MY QUICK TAKE

Just because it's a smaller contract risk or value does not automatically mean there will be no concessions. For both vendors and customers, successfully navigating small-deal negotiations depends on how you ask.

CONTRACT LESSON

Watch the 12-minute video and read the strategy to review an AI-generated incident response clause. We originally shared this lesson back in mid-June.

Read the strategy and watch the video →

FREE CONTRACT TRAINING

Register to an upcoming webinar by clicking the link below. We will be adding more webinars for August so stay tuned this week for updates!

You can also sign up for our automatic sign-up option that automatically registers you for every webinar, giving you two weeks to watch the replay.

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OUR SPONSOR

Our sponsor, Spellbook, is offering the contracts community 10% off your first year's subscription if you attend a Spellbook-sponsored webinar or fill out this form. 

That includes access to Autonomous Contract Management (ACM), the first AI system that powers contracts end-to-end. 

From the moment a deal lands in your inbox to the day it renews years later, ACM supports every step by doing real, routine work for you. 

Intake & Triage: When you sit down in the morning, ACM has already pulled in new deals, triaged your contract queue, and applied redlines against your standards. 

Continuous Sync: During negotiation, ACM works in the background to sync emails and versions of every agreement so your latest draft and deal context are accessible in a single spot. 

Repository: After signature, ACM stores agreements and makes them searchable for future questions, renewals, and risk review.

Claim your 10% discount here. 

Learn more about ACM here.

MEME OF THE WEEK

Reminding teams of this consequence is my favorite way to get potential renegades back in line. It also is why Legal should be training on the signature policy requirements.

#TheContractStruggleIsReal

CONTRACT TIPS

This contract tip is about why letting the other side win can make you a better negotiator.

It is easy to make a negotiation about proving your own drafting skill. Early in my career, I wanted to show off, correct every point, and demonstrate my negotiating prowess.

But that mindset made it harder to get the best deal for my client, because it made the negotiation about me feeling smug about my superiority rather than working together to arrive at terms.

Conceding smaller points quickly and respectfully, letting the other side show off their skills to their team, and using their language in my edits instead of my own often builds a better outcome than treating every issue like a fight.

Now I try to make it about all of us, not just me.

How do you approach this in your own negotiations?

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