Communication that makes succession hot

Observers and those involved in succession projects find that they rarely go smoothly. Although well planned, the succession often falls through at the last moment. This is despite a perceived agreement between the retiring owner and serious candidates. X attempts, countless discussions, many efforts and perhaps even disappointments - but justified hope remained until the end.

From possibility to reality

However, a successful succession is not a matter of chance. Especially not if well-designed, emotional communication prepares and accompanies it. The art of this is to pick up interested parties as people with feelings. Why? Because ultimately, even in succession processes, emotions always trigger the decision. With serious mutual interest and communicatively fanned embers, the spark is much more likely to jump from possibility to reality. Then the successors will catch fire for the business idea, for the uniqueness. Then it is no longer primarily about price and return discussions, but about the entrepreneurial value that they recognize in it for their own entrepreneurship and their life plan.

Heart or head - the crucial question

Whoever is intended for the company succession: employees, third parties or family members - for them, legally secured hard facts are the indispensable basis for their binding decision. So it's no surprise that the hard facts are almost exclusively the focus of all succession negotiations. People talk, argue and discuss about money, deadlines, rights, obligations and responsibility.

In contrast, there is the heart and the gut. Intuitively, all people rely on their gut feeling in their rational deliberations. Hand on heart: gut feeling plays the famous role of tipping the scales in every decision-making process. In the case of a negative decision, one simply puts forward the facts as the decisive factor. Succession as a complex and emotional matter is not exempt from feelings. And fortunately, these can be influenced through communication.

Emotionally enhance the acquisition opportunity

Right from the start, it is therefore worthwhile to explore and consistently include the emotional soft facts surrounding succession communication. They are in part closely linked to the hard facts. It is a challenge to let the owner's passion spark jump over to the succession. Storytelling and clear messages have the power to do this. With all messages combined in a statement system, expectations can be managed and people can be inspired. This communication enhances the company. Well-equipped, you express your ideas better in negotiations; you feel out areas of conflict more easily and can work toward a common denominator step by step.

Yes - I do!

The last crucial question asked by those interested is, "Do I regret it if I don't do it?" The answer must be a resounding yes. This yes requires a great deal of trust on both sides. A trust that the company owner willing to sell creates with targeted communication. Only if he himself is passionately convinced of his company idea will he receive an unconditional yes from candidates.

To achieve this, the transparent, emotionally comprehensible "company history" is the optimal form. Its contents are collected with a questionnaire and compiled into a systematically arranged succession statement system. On the basis of this, the discussions with those interested in succession take place. The same messages are used for the consistent use of media channels such as the web, social media and succession platforms. The messages are the content of a designed analog succession documentation. They also serve to prepare a letter of intent LOI or a preliminary contract.

Statements that make takeover seekers hot under the collar

The succession statement system fulfills two important functions: First, it creates clarity on both sides; second, it motivates interested parties to succeed. Basis of the questionnaire for the succession statement system:

1. What is the company uniquely good at, effectively better? (USP)
2. What constitutes the soul of this unique life's work? What is its passion, what aspects convey meaning beyond the return on investment?
3. Which entrepreneurial characteristics and personalities are addressed?
4. What are ideal entrepreneurial skills for succession?
5. Beyond the money, what will be the buyers' reward?
6. What added value or risks do assessable market prospects point to?
7. What are the handover steps?

Higher chance of desired succession

Effective succession communication requires emotional explosiveness in all parts. The authors of this article work these out specifically in their work with clients, with experience and success and in the knowledge of trigger moments in the potential succession as flesh and blood people. In the demanding and usually lengthy process, company owners can use the individual building blocks of the statement system again and again in a targeted manner. By including soft facts in preliminary contracts, they quickly sense what someone is willing to do and where difficulties are foreseeable. On the igniting basis of emotional statements, the chance of securing the desired succession for the company increases considerably.

Authors
Nic Baschung and Cornelia Aschmann form the copywriting duo frischtext.ch. They serve the SME world with target-oriented texts. Their focus is on SME succession, SEO web texts and easy-to-understand language. www.frischtext.ch