Guide for Transitioning Your Marketing During a Practice Sale
When selling your dental practice, your agreement with Identity Dental Marketing is non-transferable to the new owner. Your existing agreement remains in effect until it is properly terminated according to the terms you originally accepted, including the required 30-day notice and any payments due.
Selling the practice does not waive, shorten, or transfer your financial obligations to Identity Dental Marketing.
Working With the New Owner
Identity Dental Marketing is happy to offer the new owner a complimentary marketing planning session.
However, the purchaser does not automatically become an Identity Dental Marketing client. We reserve the right to determine whom we accept as a client based on fit, expectations, communication, professionalism, and respect for our team and work.
Any new owner, DSO, management company, or other purchasing entity that wishes to continue services must enter into a new signed agreement establishing scope, pricing, responsibilities, and terms.
The practice sale agreement between buyer and seller does not obligate Identity Dental Marketing to work with the purchaser.
If Your Marketing Obligation Extends Beyond the Sale Date
If you provide your 30-day notice too late for your marketing obligation to end before ownership of the practice transfers, you remain responsible for the payments required under your agreement.
In that situation, you may negotiate with the purchaser to reimburse you for the marketing expense that applies to the period after they assume ownership of the practice.
Any reimbursement arrangement between buyer and seller is separate from your agreement with Identity Dental Marketing. Identity Dental Marketing will continue to look to the existing client for payment through the end of the contractual termination period.
Website, Hosting, and Domain Responsibility
If Identity Dental Marketing manages your website and the new owner does not retain us, our responsibility for the website ends when our services conclude.
Identity Dental Marketing is not responsible for future website changes, outages, security issues, plugin conflicts, hosting problems, broken functionality, or technical support after management ends.
Because you own your hosting and domain accounts, you are responsible for properly transferring those assets to the new owner.
If hosting, domain billing, or renewals are simply discontinued without a proper transfer, the website or domain may eventually expire or go offline.
Transferring Website and Domain Assets Through SiteGround
You may transfer an individual website and associated domain through the SiteGround Client Area.
Transfer the Website and Domain
Log in to SiteGround and go to Websites.
Locate the website and select Transfer Ownership from the three-dot menu.
Enter the new owner's email address associated with their SiteGround account.
Complete the transfer invitation.
The transfer is finalized when the recipient accepts it.
Transfer a Domain to Another Registrar
If the purchaser wants the domain moved outside SiteGround:
Go to Services > Domains > Settings.
Unlock the domain and disable Domain Privacy if required.
Obtain the EPP/Auth Code.
Provide the code to the new owner or their registrar.
Transferring an Entire SiteGround Account
If appropriate, you may instead transfer control of the entire SiteGround account by updating the owner profile and billing information.
Before doing so, understand that the new owner may gain access to account history, invoices, billing records, and any other websites or services associated with that account.
Update the Owner Profile
Go to Login & Profile.
Change the account owner's name, email address, and phone number.
Save the changes.
Update Billing
Go to Billing > Billing Details.
Add the new owner's payment method.
Remove your payment method only after the new payment method has been successfully added.
Transfer Login Control
After changing the account email to the new owner's email address, the new owner should reset the password and establish their own secure login credentials.
Registered domain contact and WHOIS information should also be updated when appropriate.
Business Email
If business email accounts are connected to your domain, work with your IT provider to determine how those accounts and historical messages should be transferred.
Some buyers create new communication systems, while others retain the existing email addresses and records.
Identity Dental Marketing does not manage this transition unless it is specifically included within your services.
SEO, Advertising, Social Media, and Ongoing Marketing
SEO, Google Ads, Meta Ads, social media management, content creation, and other ongoing marketing services do not automatically transfer to the purchaser.
Identity Dental Marketing will continue services only as required under the existing client's agreement. Ongoing services for the new owner require a separate signed agreement.
One Accountable Client at a Time
At all times, there must be one clearly identified party responsible for the Identity Dental Marketing relationship.
Client responsibility does not automatically shift from seller to buyer when ownership changes.
Every Identity Dental Marketing client must have a signed agreement identifying the legal client, scope of services, pricing, payment obligations, responsibilities, and termination terms.
We will not continue providing services, resources, intellectual property, systems, or ongoing work to a new owner without an appropriate agreement in place.
Final Responsibility of the Seller
Plan your marketing transition early in the practice sale process.
You remain responsible for fulfilling the terms of your Identity Dental Marketing agreement through its proper conclusion, including notice requirements and all payments due.
The buyer and seller may negotiate reimbursement or other arrangements between themselves, but those arrangements do not alter the seller's contractual obligations to Identity Dental Marketing unless Identity Dental Marketing agrees to the change in writing.
Our team is an extension of your team. Just as you would not fail to pay your employees for work completed, our team needs to be compensated for our work. We hold our clients legally responsible for their financial commitments, even final payments.