The due diligence process is consuming all of our leadership team's time, and our quarterly operational performance is starting to slip. How do we use our EOS structure to prevent deal fatigue from destroying our numbers before we reach the closing table?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The most dangerous period of an M&A transaction is the gap between LOI and closing. If your operational performance dips during diligence, the buyer will immediately use that as leverage to renegotiate the purchase price or walk away entirely. You must insulate your operations from the deal process.

To do this, divide and conquer. Your leadership team must not all be involved in due diligence. Use your EOS® Accountability Chart to assign deal responsibility to a maximum of two people, typically the Visionary and the CFO. The rest of your leadership team must remain focused entirely on running the business and hitting their quarterly Rocks.

Protect your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ at all costs. Do not let the transaction dominate this meeting. Dedicate the first fifty minutes strictly to your scorecard, Rock progress, and solving operational issues. If you need to discuss the transaction, schedule a separate, dedicated meeting for the deal team.

Your Integrator must keep the operations team focused on their weekly scorecard numbers. If a metric slips, address it immediately in your IDS® session. By keeping your operational operating system running smoothly, you ensure the business continues to hit its targets. This deprives the buyer of any leverage to chip away at your valuation and proves that your company is a stable, self-running machine.