Even with all the research, planning and negotiations that go into finalizing the successful acquisition of another business, the real challenges often begin after everyone’s signed on the dotted line. Integrating an acquired business into your existing operations takes more than just aligning systems and processes; it requires careful change management, smoothing of cultural differences, building trust among new colleagues and more.
Below, members of Forbes Business Council discuss essential steps in the process of bringing a new company and team under your business’s umbrella, as well as the strategies they’ve leveraged to ensure successful transitions. From culture mapping and leadership alignment to brand clarity and listening tours, these steps can help you create a strong and cohesive dynamic within your newly expanded team.
1. Lead With People And Purpose
Prioritize people and purpose when it comes to integration through acquisition. Start with shared values, align on the “why” behind the deal and engage teams in both organizations early. We’ve found success with clear, consistent communication and a unified vision as the teams come together and collaborate—even on day one. – Linnea Geiss, PDI Technologies
2. Appoint A ‘Culture’ Leader
Integration fails without trust. Appoint one leader who embodies your organizational culture and empowers both teams to move forward together. Strategy is important, but confidence, clarity and credibility are the real assets that unite the firm after a deal closes. – Jon Kramer, OHM Advisors
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3. Adopt A New Organizational Framework For Both Parties
This is a big challenge we faced with an acquisition back in 2017. The best approach we found was to adopt a new organizational framework (EOS in our case) at the same time for both organizations. This forced us to set a new mission, core values and some processes across both, which aligned them well. – Ryan Gray, SGW Designworks
4. Don’t Assume You Know What’s Best
Listen to the reasons why your acquired business has been a success. Chances are it was acquired because of its success. Assuming you know what’s best is the biggest downfall. – Patty Templeton-Jones, Wright Flood
5. Start With A Listening Tour
Get past the often “rosy” presentation of the target business with a listening tour. Talk with leaders at all levels of the organization to understand what’s working and what’s not, behaviors of the client base and how the go-to-market strategy holds up. From there, design a thoughtful integration that ensures the acquired entity has a voice. Remember, you bought them for a reason. – Matt Cullina, CyberScout, a TransUnion Brand
6. Prioritize Preintegration Planning
Our preintegration planning is critical. It was poor in one acquisition and it cost us in a variety of ways, versus going into a different acquisition with a buttoned-up integration strategy, super-clear answers to success metrics and a thorough communication plan with agreed-upon decision rights. So, your preplanning can be a foundation for success or failure. – Hugh Breland, Pink Porch Productions
7. Align Cultures With Shared Purpose
The most important step in successfully integrating an acquired business is aligning cultures early and intentionally. What’s worked well for us is starting with shared purpose—clearly communicating the “why” behind the acquisition, ensuring transparency around changes and investing in leadership alignment across both organizations. It’s about creating a stronger whole. – Melanie French, RR Living
8. Align Leadership Incentives In The Deal
Aligning leadership incentives in the deal structure is critical. For example, structuring the deal to include a component of time-based and performance-based earnouts ensures that key leaders from the acquired business remain engaged and motivated throughout the integration process. – Eric Yan, MaintainX
9. Balance Systems Integration With Human Engagement
Success hinges on balancing systems integration with the human element. Our formula involves dedicated integration plans addressing technology migration and cultural alignment. Most crucial is engaging acquired talent immediately—including the founders—by demonstrating how our organization enhances their vision while increasing their impact. – Talbott Roche, Blackhawk Network
10. Preserve The Best Of The Acquired Company
Don’t just absorb the company. Elevate what makes them exceptional. Identify standout talent, unique processes and cultural strengths through interviews, data and customer insights. Preserve their “secret sauce” and integrate it into your broader organization to boost performance, retain key people, and build a stronger combined company. – Parna Sarkar-Basu, Brand and Buzz Consulting, LLC.
11. Align Brand Messaging And Positioning
The most important step is aligning brand positioning and messaging. If customers sense confusion or inconsistency, trust erodes fast. We audit both brands, clarify the shared value proposition and update all channels accordingly. Then we ensure we communicate clearly and effectively with clients throughout the transition. Integration isn’t just operational; it’s emotional for customers, too. – Henry McIntosh, Twenty One Twelve Marketing
12. Establish Cross-Functional Teams To Align Culture
Prioritize cultural integration by establishing cross-functional teams to drive values and workflows into alignment. For example, a technology company decreased post-merger turnover by 30% through collaborative innovation sprints and co-creating a common mission. Trust plus common purpose equals operational synergy. – Adnan Ghaffar, CodeAutomation.AI LLC
13. Stay Present And Look For Momentum
I’ve acquired and integrated companies for three decades of my career, and I have found that rapid integration is key, but presence is everything. I make sure to be present and look for good energy: what’s working, who’s thriving and where the momentum lives. Then I amplify that. Culture follows clarity—when you move fast, you have to stay visible and stay present. – Jeffrey Herzog, Avenue Z
14. Communicate Proactively And Clearly
It always comes back to clear communication. You should proactively and clearly communicate the news both internally and externally to stakeholders, including existing clients, investors and partners. You should also provide clear expectations for what will happen next, like how this acquisition will change your daily workflows or services offered. The more context you can give, the better! – Emily Reynolds Bergh, R Public Relations Firm
15. Conduct A Culture Assessment
Evaluating employee culture is critical, as misalignment can derail even financially sound acquisitions through talent loss and integration failure. A culture assessment reveals strengths and liabilities not visible in financial statements, providing insight into operational effectiveness, innovation potential and sustainable competitive advantage. Salesforce’s acquisition of Slack is a recent successful example. – Jay Mehta, Seldon Capital
16. Map The ‘Unwritten Rules’
Start by mapping the “unwritten rules.” Every team has them—how decisions really get made, who people go to for answers, what’s praised versus penalized. Forget the org chart—decode the shadow org. If you want a smooth integration, blend those invisible playbooks before you touch the formal ones. – Sam Nelson, Downstreet Digital
17. Build Trust With The Acquired Leadership Teams
After the deal closes, it’s really important to focus on building trust with the acquired company’s leaders and their teams and to ensure communication channels are open. Reinforcing a collective culture is critical. Integration is complex, but trust and communication are the critical building blocks to advance and generate value quickly. – Steve Swinney, Kodiak Building Partners
18. Place A Key Player In The Acquired Company
Whether leading an M&A as a CEO or on the private equity side, I’ve learned it starts with placing the right person into the acquired company. They carry the culture of a holding company, cascading trust from day one. That unlocks strategy alignment and execution, but culture takes the longest to shift, so it must begin immediately. – Anton Schneerson, Flacks Group
19. Tailor Integration For Mutual Growth
The most critical step is aligning on the acquisition’s intent. Preserve what made the acquired business valuable and tailor integration—full, partial or autonomous—for mutual growth. Too often, acquirers smother what made the acquired company special, ultimately destroying the very value they intended to capture. The clarity obtained will dictate the degree of integration required. – Calvin Goulding, G8 Education
20. Validate First; Then Integrate
When acquiring a new business, avoid merging it immediately with your core operations. Treat it as an independent unit, validate its performance and ensure it’s generating results. Only then consider integrating it into your broader business group to avoid disrupting your main structure. – Arnold Sotelo, International Media Group SAC
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