5 Simple Ways to Save Money & Headaches with Vendor Contracts

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Here's a breakdown of the first simple save. Before you negotiate your next vendor deal, ask yourself one question: do we already have this?

Contracts  can be complicated. Evolving AI terms. Evolving regulations. Evolving  cybersecurity requirements. Evolving… you see the pattern. There are  still simple ways to save money and headaches with vendor contracts  (service and product providers).

Here’s one simple save: don’t double up on vendors. Meaning don’t:

▪️ Sign multiple contracts with a vendor; or

▪️  Add a new vendor and new costs for services or products that a current  vendor provides (likely at a discount for existing customers). At least  not without evaluating both vendors.

Sounds  obvious, but it happens. Two teams sign two contracts with the same  vendor or buy a new service already available under an existing  contract. With fast-growing businesses it’s not always easy to slow down  to spot the obvious.

Have you ever  purchased a shirt you thought looked great, put it in your closet and  realized you liked it because you already had an identical one?

Maybe that’s just me, but it’s why I didn’t roll my eyes every time I received emails like this as an in-house lawyer:

▶️  Them: We need to get this vendor contract done asap. We’ve spent the  last few weeks negotiating pricing terms and they’re only going to hold  this pricing open until the end of the month.

▶️ Me: Finance already has a contract with this vendor. Under those terms you can add this service at a discounted price.

▶️ Them: ...

And  sometimes it’s not obvious. If you’ve been through an acquisition or  merger, untangling the web of merged business tools and vendors is not a  quick or easy process.

When you have a  pain point and find a vendor that seems to have the perfect solution, don’t get tunnel vision. Take a short pause to look at your existing  resources.

Using an existing vendor allows:

▪️ Leverage for better pricing and contract terms

▪️ Shorter evaluation and negotiation cycle

▪️ Less integration work

▪️  Less employee resistance. If you’re introducing something new that  requires employees to adjust their day-to-day activities, like  introducing AI tools, you’re going to have some level of employee  resistance. Resistance may stem from concerns about job stability or  exhaustion from having to add one more thing to a full plate. Adding  products or services with an existing vendor may psychologically feel  like less of an organizational change and a lighter lift.

A quick pause to check your existing vendors can save you time, money and stress. If your contracts need a broader review, our Commercial Contracts service can help you build a stronger process. For recurring agreements, we also help companies build reusable legal frameworks and templates.