Sell a Private Liquor Store in BC With Empathy

If you want to sell a liquor store in BC, there’s no shortage of prospective buyers if you know where to find them. Finding someone who wants to buy a liquor store and closing a deal are two different things, though! As experienced liquor consultants who have worked with many sellers and buyers, we’ve discovered that after all the sales tactics, pitches, and haggling are done, it’s empathy that results in the sale. You may be thinking “Empathy? I’m selling a liquor store not psychological counselling”.

How Empathy Helps Sell A Liquor Store

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “empathy” as “The ability to understand and share the feelings of another”. Empathetic individuals understand people because they’ve actively tried to put themselves in others’ shoes.

Being “self serving” is necessary, of course, since it helps us survive. In business, though, a self-centered attitude often causes friction in relationships. If you want to sell a liquor store, and your motivations and plans are mostly self focused, you could be somewhat blind to the motivations and pain points of liquor store buyers.

Advantages of Empathy in Closing a Liquor Store Sale

In the Inc. article “Seven Habits of Highly Empathetic People”, author Melody Wilding, Performance Coach and Human Behavior Professor, describes the effects of those habits. We’ve paraphrased the names of the habits below.

Habit 1: Fully Present

If you have a liquor store for sale, your desire to close the deal can be a distraction, resulting in a preoccupation with your needs, wants, thoughts and feelings. If you stay present, you’ll earn trust and respect. People will notice that you see and consider their reality. On the other hand, if you’re preoccupied with yourself, a buyer will sense it and may not trust you.

Habit 2: Active Listening

Active listening goes hand in hand with being fully present. When you actively listen, you reflect what you think you’ve heard, affirm statements, or ask questions, so you can clarify your understanding. People who actively listen really get to know the person on the other side of the deal.

Habit 3: Understand Non-Verbal Communication

A 1967 communications study by Mehrabian and Wiener, suggested 55% or more of communication is body language (non-verbal clues). By tuning into body language, you see the physical manifestations of a person’s inner reality. These clues may tell you how they are really feeling. You can then check out what you see by asking questions: How are you feeling about this so far? Is there anything else you’d like to discuss? Is something bothering you?

Habit 4: They Don’t Hog the Conversation

If you give people equal time (or more time) to express themselves in a meeting, you’ll learn something about them. If, on the other hand, you hog the airspace, you’ll miss something in all that talking about you! Open your ears and close your mouth. You’ll really get to understand the buyer.

Habit 5: Ask Questions Instead of Offering Advice

If someone asks for advice, it’s fair game to give it, though you’re almost always better off asking questions instead. Advice can be helpful, but it can be a hindrance because it shuts down a back-and-forth exchange of ideas, thoughts, questions. If you ask questions instead, their answers will allow you to really see them, their ideas, concerns, needs, and feelings, all of which could be potential roadblocks to closing the liquor store sale.

Habit 6: They Use “We” Statements Not “I” or “My” Statements

By using “we” statements instead of “I” or “my” statements, you make the potential buyer feel included. It becomes clear to them, subtly, that you’re both in this together. The “Us vs Them” attitude dissolves. Inclusive language that invites discussion builds trust.

A transaction is a two-sided coin. Liquor store sellers and buyers have far more similarities than differences and one can’t exist without the other! The two sides of the transaction coin truly are on the same team.

Habit 7: They Put Themselves in Others’ Shoes

Empathy at its core means imagining how others feel. Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes, it’ll make the walk towards a deal go far more smoothly because empathy invites trust and insight.

Empathy is Integral to Our Work at Thrive

Selling or buying a liquor store can be a complex process that elicits much emotion and stress. Thrive Liquor & Cannabis Advisors respects the internal processes of both buyers and sellers. When we work with you, we take an open and clear approach that facilitates communication, and the sale!

At Thrive, we:

• Keep an extensive contact list and match those that are likely to result in a successful transaction. Prequalifying buyers makes the process more efficient and usually makes the negotiating process go more smoothly
• Ensure the vendor’s needs are heard
• Ensure we understand the requirements, values, and motivations of both the seller and the buyer
• Understand that selling or buying a liquor store is a personal and emotional journey
• Seek solutions that benefit both parties to the transaction

Sell Your Liquor Store Today! Thrive Advisors Can Make It Happen

Thrive Liquor & Cannabis Advisors has connections to buyers and sellers in BC and beyond. Our advisory services help buyers and sellers seal the deal. Ask us how!