When negotiating technology transactions, such as software licenses, cloud transactions and outsourcing deals, as well as any other type of contract, negotiators will obtain better results with careful preparation and by following a thoughtful script.

In our practice, we see negotiators making small but important mistakes on a daily basis. This article describes several of the most common mistakes.

Independent Negotiations

In our previous article (Daily Report, Dec. 29, 2014), we described how a buyer can use a multivendor RFP process to obtain better terms and conditions. Since the RFP process enhances your leverage and threatens providers, particularly incumbents, they will often attempt to short-circuit the process by directly appealing to their champions within the company. Such maneuvering is often particularly intense where an incumbent provider believes it is at risk of losing an account.