When you are negotiating a contract, there will be guidelines that determine the work to be completed and the timeline to be followed. These guidelines often do not go into a lot of detail on how the work is to be accomplished. Go beyond the Request for Proposal (RFP) and deliver more than they bargained for to gain a great business relationship and a solid client base. The RFP is generally the first step in obtaining the business and an additional contract will be negotiated for the actual delivery of the product or service. When negotiating, you will need to make sure that you can deliver exactly what is promised and that you are not over extending yourself. On the other hand you need to make sure that you are not under promising so that you can over deliver.

Use your common sense to determine what is feasible and what is not. If you say you can do more for the same money then make sure it is in the contract. This way the competition is not likely to gain ground on you. Remember it is in the execution of the contract where the business relationship is made or broken. If you can do more for the same money, say so. The customer will be extremely pleased with their choice.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D., has spent 25 years in various technical and business leadership roles. Dr. Daoust brings to the table a successful executive career combining many years working with government, non-profit and for profit organizations in a broad variety of industries. Her positions have included executive, financial, marketing, sales, and service management. She has worked with such companies as Peet?s Coffee & Tea, Mobile BIS, Cisco, Accenture and Avaya in the field of knowledge management.