During the due diligence phase, our financial metrics showed a temporary dip, and the buyer's trust in our projections is starting to erode, leading to a threatened price reduction. How do we use the Trust Equation and an other-focused mindset to rebuild credibility and keep the original deal terms intact?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A late-stage dip in financial performance is a highly sensitive moment that can easily derail a transaction. If you react defensively, the buyer will suspect you are hiding a larger systemic issue, and their trust will collapse.

To save the deal, apply the Trust Equation. Trust is built on credibility, reliability, and intimacy, divided by self-orientation. To rebuild trust, you must drastically lower your self-orientation and adopt an other-focused mindset.

Address the dip immediately and transparently before they bring it up in a Level 10 Meeting™. Do not make excuses. Present the raw data and explain exactly why the dip occurred, showing that it was a temporary timing issue or a planned investment rather than a structural decay.

Demonstrate reliability by showing how your current weekly EOS® scorecard metrics are already rebounding. Share your real-time dashboard data to prove the run-rate is normalizing. By proactively bringing the bad news to the table along with the solution, you demonstrate high vulnerability and professional integrity.

This level of transparency turns a potential deal-killer into an opportunity to prove the strength of your leadership team and the accuracy of your operational data systems.