Our philosophy
We Believe That Those Who Challenge the Status Quo Today Will Do Remarkable Things Tomorrow
For decades, business brokers have worked the same way: paper NDAs, buyer lists in spreadsheets, documents sent as attachments and follow-ups kept in their heads. Vertica CRM was built by brokers to challenge that status quo. Here's what we set out to change, and why your ideas are part of it.
Quick answer
Vertica CRM was founded on the belief that business brokers shouldn't have to work the way the industry always has. Built by people with decades of brokerage experience, it replaces the time-consuming, frustrating parts of the job, like faxed NDAs, hand-copied inquiries, spreadsheet buyer lists and emailed documents, with one platform where brokers can run their entire process. It's fully customizable to fit each firm, and it keeps improving because we actively listen to brokers' out-of-the-box ideas. The goal is simple: give brokers the tools to put more money in their pockets.
Business brokerage is one of the oldest professions in the business world, and for most of its history, it has run on the same tools: the phone, paper files, a fax machine and a broker's memory. The way the industry has been working for the past 60 years is overdue for a change.
Vertica CRM is redefining that. We believe that those who challenge the status quo today will do remarkable things tomorrow, and that brokers who stop accepting “that's just how it's done” will close more deals, with less stress, than those who don't.
“That's how we've always done it” is the most expensive sentence in business brokerage.
The status quo we set out to challenge
Ask any experienced broker what slows them down, and you'll hear the same list. These are the habits the industry inherited, and the better way to handle each one:
| The status quo | What it costs a broker | The better way |
|---|---|---|
| NDAs faxed, mailed or scanned | Days of delay while a motivated buyer waits, and paperwork that gets lost | Buyers sign online and are registered automatically |
| Inquiries copied in by hand | Slow replies, mistakes and buyers who move on to the next listing | Inquiries parsed into the CRM and assigned in minutes |
| Buyer lists in spreadsheets | Good buyers forgotten when the right listing finally comes along | Buyers' criteria matched to every new listing |
| Documents emailed as attachments | No control over who has what, and no record of who sent it | A data room with buyer approval and release tracking |
| Follow-up from memory | Deals and sellers that quietly slip away | Workflows that create the next task automatically |
| A different tool for every job | Hours lost switching programs and re-entering the same data | One platform for the entire process |
None of these habits is anyone's fault. They're simply how brokers were taught, and how the software available to them worked. But every one of them costs time, and time is a broker's most limited resource. Salespeople in every industry feel it: in Salesforce's State of Sales research, reps said they spend just 28% of their week actually selling, with most of the rest going to tasks like deal management and data entry.
Built by brokers, for brokers
Vertica CRM wasn't built by software people guessing what brokers need. Its founders have decades of brokering experience between them. We lived the status quo: the lost NDAs, the buyer who called back after we'd forgotten him, the evenings spent re-typing the same information into a third program.
So we did what brokers rarely get to do. We wrote down every process that was time-consuming or frustrating, and turned those ideas into a software product designed to make a broker's career much easier. It started with me and one developer, working out of a closet off the side of a kitchen. (I tell the full story in why business brokers need CRM software.)
One platform for the entire process
Our goal was a whole new platform for business brokers: one that combines the best features a broker needs, so intermediaries can complete their full process in one program instead of juggling many. In Vertica CRM, that means:
- Seller prospecting and nurture, so every owner who says “not yet” stays in touch until they're ready.
- Buyer inquiries, parsed from marketplaces and assigned to the right broker automatically.
- NDAs and buyer registration, with flexible options and online signatures.
- A data room with [buyer approval](approval), so confidential documents only go to approved buyers, and every release is recorded.
- Buyer matching, so the right buyers hear about the right listings.
- [Workflows and automation](automation) that keep every deal moving.
- [Pipeline tools](pipeline) and [reporting](reporting), so you always know where every deal stands.
Everything a broker needs to be super efficient, in one place.
Fully customizable to fit your firm
Challenging the status quo doesn't mean forcing every brokerage into one new mold. No two firms work alike, so Vertica CRM is fully customizable to fit your firm's individual needs: your stages, your templates, your permissions and your policies.
That matters more than most people realize. A CRM that fights the way your brokers work won't get used, no matter how many features it has. (We explain why in your company culture and your brokers aren't resistant to technology.)
Your out-of-the-box ideas make Vertica CRM better
Some of the best ideas in this industry come from the brokers doing the work every day. That's why we welcome out-of-the-box ideas from our customers, and why we actively listen to feedback to improve the experience for everyone.
When a broker tells us what slows them down, we listen. We look at how many brokers face the same problem, and we build the improvements that help brokers most. One example of thinking differently: tracking exactly who released information to which buyer, and when, which also settles questions about credit. (How Business Brokers CRM thinks out of the box.)
If you have an idea that would save you time or help you close more deals, we want to hear it.
Is your brokerage stuck in the status quo?
Ask yourself these questions. If you answer “yes” to more than one or two, there's room for a better way:
- Do buyers wait more than a day for an NDA or a reply?
- Do you keep buyer lists in spreadsheets or old email folders?
- Do you send confidential documents as email attachments?
- Do you rely on memory or sticky notes for follow-ups?
- Do you re-enter the same information into more than one program?
- Would your business suffer if a broker left and took their contacts with them?
What's changed since 2015
We still believe exactly what we did when we first wrote this article. What's changed is how far challenging the status quo has taken us:
- AI that works from your own data. Our AI CIM generator drafts a confidential information memorandum from the files in the listing's data room, the photos in the CRM and the listing's historical data. A CIM that would normally take 10 hours or more can be drafted in minutes. (More in our guide to AI for business brokers.)
- More of the process in one place. Vertica Sign for document signing, Vertica Sites for broker websites and Vertica Leads for buyer outreach all connect to the CRM.
- Hands-on onboarding. A dedicated onboarding team configures Vertica CRM around each firm's methodology. (How onboarding works.)
- People, not just software. Vertica People provides administrative staff, lead generation and sales development reps who work inside your CRM.
Our bottom line
Every feature we build, and every idea we take from our clients, comes back to one goal.
Striving to give you the tools to put more money in your pocket!
Challenge your status quo
See what your brokerage could look like without the faxes, spreadsheets and attachments. Contact us for a short demonstration.
Schedule a Demo Questions? Call our office at +1 212 381 4994.Frequently asked questions
What does challenging the status quo mean for business brokers?
It means questioning habits the industry has relied on for decades, such as faxed or mailed NDAs, buyer lists in spreadsheets, documents sent as email attachments and follow-ups kept in memory, and replacing them with faster, more secure ways of working that give brokers more time with sellers and buyers.
Who built Vertica CRM?
Vertica CRM was founded by Joshua Factor, a former IT project manager who became a top business broker at a multinational brokerage firm. Its founders have decades of brokering experience, and the platform was designed around the processes they found most time-consuming and frustrating.
What makes Vertica CRM different from other CRMs?
Vertica CRM is built exclusively for business brokers and M&A advisors, so it handles brokerage processes like NDAs, buyer registration, data rooms with buyer approval, document release tracking, buyer matching and marketplace lead parsing in one platform, and it is customizable to each firm's needs.
Is Vertica CRM customizable?
Yes. Vertica CRM is fully customizable to fit each firm's individual needs, including stages, templates, permissions and policies, and its onboarding team configures the system around the firm's methodology.
Does Vertica CRM listen to customer feedback?
Yes. Vertica CRM welcomes out-of-the-box ideas from its customers and actively listens to feedback to improve the platform, prioritizing improvements that help brokers most.
Can brokers run their entire process in one program?
Yes. Vertica CRM is designed so brokers can manage seller prospecting, buyer inquiries, NDAs, data rooms, buyer matching, follow-up workflows, pipelines and reporting in one platform instead of juggling separate tools.