We Sell Restaurants founders Robin and Eric Gagnon recently returned from the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) meeting in Orlando Florida. 

The event theme, “The Big Ideas Event:  Embracing Change on Main Street” was a busy few days packed with exhibits, knowledge sharing and recognition from their peers.

For the first time, We Sell Restaurants exhibited on the main floor.  The message to brokers attending the event, was that the Restaurant Brokers are ready, willing and able to handle restaurants for sale where other agents struggle.  For most brokers, failing to specialize in the restaurant for sale arena puts them at a serious disadvantage for making a deal come together.  The reasons are two-fold, either a lack of expertise or because they don’t have a large buyer database

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The We Sell Restaurants message to these brokers is to deliver a successful outcome for their sellers by referring the lead to a specialist.  “You don’t have to be great at selling restaurants, because we are” was the theme of the program.  The We Sell Restaurants referral program was a highlight of the international gathering of business brokers as the message resonated.  The booth was packed with activity. The We Sell Restaurants franchise was also highlighted for the brokers attending the conference, allowing them to sign up to become part of the nation’s most successful restaurant brokerage practice.

Eric Gagnon, President of We Sell Restaurants was honored at the annual meeting with the IBBA Fellow award.  The Fellow of the IBBA award was designed to celebrate the contributions of loyal, long-time members of the IBBA. This highly coveted and lifetime award is awarded to members who have their CBI designation and have met or exceeded the established criteria.

In order to be considered for the Fellow of the IBBA award, the individual must have been a member of the IBBA for ten years or longer, hold their CBI designation, be in good standing, and have made significant contributions to the association by serving as a director, committee chairperson, presenter or instructor at a conference, or various other association activities. Eric has been a member of IBBA for more than a decade and has participated in developing training for other brokers, served on committees and presented his knowledge many times.  The IBBA states that a Fellow must “in some way contributed much of their time and energy to serve the association for the betterment of the members.” Eric was also presented with a Top Producer Award for the IBBA for sales exceeding one million dollars.

Eric and Robin Gagnon teamed up for two mastermind sessions, providing their insight and expertise with other brokers on two topics.  Their first session, titled, Super Charge Your Practice with Technology was highly successful.  The two handled questions and presented tips for any broker trying to move administrative tasks to technology so that he or she could focus directly on buyers and sellers.

Their second mastermind session, titled, “Reasons You Didn’t Get the Listings” included brand new brokers, seasoned veterans and participants from all parts of the country.  The two provided tips on closing deals and getting the deal signed.  The feedback from the crowd was that this team was delivering strong messages and backing it up with lots of experience.

After an action packed few days, the We Sell Restaurants team returned to the corporate headquarters, placed another trophy on the shelf and began handling the new lead referral pipeline.

If you are interested in learning more about We Sell Restaurants, visit our franchise page at wsrfranchise.com.