# Retention bonus

Cash promised to a key employee for staying through the transition.

The people who actually run a small business rarely have contracts, and a sale is exactly when a competitor recruits them. A retention bonus buys the buyer time to earn the team's trust on its own merits. Diligence should price the cost of holding the two or three people the business cannot lose.

In numbers: Offering the lead technician a $40,000 bonus to stay 12 months costs about 1% of a $4M deal and is cheaper than losing the person half the customers ask for by name.

Source: https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/retention-bonus