This post is made by Alison Moss, Devant's new Commercial Contracts Advisor. We are delighted to welcome Alison to the team, and look forward to many future posts from her! - Tiffany
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I wish I had £1 for every Sales Manager, Commercial Manager or FD I’ve spoken to recently who’s said to me “I didn’t know that!” It would have bought me at least a few bottles of good wine over Christmas.
One of the many realisations I had when I joined Devant was the true limitation of most business people’s knowledge of commercial contracts. I’m speaking now as a sales manager who reviewed and negotiated on commercial contracts as a fundamental part of my job. I generally dealt with the commercial issues and consulted the retained solicitor about the legal stuff. It was the set standard procedure, but at huge cost to the company!
As business managers most of us have to deal with commercial contracts and they are frequently seen as a sales prevention tool. Because we have some understanding of the clauses and terms, we assume we can simply rely on the solicitor to spot any legal nasties. But what an opportunity we are missing.
- We could save money in the form of legal fees if we weren’t totally reliant on a solicitor.
- We could save time, and therefore money, by empowering our sales teams so that they aren’t totally reliant on us.
- We can change the focus of negotiations using contract terms and hence improve the power balance with customers or suppliers.
- We could give ourselves and our teams better credibility and confidence by truly understanding what the implications of a contract are.
- We could negotiate more commercially relevant contracts.
- We could do all this by gaining a better understanding of commercial contracts.
I have attended the Devant Commercial Contract Workshops and watched ‘the light bulb go on’ with business managers as well as experiencing it myself.
My one regret? That I didn’t have the benefit of these courses when I was a sales manager.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Is Negotiation the New Kung-Fu?
As a young Engineering student I relished rock climbing and riding fast motorbikes and considered myself pretty robust. But when I briefly acquired a love-lorn stalker (!), I decided to add self-defence to my skillset.
I began learning Kung Fu and practiced my stance, punches, blocks and nifty moves. Doubtless, had I studied and trained hard for many years I would have been well equipped to counter any real-life adversary. But going to one class a week and practising sporadically in between, the only opponent I was ever going to beat was the one who moved slowly and telegraphed their moves well in advance. I’d developed enough skill to deal with a limited set of scenarios, but in a real-life situation I knew that my theoretical expertise would evaporate, and my best defence would be to run away!
So where does negotiation come in? Well it strikes me that much negotiation training available these days appeals to the King Fu student in all of us. It suggests that, with a day or two of training, we can learn new techniques that will render us invincible at the negotiating table. In reality, when we first encounter a client who doesn't "follow the script", we find ourselves high and dry.
Should we forget training? Absolutely not! But we should consider learning events that are biased towards rapid skills transfer and practical application, and followed up with focussed feedback and encouragement. Either that, or learn to run away, very fast!
I began learning Kung Fu and practiced my stance, punches, blocks and nifty moves. Doubtless, had I studied and trained hard for many years I would have been well equipped to counter any real-life adversary. But going to one class a week and practising sporadically in between, the only opponent I was ever going to beat was the one who moved slowly and telegraphed their moves well in advance. I’d developed enough skill to deal with a limited set of scenarios, but in a real-life situation I knew that my theoretical expertise would evaporate, and my best defence would be to run away!
So where does negotiation come in? Well it strikes me that much negotiation training available these days appeals to the King Fu student in all of us. It suggests that, with a day or two of training, we can learn new techniques that will render us invincible at the negotiating table. In reality, when we first encounter a client who doesn't "follow the script", we find ourselves high and dry.
Should we forget training? Absolutely not! But we should consider learning events that are biased towards rapid skills transfer and practical application, and followed up with focussed feedback and encouragement. Either that, or learn to run away, very fast!
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
A More Prosperous New Year!
Welcome back to all of you who've taken a Christmas and/or New Year break, and I wish you a very happy and successful 2007!
Have you made any New Year's resolutions? I suspect that, in addition to getting fitter (this is the year that gym membership will REALLY earn it's keep!) many of you will have made New Year's resolutions that relate to being financially better off, and making your business more profitable.
To help you achieve the last two, I'd like to share with you a negotiating tactic used to great effect by my five year old daughter.
Yesterday we had a New Year's Party, and invited friends and relatives to join us for a celebration. It was also an opportunity to get some help eating all of the chocolate that we and the children had been given for Christmas! Young Evie kept making forays into the pile of chocolates in the centre of the table, each time our backs were turned. After my husband had told her "No more!!", she disappeared for five minutes and then returned.
"Please can I have three more chocolate shells?"
"Three!! No way!"
"Alright, can I just have two then?"
"No."
"But I've been very good..."
"OK, just one last shell..."
I don't suppose she ever expected to get more than one more chocolate, but if she'd have asked for one in the first place, my husband would certainly have sent her off empty handed!
In the world of business, asking for three times what you hope to get is not likely to boost your credibility (a concern not shared by the average chocoholic five year old!). But on the next proposal you put together, work out your price and then add an extra 10%. That 10% may well go unchallenged, in which case that's an extra chunk of pure profit you've added to the bottom line. And if you do end up negotiating - well, with a better starting point, your finishing point should be similarly improved.
Have you made any New Year's resolutions? I suspect that, in addition to getting fitter (this is the year that gym membership will REALLY earn it's keep!) many of you will have made New Year's resolutions that relate to being financially better off, and making your business more profitable.
To help you achieve the last two, I'd like to share with you a negotiating tactic used to great effect by my five year old daughter.
Yesterday we had a New Year's Party, and invited friends and relatives to join us for a celebration. It was also an opportunity to get some help eating all of the chocolate that we and the children had been given for Christmas! Young Evie kept making forays into the pile of chocolates in the centre of the table, each time our backs were turned. After my husband had told her "No more!!", she disappeared for five minutes and then returned.
"Please can I have three more chocolate shells?"
"Three!! No way!"
"Alright, can I just have two then?"
"No."
"But I've been very good..."
"OK, just one last shell..."
I don't suppose she ever expected to get more than one more chocolate, but if she'd have asked for one in the first place, my husband would certainly have sent her off empty handed!
In the world of business, asking for three times what you hope to get is not likely to boost your credibility (a concern not shared by the average chocoholic five year old!). But on the next proposal you put together, work out your price and then add an extra 10%. That 10% may well go unchallenged, in which case that's an extra chunk of pure profit you've added to the bottom line. And if you do end up negotiating - well, with a better starting point, your finishing point should be similarly improved.
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