Will You Get Top Dollar When You Sell Your Business?

Written by Noel Peebles


Selling your business will probably be your biggest sale ever. But, to getrepparttar best price you'll need to satisfy your buyer on two points. Firstly, your company should be showing good returns. Secondly, there needs to be a strong likelihood that this trend will continue.

This is why you (as current owner), have an important part to play inrepparttar 106559 transition period during and afterrepparttar 106560 sale.

Your customers and clients may be watchingrepparttar 106561 changeover very closely. If you have a successful business, then it is fair to assume that your customers have grown to like you andrepparttar 106562 way you run your business.

Remember, most people don’t like change, sorepparttar 106563 transition is critical to make sure that your customers and clients remain withrepparttar 106564 new owners. No customers...no business!

Here's what I mean. When selling one of my businesses to a senior banking executive, I remember a comment he made just before signingrepparttar 106565 contract. It was something like this:

"I have seen so many people buy a successful business, rush in and change everything and then lose everything."

He went on to add "You are running an extremely profitable business, so you must be doing something right. I am not going to change anything, probably for at least a year, or until I find better way to do things."

He kept his word andrepparttar 106566 business continued to perform exceptionally well. Eventually he did make changes, but he did it from a position of knowledge... and with understanding ofrepparttar 106567 market requirements. A smart cookie!

However, it is not always like that. The new owners may not want you involved. This is something you need to be mentally prepared for. Don’t automatically assume there will be a place for you, even in a part-time or consulting role. Regardless of your ability, they may not want you to be involved. A new broom sweeps clean. The new owners could see you as a threat torepparttar 106568 vision they have forrepparttar 106569 business.

Could This Be The Best Way To Measure Public Relations Results?

Written by Robert A. Kelly


Could This Be The Best Way To Measure Public Relations Results?

by Robert A. Kelly

Could be. In fact, I believe it is. How can you measurerepparttar results of an activity more accurately than when you clearly achieverepparttar 106557 goal you set atrepparttar 106558 beginning of that activity?

In my opinion, you can’t. It’s pure success when you meet that goal.

Public relations is no different. The client/employer wants our help in altering counterproductive perceptions among key audiences which almost always change behaviors in a way that helps him or her get to where they want to be.

And why are we uniquely qualified to do that job?

Because everything we do is based onrepparttar 106559 realities that people act on their perception ofrepparttar 106560 facts and that we can do something about those perceptions. When public relations activity successfully creates, changes or reinforces that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-action those people whose behaviors affectrepparttar 106561 organization,repparttar 106562 public relations effort is a success.

But before we follow that client/employer on his or her way to that kind of successful public relations end game, a few words aboutrepparttar 106563 measurement challenge itself.

It’s a large challenge and one that stands between us and repparttar 106564 achievement of that conclusive indicator showing that our public relations investment has been applied wisely.

Unfortunately, traditional public relations performance measurement methods are subjective and open to varied interpretation because we do not have viable and widely accepted public relations measurement standards.

Instead, as we attempt to evaluate public relations performance now, we must use highly subjective, very limited and only partially applicable performance judgements. Among them, inquiry generation, story content analysis, gross impressions, and even equivalent advertising value.

It’s incredible when you think about it.

Here we are, part and parcel of America’s multi-trillion dollar industrial, educational and organizational collossus and, yet, we cannot demonstrate conclusively – that’s CONCLUSIVELY – that we achieved our public relations program’s behavioral goal.

Why? Because, as of today, it costs WAY too much public opinion survey money to demonstrate conclusively that we achievedrepparttar 106565 public relations perception and behavioral goal set atrepparttar 106566 beginning ofrepparttar 106567 program. In many cases,repparttar 106568 opinion research costs more thanrepparttar 106569 entire underlying public relations program. Thus, it’s almost always set aside in favor of “winging it.”

What are we to do?

This article highlights what many professionals already know. We need this final step inrepparttar 106570 public relations problem solving sequence, and we need it badly.

What can be done? I likerepparttar 106571 NASA approach. When money is especially short, these dedicated people repeatedly find a way aroundrepparttar 106572 problem using an amazing mix of tech- nology innovation, operational creativity and raw determination.

Here, inrepparttar 106573 year 2002, why cannotrepparttar 106574 best minds inrepparttar 106575 fields of public relations, sociology, psychology and opinion gathering attackrepparttar 106576 challenge of PROVING CONCLUSIVELY that a given public relations campaign has – or has not – changed target audience behaviors as planned atrepparttar 106577 beginning

ofrepparttar 106578 program, and do so without bankrupting its participants? Until an answer to that question presents itself, let us follow our client/employer as s/he pursues that successful public relations end game.

Takerepparttar 106579 client/employer bedeviled by activists who perceive his or her organization as despoilers ofrepparttar 106580 environment, or whose newly introduced kitchen appliance is perceived as unsafe, or who is perceived as profiting fromrepparttar 106581 labors of underage workers in its Far Eastern manufacturing plants.

Common to each are negative perceptions which invariably lead to negative behaviors such as calls for more government regulation, legal challenges, falling product sales, declining share prices and boycotts, to name a few.

Secure inrepparttar 106582 knowledge that public relations problems are nearly always defined by what people think aboutrepparttar 106583 facts rather thanrepparttar 106584 actual truth ofrepparttar 106585 matter,repparttar 106586 public relations team faced with such challenges must now mount its attack. In particular to alter counterproductive perceptions and behaviors, and achieverepparttar 106587 behavioral goal set atrepparttar 106588 beginning ofrepparttar 106589 activity.

First, it assessesrepparttar 106590 accuracy of each allegation. If there is some truth to it, immediate remedial action is called for. Even if it is patently untrue,repparttar 106591 damaging perception remains and must be confronted.

Now we identify our key audiences by starting with a priority-ranking of those audiences with a clear interest inrepparttar 106592 organization, often referred to as “stakeholders” or “publics.” Here, among others, we might spotlight customers and prospects,repparttar 106593 trade and business communities, employees, local thought-leaders and media in field locations, as well as a number of other possible stakeholder groups.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use