Italians call it the long table. I mean looooooooooong table. Place settings for 25 people is light. The menu is usually Sunday pasta with meatballs the size of MLB regulation-size baseballs and salad tossed with enough vinegar you are compelled to sop it up with crusty Italian bread (my father taught me how to make a true Italian salad with oil and vinegar and the bread part was the litmus test if I’d done it right).

Families have traditions and stories, and family-owned, multi-generational businesses are no different. We’ve branded, marketed and reimagined the mission for several of these, especially when they reach the fork in the road. They want to grow or exit and their hands are tied because they haven’t set the table for something new.

If you and I were at the long table right now, we wouldn’t talk about numbers or projections or org charts. We would talk about how whatever is next impacts people beyond the owners and buyers. People are the beating heart of any business: employees, customers, community, suppliers and industry partners. Family-owned businesses, most of the time, take this to heart.

A successful M&A strategy or change in leadership protects brand trust and confidence. The goal: own the narrative. Here are three stages to consider if your endurance story is shifting.

Stage No. 1: What is Our Story to Potential Buyers? 

So much to unpack here. Positioning the company for sale to potential suitors requires a one-page teaser and more in-depth executive summary to present the company. A compelling, one-page origin story shows the rise to success, unique solution in the marketplace, mission and values, audience impact and differential advantages. A company pitch deck doesn’t tell the whole story, but rather inspires people to want a conversation. An FAQ for leadership prepares ambassadors of the company so if a sale or announcement is leaked to employees or media, it is not misunderstood. A review of website/social and other marketing vehicles may need updating to increase valuation and better position the company to suitors.

Stage No. 2: What is Our Transitional Messaging?

Roundtable messaging sessions identify a messaging framework targeting internal and external key stakeholders: employees, customers, supply chain partners, the inside list, regional office managers, shareholders, close "friends" of the company, community, social followers. FAQs and other materials create consistency, not fancy writing or assumptions. Explore:

• What would people ask?

• Who will release what message?

• Will the account rep send a customer letter or will the CEO make a call?

• How is this message conveyed to each audience?

• What is the timeline?

• How will each group’s world change?

• What does this change mean to them?

• Why is the news a positive change?

• What does the future look like?

• Are there virtual or in-person events?

• Is there a name change?

Without a communications plan for transitional messaging, there's a risk of people losing faith in the brand. This should not be 40 slides either. Ten or less is bellissimo.

Stage No. 3: How Do We Inspire Brand Trust Post-Sale?

This is an often-overlooked communication opportunity. What happens after the lights flip on and the new buyer or change in direction is announced? How do we follow through on the promises we made in the messaging framework? Like marathon running, this stage is critical. M&A – or any change, for that matter – is about endurance, culture and people. There are many opportunities here:

• Newsletter for employees

• AMA (ask me anything) lunch and learns

• Guest speaker or webinar for customers

• Follow-up email campaigns

• Surveys

• Website updates

• Thought leadership blogs

• Vision town halls

Where there’s change, there’s uncertainty. I’ve spent many a night with a cup of tea at 2 in the morning, wondering how things are going to go for this child or that one or how a situation in business is going to turn out or – classic – how I’m going to drive to a place I’ve never been (I’m directionless and spineless when it comes to driving!). Change is scary, and we care so much about the people we love. That’s why we worry. But a running coach taught me a valuable lesson . . .

In preparing for next week’s Fox Valley half marathon and the Chicago Marathon this October, I read 21 Tips that Make a Big Difference in Your Race from endurance coach Susan Donnelly. I shared it with my running mates and children, Katherine Burke and Peter Kelly. We each highlighted the tips that spoke to us. The one I selected was to replace worry with planning. For family-owned businesses, the story began decades ago. The vision story, then, demands time and care so that endurance is not a question, but a personal best for the next stage of growth.

Who’s sitting at your long table?