question How to handle an inquiry that is going cold

[7363824]

I got an inquiry on one of my domains almost 2 weeks ago. The potential buyer came though an independent lander and offered more than the BIN I had set at Sedo and Afternic. So I upped my BIN to match their offer told them I would accept that and suggested either to complete though either Escrow.com or Sedo. After a couple of days of no response to that I sent another email to which the potential buyer said oh sorry had something come up but I'm still interested and will be in touch. Then over a week with nothing more. When should I try to email back? What should I say?

I was listening to an older episode of Domain Sherpa last night and they were talking about how they have sent an email to a potential buyer that's was on the fence "accidentally" and was meant to be sent to another potential buyer (wasn't clear if this other potential buyer was real or not). Do you think something like this might help create some urgency for this guy to close to deal of he's serious?

How would you handle this situation. It's a good price for the domain that will not only cover all my acquisitions to date but give me more left over for new purchases too so I'm really hoping to close this.

 

[uzver]

Forget about him. He doesn’t need the domain at this time. Whatever you do to push him may work against you.

Maybe he is busy. Maybe he is looking for an alternative (now that he knows he can always buy it from you at agreed price). Maybe he just doesn’t need it anymore.

Best case scenario — he will come back at some time in the future and buy it from you.

IMO..

 

[BaileyUK]

Maybe it will complete - maybe it wont. I certainly wouldn't worry too much about the time-line, my experience is the bigger the company the longer they take to complete. I've had a few (over the years) that have taken 4 weeks + to follow-up. I do give a push after say 4 weeks and say I'll consider they no longer have any interest in the domain, that usually brings it to the top of their 'to-Do-List'

A lot of companies are dealing with something like 3 to 6 months from agreement to acquisition of their regular business purchases,(lead time) so a month is nothing to them.

I don't like that excuse "That something came-up" though, sounds like they are exploring alternatives to me, possibly still in the negotiation stage for an alternative preferred domain

 

[ResoluteDomains]

I had a buyer disappear for a year and then came back and restarted negotiations. Eventually sold that 5-letter name for low 4-figures.

I had a buyer disappear after placing a BIN offer but before sending the money to Sedo. I eventually found out that the buyer was killed in a traffic accident the very next day.

A decade or so ago I landed in the hospital and ended up staying due to surgery and complications from a couple of surgeries and procedures for the better part of 6 months. The very last thing on my mind was domains and I lost many of them to expiration. If I had been in negotiation to sell a particular domain I would not have been able to reply for the first 6 weeks or so.

Things happen. Life happens.

The buyer could have had a family emergency, you do not know and you're not entitled to know exactly what happened. All you know is this: "oh sorry had something come up but I'm still interested and will be in touch" So the ball is in the buyer's court now. In your case, at this time I would wait.

Keep the BIN at one market place and set your min offer to the amount that you accepted at all other market places (to avoid the potential multiple BIN scenario which would be rare but could happen).

I would shoot him an email after about a month or so from his email stating "oh sorry had something come up......." with your general premise being that you assume they went with another domain. You also get the opportunity to be courteous and leave the door open for the future.

You still do not know for sure if he's purchased another domain or not so you basically close your email with "if we may assist you in the future with this domain name, should it still be available, or another domain name, or if you know anyone else interested in a great domain name then contact us and we'll go from there." (you have no idea who they may know!) Then close with wishing them well and leave your contact information. Thats all you can do at that point and you continue to move on.

Barring any of the above, or other scenarios that I didnt cover, if your prospect did go with another domain then what bothers me in general is lack of proper communication. I believe people should always follow-up regardless of the outcome. This gives people and the transaction closure and it is courteous but unfortunately many will not communicate this way so better get used to it.

If I had a dime for every inquiry that went no where then I might be able to pay off my mortgage. Unfortunately it seems to be the lay of the land in domain investing. Its not like buying a car or a home where you have to explain why you're going to back out of an agreed deal. I doubt that it will ever become that way either.

 

[uzver]

Which seems weird to me because I didn't even try to negotiate up the price because I was happy with their offer rather than try to maximize my profit.

Why do you find it weird?

Imagine you found two domains that you like. You make offers to both sellers and then decide which one to pick. The decision process can be delayed if the “second” seller wasn’t as straightforward as you (negotiations still in progress). It can also happen that your buyer brought this issue to his board/family/friends to help with decision. Hence the delay.

On another note, I wouldn’t ignore the fact that you accepted initial offer without negotiating (or pretending you want to negotiate). Roger Dawson explained it perfectly in his book “The Secrets of Power Negotiating”, but I just googled “never accept the first offer” and found similar description here https://negotiationsworkshops.com/n...hy-You-Should-Never-Take-the-First-Offer.html

 

[Mister Funsky]

Either the name acquisition is not that urgent for them, they have changed their mind and/or found another name or they are waiting on you to drop the price.

More than likely the deal has gone cold (you will have to get used to that, it happens a lot) so don't stress over it too much (I know that is easy to say!).

Just put a 'buy it now' price on the name you would be happy in case they come back.

 

[uzver]

Stuff like that is why nobody can stand salesmen...most people IMO dont want to play those kind of games they just want a straight forward deal.

Like it or not, but your buyer committed to play the game by submitting an offer.

And with all honesty, I don't think this particular negotiation tactic to be a salesman game only.

Not only this tactic may help to increase the initial offer, but it also helps not to lose the existing one - you don't want the buyer to start thinking he is overpaying. You don't even need to ask for more money; the goal is to show that you're not happy with the price. But you can say something along the lines: "I was going to get more, but I would be willing to accept your offer if... (buyer pays Escrow fees; we put a deal in place this week, etc).

IMO

 

[NickB]

You may have developed a strong "shock absorber" some will time to build it.

Been involved in different sales roles for a long time so have a nice healthy thick skin

 

[7363824]

Roger Dawson explained it perfectly in his book “The Secrets of Power Negotiating”, but I just googled “never accept the first offer”

Stuff like that is why nobody can stand salesmen...most people IMO dont want to play those kind of games they just want a straight forward deal.

 

[BaileyUK]

Stuff like that is why nobody can stand salesmen...most people IMO dont want to play those kind of games they just want a straight forward deal.

Unfortunately the business world doesn't operate like that. Sure, if it was a domainer or a developer after your domain then the deal usually closes fairly quickly, Most businesses prefer to keep options open and on the table until closing a deal. There's nothing untoward in their motive, they're not trying to play games with you personally. I understand that you feel that this is a one-off purchase so your expectation is for them to pay and be done. But lets suppose they identified three possible domains for their project. They have to establish the buying proposition for all their alternatives. Sure, they are happy with your Price-point, that they have established very quickly.

Of course this is just one possible explanation for the delay. If it proves to be correct keep your fingers crossed that any other domain seller is playing hardball on price and they return to close the deal

 

[BaileyUK]

NO, I wouldn't take it off the market and I doubt you would have rejected an alternative buyer either. We have all been there. It's in our nature to see a confirmed offer as a closed-sale. Maybe the potential buyer could have informed you that they were exploring alternatives, But, then again most domainers see that as a negotiating technique. This wouldn't apply in your case as it was a straight forward offer that you were happy with.

I hope your domain sale goes ahead

 

[ollybod]

Well you didn't specify the date your last mail was sent but nonetheless you should thread carefully so you won't look too desparate to the potential buyer.
You can send him another mail say like 5 days interval to your first mail.
#mythought.....

 

[QuestFuture]

I think you should wait, good domain name is not for sale. If he really likes this domain name, he will definitely contact you.

 

[7363824]

As I mentioned in a earlier post, indeed this is how I would also respond (as you have done) But, only after a 4 week time-lag

Two weeks was plenty generous IMO. it would get hard to sell a domain when you keep taking it off the market for 4 weeks everytime you get an inquiry that goes nowhere.

 

[myfavorite]

Like some have already stated it may or may not go through. I know such situation can disorganize a person.

But you may have to prepare yourself to take whatever comes out of it. If they finally push through good, but otherwise move on.

I have experience where a person made an offer to buy a domain from me which I accepted only for the person to go cold. I recently came across his website with the alternative name he settled for.

 

[uzver]

You don't know that. If I submit an offer that does not mean I'm committing to anything other than to complete the Transaction at that specific price. You want to play salesman games I'll walk, you accept my offer I'll follow though on my commitment.

Really? Say, you want to buy the perfect domain for your business, and you will walk away because you don't like how the seller responded? Come on, be realistic.

I don't want to argue. I wanted to show you a different perspective, but it's your choice (and your sales).

I doubt understand why following though in a commitment is so hard for people.

How will you understand if you seem to don't want to hear? Just re-read the above posts, I think there are some good examples of why it can be hard for people.

 

[7363824]

People put in offers and do not follow through, it happens quite a lot unfortunately. Learn to deal with it....

Well sorry I actually believe in following though on my obligations.

 

[myfavorite]

Or your emails were delivered into the buyer's spam folder... or not delivered at all (blocked, this mostly happens if destination is at Hotmail/Outlook)...
Use another SMTP.

They said they will get back to him but are now delaying.

 

[BaileyUK]

I was going to add my understanding about the "Law of Contract" from a UK perspective. But I now see our OP's account is showing 'Auto Closed' so little point in elaborating further. But it does go to show that it is always worth putting a time-line on any agreement to sell.

 

[Mister Funsky]

A decade or so ago I landed in the hospital and ended up staying due to surgery and complications from a couple of surgeries and procedures for the better part of 6 months. The very last thing on my mind was domains and I lost many of them to expiration

Wow...same thing happened to me 12 years ago...I lost many very aged and valuable domains due to the same scenario.

You are right...life happens...to survive as domain investors and humans we have to learn to roll with the punches!

btw, just an hour ago I closed a BIN window for a potential buyer...let him know I would welcome other offers in the future (he offered less than half of the name value). I always let potential buyers know I NEVER go lower than my 'best' number...I make sure they know it will 10 to 50 percent more in case they a waiting to see if I reduce the price 'down the road'.

 

[ResoluteDomains]

Wow...same thing happened to me 12 years ago...I lost many very aged and valuable domains due to the same scenario.

You are right...life happens...to survive as domain investors and humans we have to learn to roll with the punches!

btw, just an hour ago I closed a BIN window for a potential buyer...let him know I would welcome other offers in the future (he offered less than half of the name value). I always let potential buyers know I NEVER go lower than my 'best' number...I make sure they know it will 10 to 50 percent more in case they a waiting to see if I reduce the price 'down the road'.

Crazy isnt it? I have learned from that experience to have at least a couple of people who know what I do and that I have an inventory of domain names that need to be monitored and dealt with. Its also in my will since then.

 

[7363824]

So the initial inquiry was on 9/19 (almost 2 weeks ago). I got the email right away but took a couple of hours before responding. That first email got no response. So I sent one again in 9/21 in essence saying not sure id my last v email ending up in your spam folder blah blah blah. He responded 9/22 saying still Interested but something came up I will be in touch. Silence since then...10 days ago.

 

[7363824]

Sounds like they are exploring alternatives to me, possibly still in the negotiation stage for an alternative preferred domain

Which seems weird to me because I didn't even try to negotiate up the price because I was happy with their offer rather than try to maximize my profit...I'm not sure how big the company is but according to the website hes the owner so that seems like it should be pretty straight forward to me.

 

[7363824]

I decided to just email him back and told him that since I haven't heard back I am considering the inquiry closed.

 

[7363824]

Unfortunately the business world doesn't operate like that. Sure, if it was a domainer or a developer after your domain then the deal usually closes fairly quickly, Most businesses prefer to keep options open and on the table until closing a deal. There's nothing untoward in their motive, they're not trying to play games with you personally. I understand that you feel that this is a one-off purchase so your expectation is for them to pay and be done. But lets suppose they identified three possible domains for their project. They have to establish the buying proposition for all their alternatives. Sure, they are happy with your Price-point, that they have established very quickly.

Of course this is just one possible explanation for the delay. If it proves to be correct keep your fingers crossed that any other domain seller is playing hardball on price and they return to close the deal

Thats not the content for what I was saying, as you can see I quoted what someone else said about accepting the first offer.