First big customer contract: what to have ready
For education only. Not legal advice. Tellbrief is not a law firm.
A larger customer may send its own contract, and sometimes a list of questions about security and privacy. Your lawyer will want to see both, and to know what you’ve already discussed.
Records to have ready
- The customer’s draft contract or terms, and any order form.
- Any security, privacy or vendor questionnaire they sent.
- Your own customer terms, if you have them.
- Emails where price, scope or dates came up.
- Your current insurance policies, if the customer asked about insurance.
Send them only if your lawyer asks. For the first call, knowing where each one is is enough.
Write down the deal
A few lines: what you’ll deliver, by when and for how much, and what the customer expects if something goes wrong. Mark anything still being discussed.
Note what you can deliver today
Write down what your product does now, what it doesn’t, and anything the customer asked for that you’d have to build. Your lawyer will compare that with what the contract says you’ll do.
Questions worth asking your lawyer
- Which parts of the customer’s contract or security terms matter most for us?
- What happens under this contract if something goes wrong?
- What are we promising about data and security, and can we keep those promises?
- Which terms are worth asking to change?
Tellbrief adds questions like these to your brief when your answers point to them.
Questions
Should we sign the customer’s contract or send our own?
That’s a question for your lawyer. Bring both, if you have your own terms.
The customer says its terms are standard. Should a lawyer still look?
Bring them anyway. Your lawyer can tell you which parts matter for your business.
Get your lawyer up to speed before the first call
About 30 questions, most of them one tap, free and with no account. Tellbrief turns your answers into a brief your lawyer can work from, and you keep a copy.
Start your brief →For education only. This article is general information for founders, not legal advice, and reading it doesn’t make you anyone’s client. Tellbrief is not a law firm. For advice about your situation, talk to a licensed lawyer.