Our December webinar topic was how to react and respond to an unsolicited offer. In follow-up, we had this question: “What is the most polite way to decline and not engage in an offer, just because we’re not considering initiating a process at this time?”

The answer we gave was this—tell them that you’re flattered, but you’re so excited and focused on the value that you’re going to be building over the next year or two, that you just couldn’t consider selling now because the valuation wouldn’t reflect the value.

This gives the buyer the option of looking forward, leaning forward from a valuation perspective and realizing that this situation may be strategic enough that they should come in with an aggressive offer and try to shake you loose.