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Over
the weekend
we
published our latest Cover Story:
Domain Brokers: How to Choose One and What it Takes to Be a Successful One.
We invited all 13 of the brokers that were
nominated
for the 2012 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Broker of
the Year Award (that will be handed
out at the conference
coming up next week in Fort
Lauderdale Beach, Florida) to
comment for the story. With the busy
schedules and high priority obligations
that people have, I never expect a 100%
response rate to any interview request
and don't give it a second thought when
I don't hear back from everyone.
After our
story was published I learned that DomainAdvisors.com
President Jeff Gabriel, whom I
had invited to comment, never received
the email I sent |
Image
from Bigstock |
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(an
increasingly common problem with today's
spam epidemic resulting in both email
clients and ISPs mistakenly flagging too
many legitimate messages as spam). As
the guy who brokered the most expensive
domain sale ever reported (Sex.com
at $13 million) I knew our
readers would love to hear what Jeff had
to say and was happy to have him send
along his comments so I can share them
with you. |
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Jeff
Gabriel
President, DomainAdvisors.com |
The first
question I asked all of the brokers was what
attributes they think a domain
seller should look for in a broker to
have the best chance for success? On
that point Gabriel said, "Looking
for a broker who is trustworthy,
tenacious and receptive goes without
saying. What a seller might not think to
consider, is the brokerage behind the
individual and how they will work
together to maximize the seller’s
success. When a client hires
DomainAdvisors to sell a name they are
getting a brokerage as in a team
rather than an individual broker. We
work together frequently discussing
active opportunities, negotiation
strategies, brainstorming to generate
lists of potential buyers and
collaborating to formulate a plan for
success."
"Teamwork
is a powerful thing. Our team does not
end at DomainAdvisors. We include our
client as part of that team as
well," Gabriel added. "We do
our best to understand what the
expectations are of our clients then do
our best |
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to
meet and exceed their expectations. We
understand that the seller has stayed up
at night dreaming of the limitless
possibilities their asset could deliver
to the rightful owner, and we want to
hear about it. Those ideas can lead to
additional possibilities, and potential
new buyer pools." |
"DomainAdvisors
brokerage has had much success working hand in
hand with others in the brokerage community. I
can proudly say that in just the last few months
we have worked directly with DomainNameSales,
BuyDomains, Moniker/SnapNames, Media
Options, Domain Holdings, Alan
Hack and Toby Clements to bring
several mutually beneficial opportunities to
fruition."
Jeff
Gabriel with some of his DomainAdvisors.com
teammates at the 2011
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference on Florida's
Ft. Lauderdale Beach. (Left to right) Gregg
McNair,
Amanda Waltz, Jeff Gabriel and Tessa
Holcomb. (Photo courtesy of Barbara Neu)
Domain
sellers often think all they need to do is list
their names with a broker, but Gabriel said you
can greatly improve your chances of making a
sale by going a step or two further. "The
more information a seller can provide for
us the better," Gabriel said.
"Any information about the name, the
industries it falls into increases our chances
of selling their domain and meeting their
expectations. The seller also needs to set
their expectations ahead of time. What are
their expectations of a broker? How involved do
they want to be in the process? How often do
they want updates?"
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As
illustrated in our Cover
Story, there are a lot of
good brokers out there, so I asked each
what attributes they thought set
them apart in a very completive
field. Gabriel said, "Anyone can
make cold calls, send email blasts, and
write postings on social media. The
question is, “How effective are
they?” What kind of message will
that broker provide to a potential
buyer? Do |
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Image
from Bigstock |
they
have the know how to navigate past
gatekeepers, all the way up to the
board room? Most importantly, can they create
value? Do they follow up? Are they
afraid of hearing no 99 times in order to
get that yes on the 100th call? I can
confidently say our brokerage team
consistently demonstrates these attributes
in a positive fashion and is eager to take
on any new challenge. It’s these
qualities that have earned DomainAdvisors
the opportunity to work on some of the
world’s most premium domain names
including Music.com, Quote.com,
Pay.com, Stocks.com, Yoga.com,
Dragon.com and more." |
We
had one last question. With strong demand for
brokerage services, more people are interested
in becoming brokers themselves. What
skills and/or qualifications do you think a
person needs to succeed in the brokerage
business today? Gabriel replied, "I think
one of the greatest things about our business is
that domain brokerage isn’t hindered by the regulations
surrounding similar careers including commercial
real estate brokerage or lending. This allows
us, as domain brokers, to practice anywhere
in world, and contact buyers in any
jurisdiction. On the flip side, the lack
of regulation can result in, short cuts,
questionable business practices and unfavorable
results meaning my guard always has to be up
and we have to take extra steps to ensure that
every “T” is crossed an “I” is dotted.
Someone who isn’t afraid to admit when
they’ve made a mistake, is open to learning
new strategies, can take rejection and
criticism, and most importantly, upholds the
highest of ethics, has the recipe for success
in domain brokerage as a career."
Gabriel
closed with a relevant quote from Mark Twain
- "If you tell the truth you don't have to
remember anything."
If
you missed our Cover Story, you can hear how
nine other leading brokers answered these
questions here.
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