Engaging with Buyers in Today’s Fast-Paced Virtual Age

Many things move faster in today's world, a world that is rapidly evolving because of technology. 

And one of the things moving faster is the interaction between sellers and buyers in an M&A process.

What used to take months to get buyers to respond to a tech company seller's introductory overtures, now happens very quickly. And once potential buyers show interest, their demands for detailed information can be almost immediate. As a seller, if you're not ready to respond quickly, you can seriously limit your ability to achieve an optimal outcome. Today’s dealmaking environment demands that you take specific actions as you engage and interact with potential buyers. Here are some of them.

Communicate frequently and respond quickly

Communication with prospective buyers is always very important in M&A. However, today's attenuated dealmaking timeframe demands that you communicate more frequently and respond more quickly to requests from buyers. Those actions build trust with buyers, help prevent misunderstandings, and can manage expectations.

How you communicate with buyers is import too. Gone are the days when only sending emails to prospective buyers is an effective way of generating interest. In many cases those emails are either ignored or caught in Spam filters. To be successful, you need to mix the way you communicate. The fact is that different buyers have different preferences regarding communication channels, such as emails, phone calls, and in-person or virtual meetings. For instance, if you send out an initial email to a prospective buyer, follow it up with one or more phone calls to ensure that the buyer actually received it. Utilizing multiple communication approaches ensures that your communication reaches the widest possible audience, increasing the chances of capturing their attention quickly in a limited timeframe.

Take advantage of a variety of communication tools

As just mentioned, it's important to take advantage of a variety of tools in communicating with buyers. One tool that has shown to be very effective in introducing a company to prospective buyers is video. Video is a more dynamic and engaging way to present a company to buyers ‒ its value proposition, leadership, and culture ‒ than written materials alone. In addition, video communication can be delivered to multiple prospective buyers in various locations at the same time, presenting them with a consistent message. And because buyers can see and hear you in a video, it builds trust by conveying your tone and emotion much better than an email can. 

Again, it's important to use a variety of tools when you communicate with buyers. Take advantage of video, but include it in a mix communication approaches, including email, text, social channels, phone calls, as well as in-person and online meetings.

Hire the right advisor

The most important action you should take in today’s accelerated environment is hiring the right M&A advisor. As a seller, you need to find the right buyers and quickly respond to their requests for information. To do that, you need the expertise to find those buyers, and enough resources to respond to what could be a high volume of information requests. Most tech company sellers need guidance and resources to meet those needs. An experienced M&A advisor like Corum provide essential expert guidance in the M&A process. 

Corum's global search process backed by the largest database of buyer information in the industry is designed to find multiple potential buyers. In today's compressed M&A timeline, responses from those buyers typically happen quickly.  After Corum sends out introductory information about the seller to potential buyers, it's not uncommon to receive responses of interest from multiple buyers the same day. That's important because when you attract interest from multiple buyers it creates an auction environment where their contending offers can generate an optimal valuation for your company. 

In addition, Corum has the resources, led by a large team of experienced CEOs who have founded and sold their own companies, to advise and assist you in handling the volume of information requests from buyers. This includes acting as a central point of contact that can prioritize and consolidate requests for information and provide responses, protecting you from being overwhelmed by a potentially high volume of requests. In addition, Corum’s advisors will work with you to prepare all relevant documents in advance, ensuring they are accurate and complete, and help you set up a virtual data room that centralizes all documentation and provides access in a secure way.

Contact Corum

If you are considering selling your tech company, contact Corum. Their M&A advisors have the experience and knowledge, backed by Corum’s resources and a proven disciplined process, to help you find and effectively engage with the right M&A partner and achieve an optimal outcome in today's fast-paced virtual age.