Legal Isn’t Slowing Your Deals Down. Your Contract Was Never Designed to Close Fast.
Every sales leader blames legal for a slow close. Almost none of them have actually looked at what is in the contract causing the delay.
Why contracts stall deals that should already be closed
- The MSA was written to protect against the worst case, not to close the best case, so every prospect who reads it hesitates.
- Legal reviews every deal like it is the first one, since without pre-approved fallback positions, every redline becomes a fresh negotiation.
- Sales has no authority to answer a legal question, so every objection gets escalated and momentum dies waiting on someone else.
Four clauses worth deciding on before your next negotiation
- Liability caps: a cap tied to a multiple of fees paid, with carve-outs for fraud, willful misconduct, and confidentiality.
- Indemnification scope: indemnify for what is actually controlled, third-party IP claims from your own technology, not how the buyer uses it.
- Auto-renewal terms: a month-to-month continuation after the initial term with a short notice window.
- Governing law and jurisdiction: neutral arbitration resolves the disagreement faster and cheaper than fighting over whose courthouse wins.
Five steps to stop contracts from being the reason a deal slips
- Separate the order form from the MSA so commercial terms are controlled by sales.
- Trim the MSA to what actually gets negotiated.
- Build a one-page, plain-English explainer sent proactively.
- Pre-approve fallback positions with legal, once.
- Have security and compliance docs ready before they are asked for.