
- E-signature is built in. Vertica Sign handles engagement agreements, NDAs and other documents.
- AI-powered prospecting is coming. Prospect Finder will search for business owners by industry, location and size and build marketing lists, so brokers can cast a wider net in minutes. (More in our guide to AI for business brokers.)
- Outreach that runs for you. Vertica Leads runs personalized outreach, and Vertica People provides lead generation and sales development reps who work inside your CRM.
Cast a wider net with Vertica CRM
See how Vertica CRM helps brokers find, sign and manage listings across a whole region from one desk. Contact us for a short demonstration.
Schedule a Demo Questions? Call +1 212 381 4994 (USA) or +61 3 8518 4759 (Australia).Frequently asked questions
What does casting a wider net mean for a business broker?
It means prospecting for business listings across a whole region or industry instead of only your own town, and managing most of the listing process remotely with phone calls, email, financial documents, video calls and e-signature.
Where do business brokers find listings?
Common sources include for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) ads, referral partners such as accountants, attorneys and bankers, online marketing and SEO aimed at the areas you serve, email and drip campaigns to business owners, an industry specialty, and past clients and buyers.
Can a business broker take a listing without visiting the business?
Yes. Many brokers win listings over the phone and by email, review the financials first, do a video walk-through and have the engagement agreement signed electronically. Verify ownership carefully, and visit in person when something doesn't add up or the deal is large or complex.
Do buyers of small businesses usually live nearby?
Often, yes. Most small business buyers want a business they can reach every day, so the right buyer is usually near the business rather than near the broker. That's why brokers can list businesses across a wide area and still sell them, as long as they market each listing where its buyers are.
How do you approach a for-sale-by-owner business?
Call respectfully, acknowledge what the owner has done so far, and offer specific help, such as reaching more qualified buyers, handling NDAs and screening, and managing the process confidentially. Many owners discover selling a business on their own is harder than they expected.
Do business brokers need a license in every state they work in?
Rules vary by state. Some states require a real estate or broker license for business brokers, especially when real estate is involved. Check each state's rules before taking a listing there, and consider co-brokering with a local licensed broker where required.
Who is buying small businesses today?
In BizBuySell's 2026 survey of small business buyers, 54% had never owned a business, 46% described themselves as corporate refugees leaving corporate careers, 78% were considering SBA financing and 70% would consider seller financing.
What should a business broker say to a FSBO seller?
Lead with help rather than criticism: introduce yourself, mention their listing, ask how the sale is going and offer something specific, such as screening buyers with NDAs and proof of funds so the owner only spends time with serious buyers.
What documents should a broker request before taking a listing?
Common first requests include three years of business tax returns, a year-to-date profit and loss statement, the current lease and landlord contact, a list of equipment and inventory, business licenses and permits, formation documents showing ownership, and details of any debts or liens.
How many business owners plan to sell?
In Exit Planning Institute research, 91.55% of business owners said they plan to transition out of their business within 10 years, and 70.89% within five. Many are unprepared: Market Pulse advisors report that 60% to 90% of sellers had less than a year of exit planning.
Is there a checklist for taking a business listing remotely?
Yes. Vertica CRM offers a free one-page Remote Listing Checklist (PDF) with first-call questions, documents to request, a video walk-through checklist, verification and signing steps and FSBO call scripts.
When should a business broker visit a business in person?
Visit for larger or more complex businesses, whenever ownership, the books or the seller's story raise questions, when a seller needs to meet you before signing, and when a buyer is visiting before an offer is accepted.