opinion Why I never give a time limit to interested buyers

[NameOffice.]

I recently had this discussion with a seller when he asked me to give an interested buyer a firm time limit to buy at his counteroffer price.

It’s rare that I give a time limit on a domain offer or counteroffers. And the few times that I have is because the sale has advanced for days and has dragged out for far too long, but even in these few times the language that I use is very subtle and somewhat flexible.

Here are a few reasons why I don’t feel this tactic works:

• A time limit can easily come across as aggressive and cause the buyer to put up his defense, possibly ending the discussion altogether.
• It’s not easy to come across as friendly and trusting when you put up a timer.
• Our job is to relax the prospect so they feel fully confident and comfortable in moving forward. A time limit only adds pressure and we all respond differently to pressure, not very often in a good way.
• It’s not always sincere. I’ve purchased many domains long after their time limit, at the offer they said would expire. Yes, I did purchase but certainly not because of the timer, which was no object because I knew the game, but many buyers don’t. How will my buyers react to another time limit set on a future domain if I didn’t honor the first? I certainly lost some of my credibility. At that point it just sounds like an empty threat coming from a pushy salesman. I want to be a businessman that stands behind the quality of the product and sell it on its own merits, not on some external force.
• When I do give my rare time limit, I provide a real reason (which is very important and has closed many sales). I use language along the lines of, “As per our policy I am unable to keep this offer open much longer. We would have to restart the negotiation process.” And maybe follow up on a reason why the price may be increased and the previous offer not possible.

I wanted to share one more thing, a bit unrelated. A question came up at Namescon this year:

“Is there a way to counteroffer without sounding too firm on the counter price but also not sounding too flexible on it either?”

To which the panelist simply said, “no, not really.”

I often find myself in a situation where I don’t want to scare the buyer away with a firm counteroffer but also want to sound firm enough that perhaps they’ll bite. There’s a difference between the following responses:

“It looks like the best we can do is $2500 on this name.”

And

“It looks like we would be able to do $2500 on this name.”

I use one of these two sentences often in my responses to offers. How I choose which one to use depends on the language of the interested buyer, the flexibility of the seller and the stage of the sale progression. “It looks like we would be able to do $2500 on this name,” conveys a sense of openness and is a great way to send a counteroffer without sounding closed to a possible counter. It has worked many times for me and has gone both way (receiving a counter or closing the sale).

I understand we all have our own strategies; I just wanted to share a couple of mine for anyway interested. Take it with a grain of salt.

It's gonna be great,
Michael Rader
Founder at Brandroot

 

[trelgor]

Good to keep serious about every aspect of sales communication!

I do think though that if you have a set price and lower it to make a sale - that is discounting - and should warrant some kind of unique terms to purchase at that price, to keep the product value. Read buy 3 get 1 free, or buy this graciously discounted name during this limited period of time.

There probably aren't any rights or wrongs. And I agree that sometimes less is more in negotiations.

When you know there is sincere interest a more subtle approach is probably preferred.

About "aggressive". It is naturally a negative term as is. On the other hand you wouldn't want a salesman that doesn't actively find every way to close a deal, which to me is "aggressive" in this context.

 

[LaunchUp.com]

A time limit may only b necessary if you legitimately have more than one buyers with serious offers.

 

[Lysted]

Would recommend giving time to the buyer to look around, nobody likes aggressiveness. People have to see the value in your name for them to come back, if the value or likeness is not there, then no discounts, timelines are going to bring them to you, rather it shows your desperation or you yourself do not know the price of the domain. E.g. If you listed a domain at $1500 and within 3 days you came down to $500, that does not give lot of confidence to the buyer about the 'value' of the domain.

We are talking about a merchandise that has no real value/metric or price comparison tools. Only comparable tool is very similar names which may or may not be for sale. If the user has come to you by themselves, there is a good chance that they like the name. Now things are on your side. Now one thing you can do at this stage, do some research yourself. Consider yourself as a buyer of the name, and think of alternatives you can think. Check their availability, prices etc. However you may not know what 'exact' business purpose they are seeking the name for - you only have idea. YOU can get better idea by thinking 'where all this names can be used'. If you think that your name really does not have (m)any substitutes especially at a price closer to your price, then stick to your price. Research is very important.

When a buyer starts looking for a name, it is an ever evolving process. The name they may be seeking may be totally different from what they were seeking months ago. That is the result of the diligence most buyers do. Keep in mind buyer is going to buy the name at the quoted price only if it is 'best fit' for their needs. If it is not the best fit or very close to it, then they will try to bring you down in price, and unreasonably. And that does not mean that you should sell at lower price because user wants to use it for purpose that you think is not the ideal/best use of your name. That is like 'wasting' a good name.

Lastly, would recommend, 'know your name', 'know the potential of the name' - and price it reasonably. 'Know your customer' as much as you can. Good names having value, will take time, but will sell. Mathematically, considering 3% of the sales rate can keep you at breakeven or even profitable, you can afford to be wrong lot of the times, and you learn as you go. Lastly would like to mention, do not make any hard and fast rules. Every situation is different.

Best luck in selling!