What Buyers Are Actually Looking For Online Before They Make an Enquiry

By the time a buyer picks up the phone or fills out an enquiry form, they've already done their research. Here's what they're looking at, and what it means if you're thinking about selling.

By the time a buyer reaches out about a business, they've usually already made up their mind about whether it's worth pursuing. The enquiry isn't the beginning of their decision process. It's closer to the end of it.

Understanding what buyers look at before they make contact is genuinely useful if you're a business owner thinking about selling. Because what they find, or don't find, has a direct impact on whether your phone rings at all.

They Start With the Listing

The listing is almost always the first touchpoint. Buyers scan quickly. They're looking at the headline, the price, the location, and the photos within the first few seconds. If something catches their attention, they'll read further. If it doesn't, they move on.

What keeps them reading is clarity. A listing that clearly explains what the business does, who its customers are, and why it performs well gives a buyer the context they need to get interested. A listing that's vague or hard to follow sends them elsewhere.

Then They Google It

Once a listing has their attention, most buyers will search for the business online. They're looking for reviews, a website, a social media presence, news mentions, anything that helps them form a picture of how the business operates in the real world.

A business with a clean, professional website and positive reviews reads as credible. One with an outdated website, no reviews, or inconsistent branding raises questions, even if the underlying business is perfectly solid. The online presence either validates or undermines what the listing is promising.

They Look at the Location

For bricks and mortar businesses especially, buyers will often look up the location on Google Maps. They're checking foot traffic, nearby businesses, parking, and general area feel. A café in a busy high street reads very differently to one tucked away in a hard to find spot, even if the numbers are similar.

This is worth keeping in mind when you think about how your listing describes the location. "Sydney CBD" tells a buyer something meaningful. "South Sydney" is less specific. The more context you give, the better picture they can form before they enquire.

They Check If the Price Makes Sense

Experienced buyers have usually looked at enough listings to have a rough sense of what businesses in a given category are worth. If your asking price is significantly above what similar businesses are selling for, they'll notice and they'll move on without asking why.

Pricing a business well isn't about undervaluing it. It's about making sure the price is defensible and clearly connected to the performance of the business. A well-priced listing with strong financials attracts more interest, more quickly, than an overpriced one that sits on the market for months.

What This Means If You're Thinking About Selling

The research buyers do before enquiring is largely outside your control. But the inputs that shape that research, your listing, your online presence, your pricing, the information you make available, those are things you can absolutely influence.

Getting those things right before you go to market is one of the highest-leverage things you can do. It means that when a buyer finds you, what they find is compelling enough to make them pick up the phone.

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We'll make sure your business is presented in a way that attracts the right buyers from the start. Strong copy, professional presentation, and a team that knows how to get your listing in front of people who are genuinely looking.

By Princess Chico