How do we balance the heavy administrative burden of preparing for a sale with the day-to-day demand of hitting our quarterly Rocks so we do not suffer a performance dip during negotiations?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The quickest way to kill a deal is to let your revenue or profit slip while you are in negotiations. Buyers will use any operational dip during due diligence as an excuse to re-contract or walk away. You must keep your eyes on the road while managing the transaction process.

To maintain this balance, you must separate your operations from the transaction itself. Your leadership team must remain focused on running the business, hitting their weekly Scorecard metrics, and completing their quarterly Rocks. They should not be distracted by the constant data requests from investment bankers or lawyers.

Assign the heavy administrative burden of due diligence to a dedicated transaction team. This typically includes you, your Integrator, and your external advisors. If necessary, bring in a temporary project manager or external financial consultant to handle the data room population.

Keep the rest of the leadership team out of the loop until absolutely necessary. Use your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ to monitor operational performance closely. If you see metrics slipping, use the IDS® process to identify and resolve the root cause immediately. By shielding your core operational team from transaction fatigue, you ensure the business continues to perform at its peak right up to the closing table.