The meeting where a broker is chosen tends to be about credibility and rapport, and the questions that predict the outcome are more specific than that. Six of them, asked before anything is signed, tell you most of what you can know in advance. Three are about whether they can actually find your buyer, which is what you are paying for. Three are about the contract, which is what you are agreeing to. The headline rate is on neither list, deliberately.
Three about reach
Who specifically would you approach for this business. What have you sold in this sector recently, and what did those processes look like. And how many businesses are you currently marketing, which tells you how much attention yours would get. Vague answers to the first are the most informative outcome of the whole meeting, because reach is the thing that cannot be improvised later.
Three about the contract
What is payable if the business does not sell. How long am I committed, and what happens afterwards. And what is included in the fee that would otherwise be billed separately. Each has a factual answer, each is in the document, and asking them in the room means the answers are given before the terms are drafted rather than found afterwards.
What to do with the answers
Take the fee schedule away and put your own expected price through it, so you are comparing money rather than rates. Then compare the reach answers, which is a judgement rather than a calculation. Owners who do both usually find the ranking by fee and the ranking by reach disagree, and that disagreement is the actual decision. Write the six down and take them to every meeting. Owners who ask the same questions of each broker get comparable answers; owners who have a different conversation with each one end up choosing on impression, which is exactly what the meeting is designed to produce.
Questions people ask about questions to ask a business broker
Is it reasonable to ask who they would approach?
Entirely, and good brokers answer with specifics or explain why they would not name them yet. A generic answer about their database is a weaker signal than owners tend to read it as.
Should I get more than one quote?
Usually two or three, mostly to see that the structures differ. The variation between contracts is more informative than the variation between rates.
Should a solicitor see the engagement letter?
Many owners have one look, since it can cost a significant share of the proceeds. What any clause means for you is their advice to give, not this site's.