Sellers beware

It was a difficult decision to sell our first pub but after two years and a steep learning curve, my husband and I had built a successful business and were ready for our next challenge. Decision to go made, we set about putting our business on the market.

We chose three agents to value our business; a local independent, a large, nationally-based corporate and a third less well-known nationally-based company. No two agents arrived at a similar market value for our leasehold business and each of the three used a slightly different approach.

All the agents required payment of an up-front "contribution" towards marketing of the business, but they used different approaches to calculate their agency fee on completion; either a percentage of the sale price or a percentage of the sale price plus a percentage of the annual rent.

With, we thought, sufficient due diligence we selected our agent on the basis of a combination of the valuation price, perceived likely success rate of the agent based on skills and professionalism, cost of agency fees and good old fashioned rapport. We signed a six-month sole agency agreement.

There were problems from the outset and it quickly became apparent that we'd selected the wrong agent. Our first indication of the problems to come was that the sales rep who'd valued and knew the most about our pub was no longer part of the process, selling the business was the job of the sales team in a regional Bristol office who'd never set foot over the threshold. Later we also discovered that the sales office was only a local telephone number diverted to their head (and only) office in Manchester!

Our sales particulars were incorrectly listed on the Internet for more than a month - search criteria that should have matched our business didn't. Plus we didn't receive any proactive updates from our agent, the information they provided when we called them was either out of date, inaccurate or given in bad grace.

Our agent frequently-demonstrated a lack of knowledge about our pub's business, which caused big problems on one occasion we were left to manage one particularly aggressive sales negotiation with much hindrance and no assistance.

Whilst an agent can never guarantee a sale, you should certainly feel as if they've done everything they possibly could and acted professionally at all times. And needless to say, we don't feel that way.

As with everything in business your mistakes teach you the most!

I hope the following tips to help you select the best agent will be useful if you're thinking of selling your pub...

Carefully read and compare the selling agreements of the different valuing agents before signing them. It is vital to have supporting guarantees such as terms and conditions and/or service level guarantee that describe what the service will entail - this should include how often your business will be advertised, why, where, and how; how often will you be updated on progress; what will happen if interest is low etc. You may well need to rely on information given to you verbally so make notes, take names, times and dates and it can be useful to send them a written copy of your understanding.

Ensure the person who valued or visited your pub is the one who will be selling your business to potential buyers on a day-to-day basis. Detailed knowledge of your business helps ensure the best chance of a sale and prevents delays, confusion and all manner of other problems.

Make sure they also have a sound knowledge of the industry to provide the relevant context for the knowledge they hold about your business. If they glaze over or start to gabble when you mention specifics of your business then think carefully before choosing them.

Look for additional information about your agent other than that which they provide you with. Try Companies House, Google, and other publicans.