Blaine Millet is a friend and social medial consultant to CEOs and executives. His company, WOM10’s tagline is "Word of Mouth on Steroids." Blaine and I had a discussion recently about professional services and value.
In a prior life Blaine worked for one of the Big Eight accounting firms. He once made a comprehensive project proposal to a mid-size business owner, and after he finished his presentation, the business owner responded, "Blaine, this sounds great, but what's the good enough price? I know you can help us, but we cannot afford this package. What can you do for us that's good enough, and how much will the good enough package cost?"
When it comes to drafting core business contracts any business attorney can draft an iron clad one sided contract that eliminates almost every risk the business may face from the transaction. In fact, this is what many business attorneys do. However, that kind of an approach to contract drafting, often times, does not work for the business owners the following reasons:
In a prior life Blaine worked for one of the Big Eight accounting firms. He once made a comprehensive project proposal to a mid-size business owner, and after he finished his presentation, the business owner responded, "Blaine, this sounds great, but what's the good enough price? I know you can help us, but we cannot afford this package. What can you do for us that's good enough, and how much will the good enough package cost?"
When it comes to drafting core business contracts any business attorney can draft an iron clad one sided contract that eliminates almost every risk the business may face from the transaction. In fact, this is what many business attorneys do. However, that kind of an approach to contract drafting, often times, does not work for the business owners the following reasons:
- It costs a ton to custom draft a one sided iron clad contract.
- The other side probably won't sign a one sided iron clad contract because it unfairly allocates risk to them.
- A one sided iron clad contact slows down the sales cycle and increases the costs of the transaction for both sides because one side will lawyer up; and then both companies are forced to incur costly legal fees to negotiate contract terms and conditions, and oh by the way, they don’t like paying legal fees.
- A harsh pre-nuptial agreement is no way to start a relationship; an overly drafted one sided contract erodes trust at the start of what should be a mutually rewarding win-win relationship for both parties.
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