You may be wondering - what do you mean by “completing a deal post-mortem meeting?”
Post-mortem is Latin for after death. In the context of buying and selling businesses, when a deal ‘dies’ it is usually unexpected, so you can conduct a post-mortem to examine what went wrong and how you and your brokerage team can fix it.
There are many reasons for why a deal might die:
- Did the buyers not qualify for financing?
- Did the business lose a significant client?
- Did a key employee leave the company?
Whatever the reason, it is essential to conduct a deal post-mortem after every failed deal or project to identify what went wrong and how you can improve your process so that it doesn't happen again. You need to understand why the deal fell apart, what could have been done differently, and whether anything needs to be rectified before moving on with another idea.
Why should you have a deal post-mortem reflection period?
You may be thinking, “why would I want to dwell on something that didn’t work out?” but having a reflection period is essential to give you and your team insight on approving processes. The main goal is to reflect on how the deal went and identify what can be changed moving forward to create a more streamlined process.
We can't predict the future, but we can plan for it. That's what a brokerage or M&A advisory team does. They help their clients prepare for the unknown and ensure they are aware of the situation when something happens.
What are some of the benefits of a post-mortem analysis?
A post-mortem has many benefits, no matter the structure. The process can help improve communication, collaboration, and workflow, making a more efficient and successful organization. Post-mortems can help with the following:
- Improve internal processes: examining processes when problems occur exposes the system’s weaknesses. Apply the lessons learned in a post-mortem to repair those pitfalls and strengthen your procedures.
- Streamline workflows: issues uncovered in post-mortems can include workflow issues you can resolve for future deals.
- Foster team collaboration: the format of post-mortem meetings reinforces a common purpose and teaches teams to work collaboratively. We always say that “a second set of eyes never hurts.” Whether that is looking over a collogues LOI, checking your social media posts for spelling errors, or reading over a temperamental email to a client.
- Improve efficiency: a post-mortem can reveal duplicate work, clunky process steps, and other inefficient tasks.
- Share information: sharing the lessons from a post-mortem with other team members helps everyone involved learn.
- Celebrate successes: in addition to analyzing issues, the post-mortem allows colleagues to call out their victories, contributing to improved morale and team cohesion.
Post-mortems are crucial for companies that want to improve their processes and create better products continually. A post-mortem is an opportunity for your team to reflect on what went right or wrong with a project and take action on any improvements needed in the future. Remember, a post-mortem that does not influence future actions wastes time. In light of this, be sure to put your ideas into action and ultimately help yourself, and your team in the future.
Why is it beneficial for Brokers to hold a deal post-mortem meeting?
Working in a business brokerage is a strange circumstance. You work as a sole individual, and do much of the work on your own, but have a team behind you of other people doing the same thing. If you’re lucky and work for a good company, you can be a part of a team that can help you through your problems and celebrate your successes. Which means that holding a deal post-mortem meeting can help not only you as a Broker, but also your entire team.
The core benefit of having a deal post-mortem meeting as a business broker is to improve efficiency. If done right, you can identify bottlenecks in your process and ultimately improve your company's workflows.
Wrapping Up
A post-mortem meeting is an important step for business brokers to evaluate and improve their processes and products. It provides a structured way to reflect on their performance, identify areas for improvement, and take action on those findings. This can lead to more successful deals, stronger relationships with clients, and staying updated with the market trends.
