Anyone got any idea what the contract says? Anyone?

Posted by / September 24th, 2014 / 1 Response

Have you ever stopped to consider why large businesses insist on trading on their own standard terms and conditions? (known as “t’s and c’s” to those in the know). The short answer is because a well-drafted, fit for purpose contractual agreement which protects the business is an absolute necessity, to legally protect the organisation against a whole range of undesirable outcomes and disputes.

When you are entering into a contract with a big company, it’s often presented as non-negotiable that their t’s and c’s should apply. If you want to do the deal, you sign up and away you go – hoping for the best. We have worked with a lot of clients who have ended up in totally unsuitable contractual situations, and they hold their hands up and say “we didn’t look at the contract properly – we were told we had to sign it, and we did.”

In our experience, “if you don’t ask – you don’t get.” It may feel difficult and painful to attempt to re-negotiate but in the majority of cases, the big company will actually listen to requests for amendments and if it is reasonable and makes sense in the context of the deal to be done, it can be agreed. Alternatively, if your requests for change are not met favourably – at least you can enter in the contract with open eyes and make the necessary changes or risk mitigation steps within the business to monitor and manage the risks associated.

After a contract has been signed, it’s not too late to take steps to manage the risk. Don’t just put the contract on the shelf and let it gather dust. Understanding what you have committed to and the implications allows you to put in place effective processes to ensure that you don’t get hit by financial penalties or nasty termination rights.

Make sure your own house is in order by having a robust set of t’s and c’s to govern your core areas of business. It helps all parties to clearly understand duties, rights, role, responsibilities and effectively acts as a manual for your operational trading and gives clarity on what should happen in any given situation.

Makes perfect sense, right? And honestly it’s not as hard as it sounds…

We offer a wide range of services to help with getting the t’s and c’s right for your business:

– Pre-contract review of a proposed contract, providing thorough feedback on areas of risk and summarising the obligations you will be committing to (and recommendations for risk mitigation). We can also support negotiation of the contract, as bringing in external advisors for the negotiation phase helps to keep the ongoing operational relationships healthy.

– Review of important key contracts already in place throughout a business, to produce contractual summaries and compliance trackers (which will enable the business to assess how well it is complying with its obligations). We train the teams on how to manage those contract correctly and identify areas where improvements can be made in future deals.

– Review of your business’ existing standard terms and conditions, to advise whether they are fit for purpose and to ascertain how well they are looking after your business.

– Production of a new set of Ts and Cs for a business which does not have a tailored version specific to its business needs. A robust set of t’s and c’s can be used time and time again, and protect your interests in the event of the unexpected.