Arthur Petropoulos’ Post

Transcript

Part 2 of making sure deals closed on last video, we went through numbers one through 5 of this video. We're going to go through number six through 10 and then we'll recap all 10. But these are six key things to focus on relative to making sure that after the hands are shaking and say, yes, let's do this, you actually get to the closing of the deal. So last video we talked a little bit more about some of the substantive deal oriented items and this one we want to talk a little bit more about behavioral items, actions and approaches that will greatly increase the probability of getting a deal that's agreed upon. To a closing. So #6 or #1 in this video, number six overall, is give people timelines and deadlines. We don't mean to be overly cynical, but sometimes in business we say nothing gets people moving more than contingencies and deadlines. And so if people know when they have to do something, they're more likely to do it by then. And then B, if they miss it, you know, they're more likely to blow up anything else and you're not getting too far down the track. And so in our business, before we even get to an agreement, in principle, we have steps, we have requests, we have items that we're asking for to make sure that we've stress tested. Several times. But that doesn't mean that when the hands are shaking and you have a good feeling about it or there has been some proof of behavior that you don't want to continue testing that along the way. You want to be pushing the entire path. You want to be continuously giving everybody very clear pathways to how a deal gets closed. And that goes right up to the closing of any transaction #7. All response is the same day and we all get pummeled with 10 zoom meetings, 20 phone calls and 200 emails a day. But. Our rule of thumb in any deal that we're working on is everybody gets a response the same day, ideally within a few hours of when they've reached out, asked a question or whatever. It doesn't mean you have to have the specific answer. Sometimes it is this has been received, we're looking into it. This is what we expect to get back to you. But again, if going back to the last point, you're going to be giving everybody deadlines, contingencies, timings of things, it creates reciprocity that if you. Answer everybody the same day and give them specific timelines that you then stick to, that you are eating your own cooking if you will, #8. Don't overlook mistakes or inconsistencies. If someone says they're going to do a few things and they do not, or they mess something up and this is on your team saying in any party of a transaction, don't just write it off because it's easier than having a difficult conversation. Don't just write it off because you don't want to be adversarial. You can do it diplomatically, but you're doing everybody a disservice, if anyone. Keeps anything under the rug. So if something doesn't happen that's supposed to, if something feels inconsistent, just ask. Be direct. Why didn't this happen and thought we had agreed upon that this was going to happen? Don't give people answers, don't leave them down the path. Simply ask the question. Be quiet and wait for the answer. And sometimes the answer is fine, sometimes it's a non issue. But get to the bottom of it because it can be an issue. It doesn't mean again, all issues cannot be resolved. Most of them can be resolved. Don't sweep things under the rug. Don't try to avoid conflict again. Don't mean to be overly cynical, but you can't give them the benefit of the doubt, not say anything. You can give them the benefit of the doubt to say, look, I trust that you weren't trying to make an issue with this. However, you didn't do this thing you indicated you were going to do and we just want to understand why so that we know, as I trust you believe the same, that we don't want this deal to derail along the path towards the closing here again, most often it's going to be a benign situation. However, you still give Peace of Mind to your client as well because if you go back to the client. And you say they didn't do this thing? We asked them why they said this. We feel comfortable because of this. Then at least your client says, wow, they're looking out for us. They're making sure that they're kind of holding the fire to everybody's feet, #9 is have direct lines of communication with all parties involved. And this doesn't mean you have to micromanage every single element of it, Micromanage every single element of things. However, we're never going to get a clearer answer or a better feel on a situation or tonality of a dialogue or component of a dialogue or process other than if you hear something from the horse's mouth. And so there's a big game of banana phone that happens in deals where. One person said something to someone, that said something to someone that said something to someone, and that person just sat down to have a a cheeseburger and a milkshake. And so they're real peppy. But what if all three of the conversations that led U to that conversation, we're all very negative, but this person's in jolly mood and they tell you something. Your perception of it is going to be that everything's fine and that it's not an issue you really want to hear from. Whoever has the thing to say, hear them say it because you can read again the situation and none of us are mind readers and just like hearsay in the court of law. Every iteration of dialogue being communicated changes it as well as changes the tone of it. And so again. What we like to do is every single party of a transaction, you'll often find that there's one or two people within each party that are more responsive than others. And it's good to keep a dialogue with those people just to always be able to have a pulse that you can just check in and say, OK, how are we doing this, how are we doing with this? And if everybody's, and if you're getting the direct information, you'll have a much better pulse to relay back to your clients as well. Lastly, this is a theme that we've said in many videos that we've had before. Be direct, don't blame, don't bluff. Push the deal forward, be aggressive, be persistent and be diplomatic. But if any component of a deal starts to go sideways, find out why and find out how you can fix it. Don't put your hands in the air and say, well this person's not doing this thing and or this person's being mean or this person's doing that. If you go back to a client and give them a problem, you better have 3 answers to that problem because otherwise you're just dumping more on people's plate. So we always say if there's an issue, we want 3 resolutions to the issue demarcated so that way when we communicate it. Whether it's our client or it's something that we're dealing with internally, we have a path to mitigating the issue, right? Because if you just put a problem in front of someone, they're going to say great, what do I do with this? Thanks for ruining my afternoon. Whereas you could say, look, here's the issue, here are the three paths of solving it. Here's the one that we like best, here's why, here's the risk, here's the opportunities and what do you think? And ultimately client will make a an educated decision and because you've put the information in front of them will make the best decision. But the point being is. Don't blame anyone else. Just think of the solution and how to make sure that the problem doesn't happen again and again. As we've said in other videos, don't bluff. Don't tell someone you're going to walk if this thing happens, because if you do not, you will lose a lot of credibility and leverage in any of the discussions. And so simply say the things that you're going to do. Simply say the things that you are not going to do. But make sure whatever it is, that you're going to be congruent in your behavior with the things that your mouth is saying. So that's Part 2 of making sure it deals closed. So let's recap all 10. Components, including the earlier video from this week as well #1 be U front with the adjustments or normalizations 2. Be clear on what's being agreed upon relative to value and structure 3. Be clear about what's being agreed upon relative to roles and responsibilities. For make sure there's a definitive path that's been outlined 5 Make sure the other side is capable of doing what it says it's going to do and now leading into today's video 6 Give people timelines and deadlines 7 All responses in the same day. Eight Don't overlook mistakes or inconsistencies, 9 Have a Direct Line of communication with as many parties in the transaction as you can, and 10 be direct. Don't blame, don't bluff. In our experience, oftentimes the process can be broken down into effectively 2 components, the first of it being getting to an agreed upon deal and the 2nd of it being getting from the agreed upon deal to the actual closing or consummation of the transaction. And oftentimes there's. Celebration if you will. At the halfway point when people shake their hands, everyone says congratulations again. Maybe it's because I'm a curmudgeonly Greek businessman. Don't say that. At the halfway mark we don't take congratulations, but we say just as focused, dialed in and persistent we had to be to get to the deal being agreed upon, is is equally, if not more, necessary to get from the agreement to the closing. And so yes, does it give some Peace of Mind to clients that there's a deal that's agreed upon in principle? Absolutely. And it is our job to absorb all of the pain, stress and pressure of getting it from there through the closing. But we thought it be a worthwhile video to share 10 key items that we focus on to make sure that that happens in every situation. So that's a thought for today. Hope the week continues to grow well, keep pushing forward. God bless. See you next time.