• Member Dashboard
  • Courses
  • E-Books
  • Consultations
  • Templates
  • Webinars
  • Ask a Question
  • Forums
  • Member Support
  • Login

Legal to English

Protect Your Business for Growth

  • About
  • Guides to Help You Better Understand Legal
    • Guide to Intellectual Property
    • Guide to Understanding Contracts
  • Podcast
You are here: Home / Articles / Contracts / Is Your Contract the Cork in Your Sales Funnel?

Is Your Contract the Cork in Your Sales Funnel?

It’s a common problem. You build a relationship. You convince the prospect. You close the sale.

But, the contract kills the deal.

It doesn’t matter whether you wrote your own contract, used a form you bought online, or paid a lawyer to draft your contract. If it doesn’t work with your sales process, it can be more harm than help. It doesn’t matter if your contract protects you from every possible liability if no one will sign it.

Sales people have it hard. You have to convince people to put their faith in not only you, but also your company. You have to convince prospects that your product or service will improve their life. You have to convince the prospect that your company is different than all of the others. You care about the client. You care about the work. You will take care of them.

But, your contract does not say all of that.

Why do we still have contracts that make a deal die?

Why does the legal team (or the owners) refuse to learn the sales process.

Why does the legal team (or the owners) refuse to learn what will help close a deal?

You spend all of your time focusing on the sales funnel. Your sales funnel is full. You have done your job.

But, the contract is the cork in your sales funnel.

Customers expect a contract. They sign contracts all the time. Most of them do not even read it. Unless, it is scary. Unless it is something that freaks them out.

Why do we make contracts scary?

Rarely, but still sometimes, you see contracts with fine print on legal sized paper. Most of the time this is reserved for buying a house, but there are still plenty of other businesses that try to make their contracts look “more legal” or “more official”. I will let you in on a little secret I learned in law school: There is no font requirement that makes a contract binding. The signature does that.

So, how do you fix it?

Take a minute and think about how your sales process works. Think about what your sales materials look like. Does your contract complement these materials? Or, does it stick out? Are there places you can use your legal to prepare the customer for the actual contract? Can you use legal throughout the process to soften the blow?

Now, take a minute to think about the questions you get during the sales process. Do you know what your contract says? Are you prepared to explain anything your customer has questions about? Do you say things during the sales process that are contradicted by your contract?

Your contract should be a part of the sales process. When you draft a contract, you need to think about (1) how your company sells its products; (3) how many touch points there are with the customer; (4) what promises the sales people are making; (5) how do you want your customers to think of you.

Contracts are inherently more formal than many other forms of writing. Contracts, by nature, must be more direct than sales people. They do this because contracts deal with the what-ifs and the contingencies if things do not go according to plan. Contracts do not, however, need to cork the sales funnel.

 Do you train your sales people on your company’s contracts?

Do you give your sales people a thorough understanding of why certain aspects of your contract are included?

Did you even consider your customers when you wrote your contract?

Traditionally, contracts are written to make sure the author is completely shielded from liability. But, is that who you really are as a business? It would be bad business to give away everything, but are you including provisions in your contract you regularly remove to close the deal? Do you have provisions in your contract that you wouldn’t even enforce if it came down to it because it wasn’t worth it?

Template contracts (the contracts you use again and again) should be drafted differently than negotiated contracts (contracts for a specific deal with specific parties). Template contracts need to be drafted with your customer in mind. They need to protect your business, but they need to work in many different circumstances. Everyone who touches the contract needs to know what it says and why it says it. Your sales people need to understand it so they do not contradict it.

But, if you really want to make your contract a part of the sales process:

Work on your contract when you work on your sales process. Bring in the sales people. Do not draft contracts in a vacuum. If you pay someone to do it, do not allow them to draft your contracts in a vacuum.

If something does’t work in your contracts, fix it. Make the changes when you discover the problem. If you change your sales process, make sure the contract works with it.

Create a process for your contracts. Create a system. Do not simply use a document you copy over and over again. This is the process in your business that can cause the most problems, but it is also the process most often ignored.

 

Do you have systems you use to make your contracts work in your sales process? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

 

Helping You Sleep at Night Knowing Your Business is Protected. Legally.

Even if you have been in business for years and everything has been fine. It can all change. Fast. And you could lose it all. If you don’t know how to protect yourself.

After working with entrepreneurs for years, I realized that many entrepreneurs have the same legal questions. And the same problems. Many entrepreneurs, though they understand that legal is an important part of protecting your business, just put it off. You always think you can do it later. Until there isn’t a later.

Want to know a better way to do legal?

Join Today for Free

Take the Conversation Further

Let's continue the conversation! Join me on Twitter or Facebook to join the conversation now!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Josh

I am a business lawyer who helps small business owners and entrepreneurs develop a clear legal plan to protect their business as it grows. I podcast, blog, and spend my time giving entrepreneurs a clear path to legal protection. Growing your business can only happen if you have a firm foundation.

If you want to know more about how to build a business while laying your legal foundation of protection, you are in the right place. Read More…

Looking for Something?

Free Membership

Are you plagued by legal questions? Do you want to know how to protect your money, but don't want to spend the time (or money) trying to find a lawyer to ask a simple question?

Are you tired of "It Depends"?
 
Learn more about getting clear answers in an "it depends" world. Discover a Better Way to Do Legal.
 
Join Today for Free

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Legal to English Podcast

Entrepreneur Interviews

8 episodes

Legal to English

52 episodes

Don’t Miss Anything

Free Legal. Right to Your Inbox

Free Legal. No Spam. Unsubscribe Anytime.

Check Out Some Other Articles

Legal to English Dictionary: Consideration

Legal Something (such as an act, a forbearance, or a return promise) bargained for and received by a promisor from a promisee; that which motivates a person to do something, esp. to engage in a legal act. Consideration, or a substitute such as promissory estoppel, is necessary for an agreement to be enforceable. English Consideration […]

Who Owns User Generated Content on Your Site?

User comments. Forum Posts. User questions. Uploaded audio files. Fan Art. Guest Posts. We all want them on our site. They are what drive the community. That type of user generated content is a huge leap in validation of your ideas or your product. The question is: who owns them? To understand that, let’s look […]

Copyright versus Trademark

I wanted to bring our conversation back to intellectual property this week and talk about how copyright and trademark, though they may have some similarities, differ. Whether you rely on copyright or trademark protection hinges on, initially, the definition of the two. So, let’s start with a definition of each: Copyright: The right to copy […]

Legal to English Dictionary: Ambiguity

Legal An uncertainty of meaning or intentions in contracts or statutes. English An ambiguous term is one that has two or more meanings. There cannot be ambiguous terms in a contract because there is no way to determine the intent of the term. Ambiguities are determined when the entire contract is read, but the meaning […]

Investment and How to Structure Ownership

We have covered a lot over the past several days. We have talked about Limited Liability, Compliance Programs, and the Different Types of Entities. Now, we are going to look at the starting of a company. Today, we will talk about investment and what it can look like in a startup. The two primary categories […]

  • Fees and Credits
  • Privacy Policy
  • User Agreement
  • FAQs
  • Terms of Use

© 2013-2016, The Outsourced Associate LLC, Some Rights Reserved

Privacy Policy

This website or its third-party tools use cookies which are necessary to its functioning and required to improve your experience. By clicking the consent button, you agree to allow the site to use, collect and/or store cookies.
Please click the consent button to view this website.
I accept
Deny cookies Go Back