I talk a lot about the Sales-Contracting Process (SCP).

Sales is the process of getting a customer from a state of indifference to wanting to buy.

SCP is the process of getting the customer from wanting to buy to signing the contract (whether electronically or by ticking a box). Most companies don’t think about SCP, and as a result:

• the business is probably carrying higher costs of sale than it should.

• the period from customer decision to buy, to signed contract is longer than it should be, and as a result both time to money and customer friction are increased.

• you are probably suffering margin leakage by either not having the right clauses in your contracts or by not having a process to apply the clauses you do have.

My SCP service is not just about the terms of the SaaS contract (though it’s that too). It’s about getting your business’ SCP to a position where:

• it is as friction-free as possible.

• the time from contract signature to cash in the bank is reduced to a minimum.

• your contracts give the business the protection it needs, and ensure that your margins remain protected over time.

• there is a clear segmentation between those customers whose spend is large enough to justify human intervention and the other customers.

• for big-ticket customers, the relevant sales people have the tools and training to close the contract with the minimum time and effort.

The service comes in two parts.

• Part 1 - Diagnose. Review the current SCP of the business, and create a short report on what’s working, what’s not working, where the real problems are, and what can be done to fix things.

• Part 2 - Fix. Implement the recommendations of the report, and fix the problems. This usually includes creating new contract templates.

• I am a specialist SaaS lawyer. The bulk of my customers are SaaS companies (operating across a range of sectors, from fintech to proptech to all sorts of tech).

• I’ve got a process-mentality. The end result is a process (including the legal documentation and other tools) which intelligently, and appropriately, distinguishes between no-touch contracts, low-touch contracts, and high-touch contracts.

• I have negotiated contracts with some of the toughest negotiators in the world: Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Investec, Prudential, Blackstone, BAE Systems, Unisys, GenPac, Microsoft, Mambu, Marqeta. I also know the most efficient way to get around difficult procurement departments.

• I’m a sales-side lawyer. I have primarily worked sales-side, and have a reputation for getting contracts over the line with a minimum of time and friction.

• I have advised on, and implemented, sales-contracting processes with clients in many sectors, including retail technology, financial services, and payroll.

• I have a deep background in IPR, data and related legal issues. I publish in professional legal journals in those areas.

Do Nothing. Always an option, but it doesn’t move the problem forward.

DIY. Always an option too, but it’s unlikely that you have the right skillset in house.

Use an external. If you can find an external lawyer with the right expertise and the right mindset, then this is a viable option. The trouble is, it’s really hard to find the right people for this kind of work (see next).

Part 1 - fixed price, based on scope and the nature of the business.

Part 2 - fixed price, based on scope and the desired outcome (i.e. the output of the diagnostic stage). You don’t have to use me to carry out the Fix (i.e. you could use internal resources, or other external resources to follow the recommendations in the diagnostic report).

I estimate that poor SCP costs companies 0.5% of their revenues. Fixing ROI means that those revenues drop straight to the bottom line. So, unless your company is very small, ROI will be through the roof.