KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ****************************** Combining contract with proposal – is it a good idea September 2, 2024 *********************** Combining contract with proposal – is it a good idea ************************ Ken We want to get your input on something. We are changing CRM’s and we will now be able to generate a proposal in the new system and then send it electronically for acceptance by the customer. We wanted to incorporate the Contract as part of the proposal and see if this is something that you would agree with or see what feedback or changes you would offer. Andrew ************************ Response ************************ You’re the businessman and can fashion your marketing and sales procedures as you wish; whatever seems to work for you. Different business models will certainly lend itself to different ways of marketing and sales. For example, if you’re going door to door you are likely to have your contracts ready to fill out and sign right then and there during the sales pitch. It seems you are sending proposals, likely after you’ve been to the premises to survey and assess the customer needs. In my view, if you are sending a proposal you don’t want to include the contract. The proposal usually explains the systems, has the material specifications for the job and pricing; perhaps a payment plan. The proposal will not [read that as should not] have all the “scary” contract provisions that are found, by necessity, in the Standard Alarm Contracts. It’s not time to present those issues to the customer because the customer has not yet approved you, your systems or your prices and bunch of other issues that might be found in the proposal like scheduling, etc. I’ve counseled often, the proposal should not require the signature of the customer unless the proposal terminology makes it clear that the proposal is not a contract and a formal agreement has to be signed, which raise concerns by the customer about what’s to come. The proposal should be a marketing and sales tool and lay out the systems, the job and pricing. It should call for the customer to acknowledge acceptance “of the proposal and request a contract’. Be careful that your proposal is not interpreted or found to be “the contract”, which can easily end up that way if it has all the essential terms of the “bargain” and has both your and customer’s signature. Once the proposal is approved, by phone or any other way, then you can send the contract. If you can anticipate changes, challenges, and you are willing to entertain those changes. Some of you have business model where you won’t make any changes, and that’s OK, but larger, custom, jobs typically get some scrutiny by customer, security director, contract manager or attorney and they have modification requests. The K&K Concierge Program includes a free half hour each month for contract review and negotiations, and most customer challenges, even those by attorneys, can be managed within that half hour. If you anticipate changes send the customer the contract in WORD so it can be redlined. You should explain to the customer that a great deal of time can be saved if their attorney contacts you attorney to iron out issues before the customer’s attorney invests time ripping apart every sentence of your contract [sometimes just to show how smart they are or how valuable they are to their client and justifying their fee]. Your objective is to get the job and not jeopardize your entire business by doing so; that’s what the contracts are designed to protect against. So the procedure I recommend is send the proposal; once approved in some fashion then send or go get the contract signed. If challenges are made and you need counsel on those challenges [some you won’t, such as length of term of contract – you don’t need me to approve one year as opposed to five] the best practice is to provide the customer’s counsel with a WORD draft of the contract, ask them to contact me or get their approval for me to contact them [be sure to get me name, phone and email], send me the WORD contract along with any challenges you may have received. I’ll handle the rest of the process and hopefully, with my 99% success track record, send you the final approved contract draft for you to finalize and get signed. Join the Concierge Program now to save a bundle on the contract negotiation assistance services. ****************************** K&K Holiday Party - Save the date: December 12, 2024 ******************** STANDARD FORMS Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ******************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily ************************* Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth ****************************** Getting on our Email List / Email Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. You can read articles and order alarm contracts on our web site www.alarmcontracts.com ************************** Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
