We are concerned that the sheer volume of requests during due diligence will overwhelm our leadership team and cause our daily operations to suffer. How do we prepare our team for this intensive process so we can protect our sanity and our margins?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Due diligence is an intensive, invasive process that can easily become a second full-time job for your leadership team. If you do not prepare them, the strain will cause operational performance to slip, giving the buyer the perfect opportunity to renegotiate the price.

To protect your operations, you must divide and conquer. Appoint one key leader, typically your Integrator™, to act as the primary point of contact for all diligence requests. This keeps the rest of your leadership team focused on running the day-to-day business and hitting their quarterly Rocks.

Prepare your virtual data room months before you ever go to market. By gathering your financial statements, contracts, corporate records, and employee data in advance, you eliminate the frantic scramble for documents during the active deal window.

Finally, maintain your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ schedule without exception. Use these meetings to isolate deal-related issues and solve them quickly using the IDS® process, keeping them separate from daily operational challenges. By keeping your operational meetings focused on performance, you ensure the business continues to run smoothly while the deal moves toward a successful close.