If you were to call up potential buyers today, would you be able to tell them how much your business is worth (and back up your claims with hard financial data), or would you have to rely on them to tell you what they think your shop is worth, and go from there? Use the questionnaire below to evaluate whether or not you’re prepared to speak with parties in the market to buy a contact center.
ARE YOU PREPARED TO SALE YOUR CONTACT CENTER?
Sale Preparation Checklist
Have I determined my priorities, identified hurdles, and taken into consideration the potential impact of:
- valuation
- negotiated price,
- leases,
- non-compete agreements
- representations and warrants?
How to I market my business to:
- national and international centers,
- regional, privately-held centers,
- private equity money,
- my competitor in town, or
- all of the above?
Have I determined the buyers motivations for buying my business? – Have I put on the buyers hat and taken into consideration:
- competitor proximity,
- available market share
- strategic or consolidation buy
Have I benchmarked my contact center business against others in my area:
- client list
- program types
- talent demographics
- employee churn
- program composition (IB, OB, B2B, B2C, sales or customer service)
Have I determined the amount of pipeline necessary to affect a successful transaction by:
- projecting future revenue potential by client
- performance based on benchmarks and best practices,
- determining if demographics support growth model assumptions,
- taking into consideration expense allocation and normalization,
- educating myself on how buyers measure profitably and performance by asking the following:
- Which expenses do buyers allocate at the center level?
- Which expenses are non reoccurring?
Am I prepared to negotiate a sales price based on hard data gathered and analyzed prior to entering negotiations?
Am I prepared to negotiate leases (if applicable)?
Am I prepared to negotiate non-compete agreement terms (if applicable)?
Have I developed a proper negotiation sequencing strategy that will ensure a successful transaction?
Are my financials in a position to satisfy a buyers’ due diligence?
Am I prepared to sign off on buyers representations and warrants?
LET’S NOT FORGET TWO IMPORTANT THINGS
1. You still have a business to run as you answer the questions above and complete corresponding action items.
2. You can’t rely on those who are in the market to buy a contact center to help you reach the selling price you truly deserve.
If, like most professional, independent contact center brokers, you can’t afford to dedicate all of your time to obtaining the optimal price for your contact center business, contact ACCENT Ventures. The ACCENT Ventures team of professional contact center brokers is equipped to manage every aspect of the selling/closing process. We have the tools and processes in place to develop a custom exit strategy for a contact center of any kind, regardless of its location.