How Quist Valuation Helps Ready For Next Advisory Group Create Clear Paths For Client Success

As an early adopter of the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) credential in 2008, Sean Hutchinson has worked with countless valuation and business assessment solutions and partners over the years. Some tools were too complex for clients to use, and others produced information that was too simplistic. Partners lacked the ability to move beyond general “estimates of value” and into certified valuations required for complex valuation projects.

The Ready For Next Advisory Group (RFN) assists business owners in various stages of exit planning, identified as Exploring, Pivoting, or Triggering. RFN believes good business planning incorporates a foundation of value building and an owner and leadership team with growth mindsets. RFN along with many others, however, have found that a large proportion of owners are ill-prepared and do not have transition-ready businesses.

In Quist Valuation, with its 40 years of history and valuation expertise, Hutchinson and his co-founding partners at RFN finally found the right partner. Quist provides valuation and business assessment solutions and services designed to equip business owners with the roadmaps they need to achieve their highest valuations and optimal transitions.

RFN uses the Quist Insights Platform – Spotlight and Advanced solutions along with certified valuation services as integral pieces in the firm’s client-focused approach to Value Acceleration and transition preparation. Partnering with Quist Valuation provides 40 years of valuation expertise and experience. Quist’s solutions, support, openness to feedback, and commitment to constant improvement create a truly collaborative partnership.

Spotlight for Thought Starters

Initiating a conversation with an owner about planning their business exit is challenging. Quist’s Spotlight assessment gives RFN a simple, yet insightful tool to make the conversation less daunting for business owners.

“We use Spotlight both in our marketing to attract leads and to provide those prospects with actionable information that we constantly refer back to as we continue our consulting once they become clients,” Hutchinson said. “Business owners generally agree with their scores and find the assessment to be useful as well as motivational.”

In only 10 minutes, Spotlight can estimate a business’s range of value and assess Owner Readiness and Business Attractiveness, setting the stage for a deeper assessment of the business and more meaningful owner conversations. Hutchinson explained that RFN reviews the identified issues with each client to decide on the focus areas with the most upside, based on the business owner’s goals.

“Spotlight reduces the subjectivity of a valuation, using information from over 10,000 valuations conducted by Quist across 25+ business sectors,” Hutchinson said. “It’s not just a survey; there’s deep data behind it.”

Using Spotlight to help begin the Exit Planning conversation, RFN can build trust with clients and set the stage for potential future engagements.

Advancing the Discussion

From Spotlight and RFN’s initial insights and scorecards, RFN dives deeper with Quist Insights – Advanced. This next-level software solution analyzes the intangible assets of a business by focusing on the six key value drivers—strategic, organizational, employee, customer, financial, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG). Alongside Advanced, RFN interviews the business owner(s), their management team, and any other stakeholders to expand the intake and hone the prioritized action plan provided by the software.

“Advanced allows us to have more meaningful discussions with our clients,” Hutchinson said. “Spotlight sets the baseline and Advanced helps move things forward as we actively work to add value over a longer relationship with the business owner. At any juncture, when it’s time for a valuation or re-valuation, we know Quist is at the ready and all the info we’ve gathered will help contextualize the valuation.”

Always Evolving, Always Improving

With Quist’s software integrated into RFN’s consulting, Quist serves as more than the typical software provider. Hutchinson said he and his partners at RFN appreciate Quist’s receptiveness to feedback for product improvement.

“Quist has always been responsive when we’ve asked for an addition or change to our co-branded reports from the software,” Hutchinson said. “It’s rare to see a software company actually go to its developers and iterate on its products based on your preferences. The level of support we get from Quist is a big part of why we’re investing in their tools—and it lets us know that they’re investing in their tools, too.”

Most importantly, the responses from RFN’s clients have been positive.

“The owners really like the assessments and reports,” Hutchinson said. “Quist opens the door for outside advice and consulting, without going overboard and being overwhelming. We know the tools will continue to evolve, and we will do our part by keeping the active feedback loop going based on how our clients are responding. Being able to engage with the valuation experts at Quist is a significant value-add to the software as well.”

Learn more about becoming a Quist partner and simplifying your process as an Exit Advisor.