A large contract renegotiation…
It was a crisp, cold and bright morning in London, the usual congestion meant traffic was bumper to bumper outside as I waited for Neil to arrive on his train.
It was an important meeting for us, and was being held on the 8th floor of one of those modern glass & steel skyscrapers used by numerous multinational businesses both here and around the world, these (customers) can be the kind that eat suppliers for breakfast given the chance, only this day was going to be different.
I’d secured Neil for the morning, a rare achievement, and as I waited on that chilly railway platform, I was feeling quite smug that the promise of a lunch at a new Japanese restaurant I’d discovered had been enough to secure a valuable slot in his diary, especially as at the time he had been up to his eyes in numerous complex Contract negotiations.
What happened next became a familiar sight over the years where our Contract renewal negotiations with customers were concerned. This particular renewal involved a charming but fierce young Lawyer intent on extracting every concession he could from our meeting in return for a contract extension. The usual battle lines were drawn around Payment terms, rebates, liabilities and Indemnities etc., all typified this type of meeting.
He didn’t know Neil, and he took his charming, gentle, patient polite and professional approach as a weakness, that was his first mistake, and one from which the poor guy did not recover.
As was usual, Neil would give ground on some points key to the relationship and important to the customer, but fiercely defend resolutely others which could place the Company at a Financial or Legal disadvantage. Always looking for common ground.
This Customer’s Lawyer quickly warmed to Neil and his inclusive yet steadfast approach to the discussion. The two of them went on to have a warm relationship from that point on, and the contract remains with the Company to this very day.
The Japanese meal?
At lunch time the restaurant resembled a busy market and was popular with the local Japanese community, on this occasion Neil played it safe, mainly as he didn’t know what he was ordering, and went for the set meal, or so he thought, it turned out he’d ordered enough for 4 people, and especially memorable was the first course, a Soup of some description, served in what can only be described as a 5 litre cauldron!! to his credit he tried valiantly to finish it as he did not want to offend his hosts…