How many times does the legal process suck the life out of your deal?
Legals are meant to support and work with sales, marketing and procurement. Too often, we hear that legals are more of a barrier to doing business – they sabotage sales.
Back in 2011 the Office for Fair Trading (a UK government body helping improve consumer transactions) produced Guidance for Consumer Contracts that recommended companies should avoid surprising users with terms that are easy to miss or misunderstand.
Whilst aimed at consumers ie people not buying in the course of a business, this guidance is good advice for those who want to create simpler, more balanced deals.
From that guidance, I have created a checklist for creating deals which both buyer and seller can love and celebrate. You should consider:
- Do any of the terms make the deal significantly less attractive?
- Do any of the (hidden or extra) charges significantly increase the price of the deal?
- Are the main elements of the deal clear – or is there room for ambiguity?
- Do the main terms cover the key issues that the buyers and sellers care about?
- Can the buyers and sellers can easily understand what the terms mean?
- Whether buyers have enough time to accurately interpret the terms?
What should you do?
Instead of hoping the legals will sort themselves out, be brave and bold. Deal with them head-on and early-on in the sales process. Ask everyone in your organisation to review this checklist so you know precisely which elements or terms work across all relevant teams.
Don’t put it off because your teams should have tools that help them love and celebrate doing deals.
With thanks to an audience member for their anonymous feedback after my keynote which included the phrase ‘love and celebrate deals’. There was also one about your contracts smelling like you which you could adopt if your organisation is all about smells!
