Negotiations Skills Training
With
over twenty-five years of proven industry experience, the
Negotiations
Training Institute of America is the recognized leader in
negotiations training, consulting and performance coaching. Through public open
enrollment seminars and private on-session training sessions, we
have helped leading corporations, non-profit organizations and governmental
agencies improve their ability to
negotiate
better outcomes for their constituencies.
First-time
negotiators as well as those with the greatest
competitive
drive and amount of first-hand experience and
negotiations
wisdom can benefit from our time-tested workshops. Whether focusing
on
negotiating
a contract with a vendor or jumping in to the often-stressful
car buying process to
deal
with a dealership, our courses provide useful skills, proven techniques
and various classroom role plays to help you
become
more aware of negotiations that you must face on a daily basis.
For more information on our negotiation skills training courses please
contact us.
Article Name
Negotiations
Training
Agreements
and Technology:
Tips for Negotiating
Technology Agreements
Every organization
must
deal
with technology in a variety of different fronts. Sales departments
are relying increasingly on Customer Resource Management applications
by vendors like Seibel or Salesforce.com. IT departments are utilizing
a whole spectrum of tools and applications to manage networks, databases,
servers and all the other "guts" that
keep
a business running smoothly. The size of the company is irrelevant.
Save for a handful of holdouts who dislike automation and technology,
organizations need to ensure that
relations
with technology vendors and suppliers are handled intelligently.
Since technology
has such a great deal of influence, those who negotiate with technology
departments, regardless of whether a contract is for hardware, software,
or services, need to
handle
agreements differently than other vendor relationships. Techonology
agreements have their own nuances and potential pitfalls. Listed
below are seven tips that every contracts and purchasing department
should know and utilize
whenever
negotiating with a technology vendor.
Seven Rules
for Technology Agreements:
Rule #1 -
Establish Service Level Agreements - Regardless of what form
SLAs may take (this is something you will need to determine), every
technology agreement needs to have some sort of Service Level Agreements
established. SLAs may relate to
product
performance, uptime, response time or a whole host of other
factors.
Rule #2 -
Beware Maintenance Fees - Some software companies are well known
for providing cut-rate prices on software but then charging exorbitant
maintenance fees. When
negotiating
an agreement, understand how much maintenance fees will cost,
what they will cover and how long you must pay them. Also, determine
the implications of canceling maintenance.
Rule #3 -
Check IP Rights -
The
vendor should be liable and assume responsibility of all intellectual
property. Many will also require that the rights for any products
developed for your company (in the case of a development project)
will belong to the vendor. Determine your company's stance on IP
rights as many vendors consider this
a deal-breaker... rightfully so.
Rule #4 -
Establish a Scope - If you're dealing with service engagements
or installation projects, have a
clear
and well-defined scope. This should include exactly what is
(and is not) included, the cost, the delivery dates, the resources
involved, assumptions and other
relevant
factors. Ensure that the vendor has a project manager or other
main contact assigned to any project, as well.
Rule #5 -
Look for Warranties - The last thing you want to do is deploy
a product that is faulty and is without a warranty. Look for agreements
that include warranties on any products or services.
Rule #6 -
Beware "Limitations of Liability" - This is one of
those clauses where a vendor is often trying to protect themselves
in case their product fails and leads to a catastrophe or their
service engagement is a fiasco. Imagine what would happen if a faulty
product brought down an online brokerage firm's network for an hour
during the trading day. With a limitation of liability, the vendor
is protected while the firm suffers.
Look
for these clauses as they
protect
vendors, not customers.
Rule #7 -
Beware the Renegotiation - Some vendors will say just about
anything to get your business but will then come to you looking
to
renegotiate
an agreement. This usually takes place either when they realize
the error of their ways or want to squeeze more money out of a deal.
Beware
the
sales reps who comes knocking looking for a renegotiated agreement.
For Negotiation
Skills Seminar information please
contact
us.
Related:
Negotiation Course
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