A strong network supports, uplifts, and serves Certified Exit Planning Advisors (CEPA®) as they guide their business owner clients through the exit planning journey – but such an all-encompassing and vague word begs the question, what exactly is networking? What might come to mind immediately is that networking means you are making professional connections that will be mutually beneficial for professional development. But, what does that mean in the context of exit planning and the Value Acceleration Methodology™? Exitology founder and 2025 Excellence in Exit Planning Member of the Year nominee Wally Waldron, CEPA, shares that, to best leverage your networking skills as a CEPA, you must consider the holistic journey of the owner.
“Networking is connecting with people who are advising either the same client from a different perspective or perhaps are advising similar clients,” Wally says. “You want to learn from them.”
Wally encourages CEPAs to reach out across professions and connect with other experts in their field who are advising the business owner as well. Ideally, anyone holding the CEPA designation should have a strong network of advisors already through their practice as well as their experience going through the CEPA program. Wally emphasizes that building a diverse network throughout your practice is key.
“You might look for the advisors around the table. You might be looking for potential team members. You also might be looking for referral partners for deal flow and people who you can refer to for trust flow,” he says. “If we're following the 120-Day Playbook, which we should be doing, you should also be considering technology and software providers.”
True connection is the foundation with which good networking is built off, but this can feel a little abstract. It is crucial to note that networking is not a transaction. It is not the act of going down a list and checking off the right questions and conversations to build the network. Networking is relationship building, at its core.
“A lot of people think that networking is transactional, and it's not,” Wally says. “Networking is really about long-term relationship-building. If you invest in that relationship-building up front, that can turn into speed and trust later. If we can invest a lot of time to understand each other and know each other on the front end, we can create a lot of business shorthand later.”
That shorthand only exists when trust is present in the relationship. For trust to be present, CEPAs must approach each professional relationship in their life, whether between fellow advisors or business owners, with a sense of genuine curiosity and openness. If people sense they are being sold to, they are a lot more likely to disengage from the conversation and from the relationship entirely. As taught in the Value Acceleration Methodology, the Three Legs of the Stool Approach™ calls on us to align the financial, business, and personal legs, not just the business.
This rapport you eventually build is beneficial for all parties, which is the purpose of networking.
As CEPAs, there is always a financial consideration at play to a majority, if not all, of your client conversations. With that mindset, it’s easy to think of the ROI as immediate, important, and measurable. True effective networking can take longer for ROI to show, and Wally stresses that that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“A misconception about networking is that it feels productive. It often doesn't, and I think this is probably the toughest thing about it, especially for some of the folks who might be more technical or more quantitatively focused,” he says. “There are a lot of numbers-focused people in this world, and if they never had to network, they would do it that way.”
The numbers are important, but it’s crucial to realize consistency in relationship-building will serve you in the long run.
“The ROI is not always immediate, but consistency is what pays off,” Wally says. “You cannot track the ROI as a leading indicator basis. The only thing you can guarantee is that if you're not out there doing the work, then nothing is going to happen. That can be difficult for some people.”
Ultimately, exit planning comes down to preparedness, collaboration, and execution—three things that a strong network at your back can bolster significantly.
“One of the things that we tell people is it's always better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war, which means that if you're always prepared for the war, a lot of times it never comes, but you can end that war and win quickly,” Wally says. “You can come from that place of preparedness.”
What that looks like for Wally and the team of value advisors at Exitology is having those conversations with clients to prepare them for the reality that some difficult decisions may be ahead. Because of that network they’ve built, it doesn’t have to be so daunting.
“Our commitment to the client is that at one of those hard decisions along the way, we will be able to bring at least three proven and vetted professionals to help through the process,” he says. “That’s one of the ways that we are able to create a network that is actually valuable in a very tangible fashion.”
This network is crucial throughout all stages of the Value Acceleration Methodology, but is particularly important in the final Decide Gate, according to Wally.
“If they are instead choosing to continue growing value, that requires a whole different group of people—lawyers, advisors, consultants, and strategists. And as soon as they choose to exit, that’s also a whole different ball of wax. An ESOP conversation is different from a succession plan, and so on.”
The exit planning community is expanding more every day, but the more connections you create, the more prepared you are. You can be the warrior in the garden, ready for anything that your clients might face. And if you're not, you can lean on your network of professionals who know you not only at a business level but a professional one as well.
“It’s important to be networking throughout the entire community,” Wally says. “That way, you have those friendly faces to call on behalf of the client.” See more of Wally's insights on networking in his piece for Mastering the Market 2: Connecting People.