Many businesses understand the value of developing a STANDARD FORM CONTRACT to sell goods or services. For example:
1. It allows a company to express the terms and conditions for which they are willing to govern the relationship with their customer, and in a way that reflects the company’s risk profile.
2. It isn’t practical/scalable to negotiate a new agreement each time a company makes a sale.
3. A company does not want to be reviewing a form of agreement provided by the other side (which may or may not be suitable for the task at hand).
However, in contrast, far fewer businesses seem to appreciate the added value of using a PLAYBOOK to assist them in negotiations when they receive push back (and at some point, they inevitability will). For example:
1. Does a company really want to consult a lawyer each time they receive push back?
2. If they don’t consult a lawyer, does a company really want to risk accepting changes without knowing what the real impact is?
Developing a playbook with a lawyer to work in conjunction with a company’s standard form contract can:
1. Save on legal fees in the long term.
2. Provide flexibility when there is a desire to get a deal done.
3. Provide comfort that the negotiated terms and conditions are within a certain range of acceptability, and therefore they are unlikely to expose the company to undue risk.
4. Speed up the negotiation process, so the deals get signed faster (and the money rolls in sooner).
