Last week's article outlined how Sales can work better with their Legal team. It’s only fair that we share how Legal can return the favor:
Empower Sales
One of the biggest taunts for Sales is that they are often at the mercy of Legal’s approval. If Sales does not understand what qualifies for approval, then it appears that Legal's assessment is entirely subjective - worsening the antagonism.
Legal can resolve the appearance of subjectivity by empowering Sales and making them less reliant on Legal. This is best achieved by:
Teaching Sales about contract risks (e.g. indemnifications and limitations of liability);
Equipping them with a Clause Library (so they can spot problematic clauses before submitting the contract for review); and
Creating approved templates for common contracts for Sales to use (e.g. NDAs).
When Sales understands Legal's work, they are more understanding of delays caused by necessary redlines.
Observe Commercial Reality
Much of Legal's work involves identifying, mitigating, and eliminating risk. However, many attorneys see technical legal nightmares in contracts where they ought to see commercial reality. This leads to redlines on even the most benign contract clauses, unnecessarily slowing the contracting process.
To improve this, Legal should carefully consider the impact, likelihood, and velocity of each contract risk. If the combination of these elements is low, then Legal should consider foregoing unnecessary redlines.
Want a Legal team that works with your Sales, Marketing, and Procurement teams to quickly secure best-in-class Sales and Vendor Contracts? Contact Out-House Attorneys to learn more about our Contract Overflow Support service.
The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. Instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. This website contains links to other third-party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser.
Comments