After you  sell a corporation, inevitably you may have to see whom to inform what, when, and how about it. You need to form acceptable messages with the new owner to reflect your reasons for selling, your values, and their future. Data needs to be delivered to stakeholders in effective formats and frequency.

You will need 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 offer information via a one on one call, a letter, or a press release can be driven by that hierarchy. The tool to do this is a communications plan.

A comprehensive communication plan can be the tool that helps you establish how to speak relevant data efficiently and effectively to constituents in supporting the successful sale of business ownership. It guides the development of appropriate messages and identifies media to deliver them.

For instance, a customary method to announce your sale once consummated is by convening an all-hands meeting with staff. It’s recommended the owner, the seller, open the meeting, announce the sale and reasons for it, and provide vital dates for the unfolding method and your departure. You must introduce the buyer and show confidence in his or her experience.

The customer might then preside over the meeting to become recognizable as the leader by workers and to symbolize the larger transition in process. The client usually explains their reasons for purchasing the business and presents any plans that are appropriate—while not discussing the deal’s terms. In a merger situation, employees can be desirous to understand how the two companies will integrate and the way that can impact them.

A not uncommon situation in companies Fortune 500 or 100 and little is news concerning the pending sale leaking out. Secrets could be harder to stay in smaller, shut-knit companies where everyone feels like family and finds it troublesome to keep such vital news confidential. There are masses of ways to handle this. The primary is to anticipate it.

An example is a former owner of a Public Relations firm. He told his employees up front that he was was preparing to sell the corporation, which he would take care of them. He kept them informed throughout the method 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 under way for consideration, and that business owners frequently think about selling a business and nothing has been finalized yet. A third approach is to deny everything. In such a case, when the sale is announced, but, your credibility is damaged, and resentment and resistance may begin brewing.

We tend to highly recommend waiting until the deal is complete before you and the new owner inform external business colleagues. As decided between you and the customer, the announcement should be swift and strategic, nonetheless respectful of every stakeholders’ importance. Obviously, stakeholders who represent the firm’s most vital relationships need to hear the news 1st and from you, not from a competitor or trade publication.

For other stakeholders, your phone call, letter, or an e-mail with a connected fact sheet or press release may be appropriate. It will need to be succinct and confidence-boosting and embrace the same information conveyed to employees and business associates: what’s happening and why, important dates, and what is and isn’t expected to change. The press announcement should go to all appropriate media outlets.

This is an opportunity to bolster your values and your company’s brand. Like politicians who stay "on message," so, too, should you and the new owner when selling a company. Both must agree concerning what the correct messages are and confirm your separate roles in delivering them. Both of you should align your messages with the goals of the sale and the business’s brand.

I invite you to use these ideas during 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.

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