This course is aimed at business leaders, company directors, and those heading sales, commercial and delivery functions.

Overview

The vast majority of commercial negotiation (outside large corporates) is conducted not by lawyers, but by business people. That means people like you – business owners, company directors, sales managers and even project managers.

Whether we look at high-value new contracts or lower-value contract changes, the real relationship building, deal structuring and boundary setting is in the hands of business people who have had little or no formal training in contract law.

Does this matter?

Most deals progress relatively smoothly, with problems being ironed out amicably between the parties. But many others suffer hiccups and challenges where the cost of putting things right usually sits with the supplier – regardless of whether they are at fault or not. Relatively few get to court, but on the spectrum between ‘complete success’ and ‘total failure’, enough deals fall into the ‘not as profitable as it should have been’ sector to make it worth paying some attention to the reasons problems arise, and what we can do to prevent them.

In this highly interactive, challenging and entertaining session, Tiffany will encourage you to explore some of the contractual ‘profit munchers’ that affect your business. Focussing on the nuts and bolts issues that eat your margin and expose you to risk of dispute (and, in the worst case, uninsured litigation), she will share some ‘quick wins’ and golden rules to help your business hold onto its profit and stay out of court.

Session content

1. What really matters?
   • Anatomy of a good deal
   • How do you measure success?
   • The contract as weapon, door stop or ‘user guide for the commercial relationship’

2. Where did it all go wrong?

1. • Insights into recent ‘big failures’ – diamonds, gas and media
   • Common sources of deal failure
   • What lawyers don’t tell you about insurance

3. The cost of poor contracting

1. • The invisible value leakage that eats your profits
   • How much more could your business be worth?

4. How can you keep your profit and safeguard your business while making sure your clients still ‘feel the love’?

1. • Using the contract to create great deals
   • Five key contract secrets to protect your business

Outcomes:

At the end of this workshop, you will:

• Never look at a contract the same way again!
• Use the contract negotiation process as an opportunity to build strong and profitable relationships with your clients and suppliers
• Spot ‘profit munchers’ and contract risks early in the negotiation process, and take constructive steps to address them
• Take a good look at your existing contracts and insurance policies, to identify potential risk areas and plan how to avoid potential disaster
• Improve your ‘profit delivered’ from each deal, while increasing your clients’ perception of the value and professionalism offered by your company!

Format and duration

This session is best delivered in-person in an interactive round-table session (either boardroom or cabaret style) with up to fifteen delegates. Remote training can be arranged of course.

Tiffany uses a combination of high-level slides (to provide the framework), small group exercises and whole group discussion to ensure that all delegates are fully engaged. The structure of this session ensures that all delegates benefit from the considerable experience and expertise of their peers, while Tiffany challenges them to push their thinking further and explore new ways of empowering their business to function at a higher level.

This event can be scaled to take place over 3hrs or a full day, depending on the requirements of the group.