What is Work Product?
Work product can have a broad definition but is described as any marketing, legal, financial or other forms of proprietary work that is produced internally within a business essential to its operations. Examples of work product include flyers for residential real estate, contract agreements, press releases, video marketing, etc. Sometimes work product can be a form of sales generation for a company and sometimes the work product is only produced to assist with business development. In either case, having quality work product better positions a business for successful performance across all industries.
Different Types of Work Product in the M&A Industry
Investment banking and business brokerage is a highly competitive industry with many players hunting for the best deals. In order to stand out among the herd, firms have evolved to find better ways to attract deals. One way is by utilizing amazing work product to differentiate. In this industry there are two stages during a transaction when using good looking work product is important: (1) winning over the client wishing to sell their business, and (2) winning over the right qualified buyer.
Winning the Client
Work product used: pitch deck
Securing the client involves a competitive pitch process where M&A advisors compete with one another to prove to the client that their firm, expertise and skillset will help them get a valuable exit. This pitch process involves assembling a slide deck presentation and pitching to the client. Gaining the interest of the client is a crucial step in the process and having a well organized and visually appealing pitch deck can give the M&A advisor the right amount of push to win the client over. The pitch deck is the first main work product that needs to be executed flawlessly to be successful. T
Winning the Buyer
Work product used: teaser, confidential information memorandum (CIM)
After winning over the client, the investment banker is now tasked to get the deal done. This means finding a buyer to purchase the company for sale and negotiate the transaction. Finding a buyer is only the first hurdle, convincing the buyer that the business is a great investment opportunity is another challenge. The investment banker uses a couple tools to accomplish this. The first is called a teaser document. A teaser is a one-page summary of the business that includes a financial snapshot, overview of the company and investment highlights. The tease does not disclose any confidential details. It is crucial that the teaser document looks appetizing for an investor so that they want to learn more about the opportunity.
If interest is continued, the investment banker offers an NDA to be signed. Upon an NDA signature, the advisor sends a confidential information memorandum (CIM) to the interested buyer. The CIM is usually a 30 -50 page presentation describing all of the company details such as history of the company, employee organization, management review, competitor analysis, key performance indicators, strategic growth opportunities, financial projections and much more. It’s essential the entire business on paper. If the CIM’s contents are sufficient but it’s designed poorly, an interested buyer may toss it aside. However, if the CIM contains proper details and looks visually spectacular, then a buyer is more inclined to continue reading and potentially invest.
The Importance of Spectacular Product in the M&A Industry
Now that we know the different types of work product in the investment banking world, (pitch deck/teaser/CIM) we can appreciate that having high quality work product can make or break a deal considering there are millions if not billions of dollars at stake. Its no different when browsing through a residential real estate flyer when searching for a home to buy, the house with the good looking pictures is the one you are going to tour.
IBB’s Work Product
At investment business brokers, our team goes the extra mile to ensure that every piece of work product we produce looks amazing and is custom-tailored to the specific client or company we work with. We constantly get feedback from leaders in the M&A industry that our teasers, CIM’s and pitch decks are the best seen in the market.
Our entrepreneurial backgrounds understand what it is to operate a company and come across the day where it is time to exit. We have been in your shoes and know the amount of blood, sweat, and tears that are invested and we take a personal approach to ensure we represent your business properly by displaying it on a silver platter to buyers.
When you are sitting on an airplane, do you pick up the old boring newspaper or the flashy magazine first? “If we’re going to spend the time to do it, why not at least make is look awesome” – IBB
hile IBB is headquartered in Dallas, we serve clients nationwide. If you have any other questions about work product or would like to see some work product from IBB, call us at 972-266-4525 or fill out our contact form online.