Streamlining Sales Negotiations for Start-ups Simon Hodgett Salim - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Streamlining Sales Negotiations for Start-ups Simon Hodgett Salim Dharssi October 2019

STREAMLINING SALES NEGOTIATIONS FOR START-UPS The innovator’s journey Scaling Revenue Initiation Foundations Standardization 2

Preparing to sell

STREAMLINING SALES NEGOTIATIONS FOR START-UPS - PREPARATION Know your customer Enterprise The industry or small to Manage sector will Avoid a battle medium-sized timing impact of the forms business expectations contracting (SMB)? 4

STREAMLINING SALES NEGOTIATIONS FOR START-UPS - PREPARATION Customer agreements can be selling tools Quality Standardize the agreement used to sell your products and services Choose an approach: Balance vs. company friendly 5

STREAMLINING SALES NEGOTIATIONS FOR START-UPS - PREPARATION Developing your standard form agreement Give some Decide on structure Tailor to the thought to Involve all suitable for customer and product and whether you stakeholders industry service will be selling across borders 6

The sales process

STREAMLINING SALES NEGOTIATIONS FOR START-UPS – THE SALES PROCESS Document your contract negotiation process Train all A documented Identify all stakeholders Identify and 1 2 3 4 process will stakeholders on the empower a streamline and give them process and “quarterback" negotiations responsibility give written instructions 8

STREAMLINING SALES NEGOTIATIONS FOR START-UPS – THE SALES PROCESS 9

STREAMLINING SALES NEGOTIATIONS FOR START-UPS – THE SALES PROCESS Evaluate and balance risk THE SELLING MINDSET Not reaching There are an agreement critical issues in a reasonable you shouldn’t time is also give on a risk 10

STREAMLINING SALES NEGOTIATIONS FOR START-UPS – THE SALES PROCESS Doing the homework Provide lead time (above) is important Working with your legal team Should set reasonably high Identify and discuss expectation that the legal turnaround time team will be responsive to expectations sales support requests 11

STREAMLINING SALES NEGOTIATIONS FOR START-UPS – THE SALES PROCESS Playbooks and acceptable variations Create and maintain At a minimum, Allows companies to scale standard responses and Approval have a quickly and expedite the acceptable variations to grids feedback conclusion of agreements contractual provisions mechanism 12

NDAs

STREAMLINING SALES NEGOTIATIONS FOR START-UPS Non-disclosure agreements and confidential information Should not necessarily Very difficult be used in all situations – to enforce avoid getting tainted Adopt and use Read other parties’ NDAs a standard form and be sensitive to of NDA non-standard terms 14

Thank you! Questions?