For Immediate Release
Media review copies and interviews available upon request. High resolution jpeg of book cover also available via email upon request.
Contact: Robert Sher 925-788-1141
CEO Insider Reveals the Human Side of Mergers and Acquisitions
“Treating people well has a big payoff,” says Robert Sher, mergers and acquisitions specialist and author of the new book The Feel of the Deal.
Businesses are bought and sold every day. Mergers and acquisitions have a developed a reputation for being brutal, callous and indifferent about the people involved. Are they really that fast and furious? Is it really a vicious world?
Robert Sher, author of The Feel of the Deal, knows different. In fact, he’ll tell you that the acquisitions he’s gone through have been long, deeply involved and extremely personal events -- daunting emotional and intellectual journeys -- that left him a changed person forever.
Robert Sher, an M & A specialist with years of CEO experience, captures the real story and reveals what really goes through the mind of a CEO in a true life story about what happened as he worked to acquire another company.
The story is about romancing the seller and then buying the business. Sher finds out that buying a business requires all of the skills that running a business as a CEO requires. That includes negotiating, thinking about how to best work with other people, crunching numbers, identifying the real motives of others, evaluating ROI of various investments and working to keep people up to speed on all sides. Here is a captivating story that recounts the candid details of what CEO Robert Sher actually did, what happened and what ultimately flowed from it.
Sher has a thoughtful, self-revealing and totally engaging personal style that makes the action genuine. His skills as an educator also shine and he makes complex ideas simple and actionable. He is incredibly disarming and truthful about what drives him crazy about M & A:
“Unrealistic Expectations. Too many buyers and sellers don't understand what a business is worth or how the process works. They waste a lot of time and energy for everyone.
Bad Behavior. Buying and selling businesses is emotional. With emotion, bad behavior often appears. Dealing with this is difficult, draining, and can really hurt the chances of both parties achieving their objectives.
Confusing Guesswork with Facts. Buying and selling a business is a process of discovery of hundreds or thousands of facts and issues. As the onion is unpeeled, people tend to jump to conclusions and fixate on bogus positions or perceptions. That can lead to bad decisions and destructive negotiations.
Faulty Communications. With so much being learned on both sides, using the right communication vehicles in the right way at the right time is crucial. Conversation is very critical which means heavy use of in-person meetings and the phone. Deals don't get done on e-mail alone!"
The Feel of the Deal is filled with key strategic business advice that is important and useful to both buyers and sellers of businesses – including those who are even contemplating the possibility of a possible acquisition that is years away.
About Robert Sher
A seasoned executive with nearly 25 years of operating experience as a CEO, Mr. Sher has navigated through a wide variety of conditions, including four acquisitions. Today he collaborates with and guides business leaders as they navigate critical passages.
