Short answer: saying “no” well is a core software-negotiation skill. The move is William Ury’s “Yes, No, Yes”: name the interest behind your no, deliver the no clearly, then hand the other side a path to yes. This is fundamental in any software negotiation, and something you have to master.
Short answer: do not let your RFP response get pulled into the contract. It was written as marketing, it is full of puffery, and embedding it creates both litigation risk and revenue-recognition problems. The simple answer is no, do not do it. Let me explain. Background. Many customers are counseled
Short answer: the Harvard Program on Negotiation is the best available resource for software contract negotiation training, because it teaches a principled, collaborative methodology that fits the long-term, relationship-driven nature of software and SaaS deals. Send yourself, your head of sales, or your CFO. There are many negotiation training programs
Short answer: the skills an FBI hostage negotiator uses, showing interest, building rapport, then influencing, work in software customer deals too. People buy from people they like, and pushing harder only buys you more resistance. I read an interesting negotiations book and pulled a few takeaways for software and SaaS
A Software Lawyer’s Take on Forrester’s Software Licensee Bill of Rights. Short answer: Forrester’s “Software Licensee Bill of Rights” is a buyer wish list, and several items collide with a vendor’s legitimate right to set its own pricing and licensing model. Know your stance on each one, because these arguments
Short answer: when a customer insists you sign their form agreement (their “paper”), do not just say yes to close faster. Negotiate it, remember their changes affect your price and your timeline, and aim for paper that limits your risk, stays administratively workable, and still matches your model so you
Short answer: the most important move in a software or SaaS negotiation is to educate the buyer about your model. They are buying something intangible, so if you do not explain how it works and how it is priced, they overestimate the risk and hand you terms you cannot sign.
Short answer: respect costs nothing and closes deals. The person across the table is taking a career risk by choosing you, so treating them like a person rather than a checkbox is one of the cheapest advantages in any software negotiation. Here is something that costs nothing but really helps
If you negotiate software or SaaS deals, two books will do more for you than any “closing tactic” ever will: Getting to Yes and Difficult Conversations. Both come out of the Harvard Program on Negotiation, and both work on real deals, not just in theory. One of the most important
Short answer: most software companies need more than one law firm, but far fewer big-firm hours than they think. The right structure is usually a specialist for each major area (commercial and SaaS contracts, IP, employment, litigation, and corporate) instead of one general firm that bills everything at a single
Short answer: SaaS customers walk into a deal expecting clear answers on five things — data ownership and exit, security, uptime, price predictability, and liability. If your paper and your sales team address those before the customer asks, you build trust and close faster. SaaS customer expectations are predictable; get
Short answer: “Software Licensing Made Simple” is not just a blog title, it is how I practice. I write software and SaaS contracts in plain English so the people who have to live with them can actually understand them. Shorter, clearer agreements close faster, survive procurement review, and hold up
Short answer: a software or SaaS deal is not done until there is a signed written agreement. Business people often treat an oral or email “yes” as the close. Protect yourself by stating clearly, in writing, that nothing binds until both sides sign a definitive contract. There is too often
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