How To Sell A Business Includes How And When To Communicate The Sale | My Traffic Magnet

How To Sell A Business Includes How And When To Communicate The Sale | My Traffic Magnet

Written by bmlengel on June 26th, 2010

When you sell a company, inevitably you may have to work out whom to inform what, when, and the way about it. You are going to shape appropriate messages with the new owner to mirror your reasons for selling, your values, and their future. Data has to be delivered to stakeholders in effective formats and frequency.

You should tell the story in a respectful, logical, meaningful way. Respect the hierarchy among your organization and use it to guide your timing, technique, and message. Whether you provide information via a personal call, a letter, or a press announcement can be driven by that hierarchy. The tool to do this is a communications plan.

A comprehensive communication set up is the tool that helps you identify how to speak relevant information efficiently and effectively to constituents in supporting the successful transfer of business ownership. It guides the development of applicable messages and identifies media to deliver them.

For instance, a customary means to announce your sale once consummated is by convening an all-hands meeting with staff. It’s counseled the owner, the seller, open the meeting, announce the sale and reasons for it, and offer necessary dates for the unfolding process and your departure. You should introduce the customer and show confidence in their experience.

The customer may then preside over the meeting to become recognizable as the leader by employees and to symbolize the larger transition in process. The client usually explains their reasons for buying the business and presents any plans that are acceptable—without discussing the deal’s terms. In a merger scenario, employees will be needing to understand how the two corporations will integrate and the way that will impact them.

A not uncommon situation in corporations large and small is news regarding the pending sale leaking out. Secrets might be harder to keep in smaller, close-knit firms where everybody seems like family and finds it tough to keep such necessary news confidential. There are many ways to handle this. The first is to anticipate it.

An example is a former owner of a Public Relations firm. He told his workers up front that he was was preparing to sell the company, which he would take care of them. He kept them informed throughout the process and did indeed take care of them. This set the employees and new owner up for success.

If the sales process has begun, you can acknowledge the sale is being reviewed for thought, and that business owners frequently take into account selling a business and no word has been finalized yet. A third approach is to deny everything. In such a case, when the sale is announced, however, your credibility is broken, and resentment and resistance might begin brewing.

We highly suggest waiting for after the deal is complete before you and thus the new owner inform external business colleagues. As set between you and the client, the announcement recommended to be swift and strategic, however respectful of every stakeholders’ importance. Clearly, stakeholders who represent the firm’s most important relationships need to hear the news initially and from you, not from a competitor or trade publication.

For alternative stakeholders, your phone call, letter, or an e-mail with an attached fact sheet or press release could be appropriate. It will need to be succinct and confidence-boosting and embrace the identical information conveyed to workers and business associates: what’s happening and why, necessary dates, and what is and isn’t destined to change. The press release should go to all or any acceptable media outlets.

This is often an opportunity to reinforce your values and your company’s brand. Like politicians who keep “on message,” therefore, too, should you and thus the new owner when selling a company. Both should agree concerning what the proper messages are and verify your separate roles in delivering them. Both of you must align your messages with the general goals of the sale and so the business’s brand.

I invite you to use these ideas throughout your journey to sell a business.



Marian Cook is a highly sought after business transition expert and speaker with over 25 years experience helping business owners design their best-life exit strategy, and improve their business performance and valuation. She is the co-author of “Selling Your Business For More: Maximizing Returns For You, Your Family and Your Business” (published by Macmillan). If you are ready to sell a business and jump-start your business sale process, connect with Marian via her free tips, articles, checklists and blog at Business Transition Experts.