21 Sep The Importance of Client Education
In our recent Business Brokerage Press webinar, we were joined by industry leaders Lisa Riley and Scott Bushkie. Their valuable IBBA/M&A Source Market Pulse Survey provides business owners and their advisors with a range of essential insights into the market. In the previous article, we highlighted how the survey pointed out that 2021 is shaping up to be a better year for sellers than the uncertain and chaotic year of 2020. In this article, we will explore some of the key pieces of advice that business owners and their advisors should know for selling a business in 2021 and beyond.
During the webinar, the panelists pointed to numerous key facts and important information regarding what business owners and their agents should do if they wish to successfully sell their business. The panelists were in complete agreement that it is critical to for business brokers and M&A advisors to properly educate their clients. One of the reasons that client education is so important is that your clients truly need to know what to expect from the sales process.
When you fail to properly educate your clients, then they may have the wrong expectations on a range of topics including what their business is really worth. For example, faulty client expectations can lead clients to walk away from good deals because they expect more cash, which, in many instances, is likely to never come.
Help your clients to realize that you can offer wide array of tools that they can put to use to sell their business. One of those key tools comes in the form of having access to proven and reliable advisors including lawyers.
The webinar panelists agreed that selecting the right lawyer when buying and selling a business is truly of paramount importance. As they pointed out, selling a business is nothing like selling a home. Selling a business can be a long and complex process that is measured not in days, but in months or even years. It’s essential to have the right people on your side.
One of the highest rated M&A attorneys in the U.S. noted that more deals fall apart due to the participation of unqualified and inexperienced attorneys than because of bad overall deals. The simple fact is that if an attorney is not a specialist, then he or she should not be involved in the sales process. As a business broker or M&A advisor, you should have proven lawyers that you can work with. This will go a long way to ensure that major problems are avoided during the sales process.
It is your responsibility to educate sellers so that they understand the critical importance of not just working with an attorney, but working with an attorney who specializes in the arena of buying and selling businesses. Only a small percentage of lawyers are truly qualified to work in M&A. By highlighting just how important finding the right lawyer is to their ultimate success, you are providing your clients with a significant service.
In the end, client education should be at the top of every business broker or M&A advisor’s agenda. Having the right professionals supporting a seller can make all the difference between success and failure.
