Multiple of my mentors in life have shared the same educational principles.  One universal one has been listen more than you talk in meetings.  My favorite variation of this concept is “You have two ears and one mouth, listen twice as much as you talk”.

Many years ago, a successful but eccentric entrepreneur, Dr. Ted Bushman, was in my office looking at a company I had for sale as a potential acquisition.  During the meeting, he made an observation that still resonates with me.  He said, “When I look at businesses, I do not care about the industry, location, or tangible assets; my assessment focuses on the PEOPLE.  If a company has a quality crew, it does not matter whether it is a restaurant, electrical contractor, or manufacturing business; it will be successful.”

In business purchase & sale transactions, a significant amount of time is spent by buyers looking at profit & loss statements, contracts, customer concentration, and estimated future CAPEX budgets. Very little time is commonly spent assessing the talent in place.  I feel this is an assessment oversight.

I have been a Seattle Mariners season ticket owner off and on for almost 30 years and a fan of the team since the days of Alvin Davis & Spike Owen.  This season is one of the few I have been impressed by the people management of the organization from the executive suite.  For the first time in many years, management has done what is necessary to construct a team that has the potential to win the organization its first World Series title and compete with the best in baseball into the horizon. The people management principles applied by the Mariners to get to this position are applicable to all business models.

1. Promote & Reward Talent Within the Organization – The Mariners are blessed to have two of Major League Baseball’s rising stars on their roster in Julio Rodriquez and Cal Raliegh. Both have received long term contracts that recognize they are foundational components to the team’s future success and pay them appropriate market values (https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/34464088/seattle-mariners-finalizing-long-term-extension-breakout-rookie-julio-rodriguez-sources-say and https://www.mlb.com/news/cal-raleigh-mariners-extension#). Compare this with the Mariners’ decision related to Randy Johnson when the team was contending for championships in the late 1990’s and rather than show loyalty to the team’s ace starter financially they traded him and saw him win a World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks and four more Cy Young Awards as the best pitcher in the American League (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johnsra05.shtml).  I was happy to learn that next season the Mariners will retire The Big Unit’s number at T Mobile Park (https://www.mlb.com/news/randy-johnson-number-51-to-be-retired-by-mariners). Long overdue recognition.
2. Support Senior Leadership – J.P. Crawford, the starting shortstop for the Mariners, struggled with injuries on the field in 2024. A decision could have been made to move on by the ball club this off season.  Management recognized the important role Crawford played in the clubhouse for the team.  Former team manager, Scott Servais, called Crawford the “Heart & Soul of the Team”  (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3238926/2022/04/08/dark-days-to-a-bright-future-tracing-the-rise-of-the-mariners-j-p-crawford/). The Mariners’ faith in one of their leaders’ ability has been rewarded with a strong return to form in 2025 including a walk-off winning 9^th inning homerun recently (https://www.mlb.com/mariners/video/j-p-crawford-homers-8-on-a-fly-ball-to-right-field-miles-mastrobuoni-scor) and consistent team success on the field.  Similarly, Luis Castillo was viewed by some as an aging pitcher whose best days were behind him after the 2024 season.  Management recognized his importance as a role model and anchor on a young talented pitching staff (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xuY0U1qOTxc#).  That continued support has resulted in him pitching more innings than anyone, but Bryan Woo this season (https://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/pitching.php?y=2025&t=SEA#).  Strong organizations have numerous leaders and mentors.  Retention of them in a business acquisition is critical for future success.
3. Listen to Constructive Criticism and Ideas – Confident leaders are open to ideas and constructive criticism. They are also willing to invest in people and infrastructure. The last time the Mariners were on the verge of being a World Series team, their manager, Lou Piniella, desperately needed another bat.  The bat never arrived, and the lack of support resulted in the Mariners and Lou Piniella parting ways (https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/baseball/article/piniella-lincoln-clash-led-to-exit-1125407.php).  Mariners’ catcher, Cal Raliegh, knew this history.  If he was going to commit to the team long term, he wanted to know the organization would do what was necessary to win, and he has been quoted as saying about his recent contract negotiations, “That was the No. 1 priority for me: Is this organization and team committed to winning? Obviously, long term, but also right now — because we have a window.” (https://www.mlb.com/news/cal-raleigh-helping-with-mariners-front-office-decisions). This time, the Mariners listened and acquired two strong bats in Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez at the trade deadline to provide the team with the additional resources it needed to have field success and potentially advance in the playoffs.
4. Identify & Recruit Talent – One of the foundations of the Mariners’ recent success has been their homegrown pitching talent of Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, and Logan Evans (https://sports.yahoo.com/how-the-mariners-assembled-and-developed-the-most-fearsome-rotation-in-baseball-its-unbelievable-what-those-guys-can-do-174240554.html). Strong organizations are in constant pursuit of talent to develop and enhance performance.  Think this relates to just professional athletic teams.  Think again.  Companies competing in the artificial intelligence space are bidding for talent currently in an effort to outperform their competition (https://procurementmag.com/news/is-the-tech-sector-the-new-frontier-for-team-poaching-cases and https://business.purdue.edu/graduate-programs/blog/posts/4-tips-on-how-to-get-a-job-in-ai.php). Similarly, it is not uncommon for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies to recruit talent from competitors.

Buyer due diligence related to assessing a company’s staff is not something that can be done in the abstract.   It requires the ability to ask the right questions and listen.  It starts with reviewing the organizational chart for a company and inquiring about the people on it to ownership.  Notes should be taken.  It advances to employee interviews, where employment security and fair market compensation should be offered.  You only get one chance to make a first impression with the employees of a business to be acquired.  Thoughtful consideration of what is to be conveyed and who is engaged with is prudent.  For example, a CFO or sales manager should be met with before the people they manage out of respect and in recognition of their value and status with the company.

Employee engagement done right can greatly enhance the likelihood of a smooth transition of ownership. Done wrong, the future of a business after an acquisition can be placed in jeopardy. A knowledgeable, experienced, and skilled business sale intermediary can provide guidance on how to successfully facilitate this process. A role business brokers fill in a transaction is to serve as a trusted guide through the sale process, sharing knowledge and best practices.  Guessing how to do things is how transactions implode and future litigation occurs. Experience & ability matter whether pitching with the bases loaded or selling a business.

The staff of a company will be the people an entrepreneur lives with after buying a business.  Prior to that time, it is equally important to assemble a quality team to support a business acquisition or sale.  Most transactional teams include an attorney and an accountant.  On the buyer side, this group is frequently enhanced by a banker, niche appraisers & inspectors, and potentially a real estate professional.  On the seller side, it is common to add a business sale intermediary and wealth management advisor.  IBA has a robust Rolodex of professional advisors it can recommend, gained through facilitating over 4400 transactions successfully (https://ibainc.com/about-iba/referral-database-program/).  We welcome the opportunity to make recommendations for parties to interview.

In closing, I leave you with an African proverb to ponder: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”.

IBA, the Pacific Northwest’s premier business brokerage firm since 1975, is available as an information resource to the media, business brokerage, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, legal, accounting, banking, and wealth management communities on subjects relevant to the purchase & sale of privately held companies and family businesses.  IBA is recognized as one of the best business brokerage firms in the nation based on its long track record of successfully negotiating “win-win” business sale transactions in environments of full disclosure employing “best practices”.