# Test the Buyer Before You Sell

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/test-buyer-before-exit · Last updated 31 October 2026

You have a shortlist of buyer replies and a draft deal in your inbox, and you cannot say how the buyer would treat your clients after the handover. Ivanka Menken uses the Advisory Year inside Private Advisory, a 12-month engagement at AUD $5,000 per month ex GST, to test buyer fit before deal terms become the whole conversation. You leave with a written buyer-fit brief and a staged handover decision for the next quarter.

## Buyer interest, and no test of fit

- You have buyer interest but no clear test of fit.
- Your exit plan is really a price conversation.
- Clients would feel the handover before you have tested the buyer.

**THE MOMENT:** The advertisement worked. About 20 replies came in, and a draft deal is waiting in your inbox. The strongest offer is easy to spot. What you cannot see is how any of these buyers would treat the clients you have looked after for years, the ones who trust you personally. If the handover goes wrong, they will feel it before the deal is done.

### THE EXIT, AS IT STANDS

- Buyer replies: about 20, sorted by offer
- Strongest offer: clear
- How each buyer treats clients: unknown
- Which clients must stay: not written
- Handover test: none planned

## Rank the replies by the strongest offer

In this case, the founder of a small advisory firm was considering a gradual exit and the sale of part of the client book. Replies were coming through a broker-style process. The obvious fix was to sort them by the strongest offer and start there. It told the founder nothing about how clients would be treated after the handover, which was the thing they cared about most.

## Deal terms were vetted before the buyer was

Ivanka noticed the founder was checking deal terms before checking the buyer’s process for taking over client contact. Who would call the client first? How would they handle a complaint in the first month? Would the client hear from a person or a template? None of the replies answered those questions, and the founder had not asked them.

## A trust question, not a price question

The real question was not who would pay most. It was who could be trusted with the client book. Until that was answered, every price comparison was premature.
The reframe: the best buyer is not always the highest bidder. It is the one you can hand a client relationship to without losing it. That can be tested, slowly and in stages, before the deal is done. A small transfer of one segment of clients shows more about a buyer than any meeting.

> The best buyer is the one you can hand a client relationship to without losing it.

**The cost of staying stuck:** Without a buyer-fit test, an exit can put your client relationships at risk before the deal is done.

## The tool: The Advisory Year

The Advisory Year runs the exit across four quarters instead of one meeting. Each quarter has one decision: what you are really selling, which buyers pass the fit test, how a staged handover goes, and whether to widen it. The deal terms come in once the buyer has been tested on the clients.

It is a year on one page, with the buyer-fit brief at its centre: the non-negotiables, the questions to ask each buyer, the staged handover test and the next decision for the quarter.

It replaces a shortlist ranked by offer size, an exit treated as one conversation, and a handover that the clients discover after the contract is signed.

### What goes on the page

1. What you are really selling: the clients, the team, the method or all three
2. The clients who must stay, named
3. The non-negotiables a buyer must meet
4. The questions each buyer answers before any terms
5. The staged handover: one segment of the client book first
6. The evidence that rules a buyer out

It sits inside Private Advisory, with the fortnightly sessions and three Clarity Days across the year. Ivanka does not value the business, negotiate the deal or give legal or financial advice. Your lawyer and accountant handle the terms.

## The exit slowed into decisions

In the first session, Ivanka slowed the exit into testable decisions. She asked what the founder was really selling, which client relationships had to survive, how a buyer could be tested before a handover, and what evidence would rule a buyer out. The founder wrote a buyer-fit brief with the non-negotiables and the questions. Before the next session, they sent those questions to the shortlist and filtered the replies against the brief.

### The questions

- What are you really selling?
- Which client relationships must survive?
- How would you test a buyer before a handover?
- What evidence would rule a buyer out?
- What is the next decision this quarter?

### THE FOUR-STEP LOOP

1. The one thing: About 20 replies and a draft deal in the inbox.
2. The numbers: The clients who must stay, and what they bring in.
3. The story: Why the strongest offer felt like the safest one.
4. The commitment: The buyer-fit brief, sent before any terms.

Before the next session, the founder sent the fit questions to every buyer on the shortlist and removed the ones who could not answer them.

## A tested shortlist and a staged handover

By month 6, the founder has a buyer-fit brief, a tested shortlist and a staged handover decision recorded across quarters. The exit conversation is about fit and readiness, not only the deal in the inbox.

**BEFORE**

- Replies ranked by the size of the offer.
- Deal terms checked first.
- No test of how clients would be treated.
- The exit treated as one conversation.

**BY MONTH 6**

- A written buyer-fit brief.
- A shortlist filtered on fit.
- One segment of clients transferred as a test.
- A clear go or no-go decision for each quarter.

The programme is the container: 12 months, 24 fortnightly 90-minute 1:1 sessions and three Clarity Days.

## Test the buyer on your clients first

Ivanka Menken runs Private Advisory for founders of A$2M to A$10M businesses facing the decisions that shape the next five years. An exit is one of them. She helps you slow it down enough to see who you are handing your clients to.
This fits if you have buyer interest and clients who trust you personally. It does not fit if you want a done-for-you sale process or a full-time adviser. The decision in front of you is to write the buyer-fit brief before you compare another offer.

> During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.
>
> Business owner

## Who fits, and who does not

### It fits

- You have buyer replies or a draft deal.
- Your clients trust you personally.
- You are open to a gradual or partial exit.
- You will test a buyer before you hand over clients.

### It does not fit

- You want a done-for-you sale process.
- You want a full-time advisory role.
- You want a valuation or legal advice.
- You want the highest bid, whatever happens to clients.

### Investment

**AUD $5,000 per month ex GST, 12 months.** The Advisory Year is part of Private Advisory, a 12-month engagement at AUD $5,000 per month ex GST, by application. It is not sold separately.

Included:

- 24 fortnightly 90-minute 1:1 sessions
- Three Clarity Days on the year’s biggest decisions
- The quarterly five-number read
- The buyer-fit brief and staged handover test

- [Apply for Private Advisory, AUD $5,000/mo, 12 months](mailto:ivanka@ivankamenken.com?subject=Private%20Advisory%20application)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=test-buyer-before-exit#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Private Advisory programme](https://ivankamenken.com/private-advisory)

## Questions about The Advisory Year

### Is this a business valuation?

No. Ivanka Menken does not value the business. The Advisory Year tests whether a buyer can keep your client relationships, which a valuation does not show. Your accountant or a valuer handles the price. The work sits inside Private Advisory, 12 months at AUD $5,000 per month ex GST, and runs alongside the advice you already have.

### Will Ivanka negotiate the deal?

No. Ivanka Menken does not negotiate the deal or draft the terms, and nothing here is legal or financial advice. She helps you decide who to negotiate with, by testing buyer fit first. That work is part of Private Advisory, 12 months at AUD $5,000 per month ex GST. Your lawyer and accountant handle the contract.

### What does buyer fit mean?

Buyer fit means the buyer can take over client contact without losing the relationship. It is tested with questions about the first call, the first complaint and who the client hears from, then with a small staged handover. Ivanka Menken builds the brief with you inside Private Advisory, 12 months at AUD $5,000 per month ex GST.

### Can this work for part of the client book?

Yes. Selling or handing over one segment first is often the best test. It shows how a buyer treats real clients before you widen the handover. Ivanka Menken plans the staged test with you inside Private Advisory, 12 months at AUD $5,000 per month ex GST, with the decision to widen it made at the end of the quarter.


## Write the buyer-fit brief first

If buyer replies are arriving and your clients trust you personally, start with Private Advisory. The Advisory Year is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether it fits.

- [Apply for Private Advisory, AUD $5,000/mo, 12 months](mailto:ivanka@ivankamenken.com?subject=Private%20Advisory%20application)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=test-buyer-before-exit#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Private Advisory programme](https://ivankamenken.com/private-advisory)
- [Ask for a deposit before the data room](https://ivankamenken.com/escrow-deposit-gate)
- [Separate cash at close from the earn-out](https://ivankamenken.com/upfront-exit-cash-bonus)
- [Map the deal terms before you sell](https://ivankamenken.com/deal-terms-map-exit)
- [The Private Advisory programme](https://ivankamenken.com/private-advisory)

- Every way to work with Ivanka: https://ivankamenken.com/work-with-ivanka