When you sell a company, inevitably you will have to determine whom to tell what, when, and how about it. You need to shape appropriate messages with the new owner to reflect your reasons for selling, your values, and their future. Information needs to be delivered to stakeholders in effective formats and frequency.

You should tell the story in a respectful, logical, meaningful way. Respect the hierarchy within your organization and use it to guide your timing, method, and message. Whether you provide information via a personal call, a letter, or a press release will be driven by that hierarchy. The tool to do this is a communications plan.

A comprehensive communication plan is the tool that helps you determine how to communicate relevant information efficiently and effectively to constituents in supporting the successful transfer of business ownership. It guides the development of appropriate messages and identifies media to deliver them.

For example, a customary way to announce your sale once consummated is by convening an all-hands meeting with employees. It’s recommended that you, the seller, open the meeting, announce the sale and reasons for it, and give important dates for the unfolding process and your departure. You should introduce the buyer and show confidence in his or her experience.

The buyer might then preside over the meeting to become recognizable as the leader by employees and to symbolize the larger transition under way. The buyer usually explains his or her reasons for buying the business and presents any plans that are appropriate—without discussing the deal’s terms. In a merger scenario, employees will be eager to understand how the two companies will integrate and how that will impact them.

A not uncommon scenario in companies large and small is news about the pending sale leaking out. Secrets may be harder to keep in smaller, close-knit companies where everyone feels like family and finds it difficult to keep such important news confidential. There are several ways to handle this. The first is to anticipate it.

An example is a former owner of a Public Relations firm. He told his employees up front that he was going to sell the company, and that he would take care of them. He kept them informed throughout the process and did indeed take care of them. This set the employees and new owner up for success.

If the sales process has already begun, you could acknowledge that a sale is under consideration, and that business owners frequently consider selling a business and nothing has been finalized yet. A third approach is to deny everything. In such a case, when the sale is announced, however, your credibility is damaged, and resentment and resistance may begin brewing.

We highly recommend waiting until the deal is complete before you and the new owner inform external business colleagues. As decided between you and the buyer, the announcement should be swift and strategic, yet respectful of each stakeholders’ importance. Obviously, stakeholders who represent the firm’s most important relationships should hear the news first and from you, not from a competitor or industry publication.

For other stakeholders, your phone call, letter, or an e-mail with an attached fact sheet or press release may be appropriate. It should be succinct and confidence-boosting and include the same information conveyed to employees and business associates: what’s happening and why, important dates, and what is and isn’t expected to change. The press release should go to all appropriate media outlets.

This is an opportunity to reinforce your values and your company’s brand. Like politicians who stay “on message,” so, too, must you and the new owner when selling a company. Both must agree about what the right messages are and determine your separate roles in delivering them. Both of you should align your messages with the overall goals of the sale and the business’s brand.

I invite you to use these ideas during your journey to sell a business.

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