that you don’t agree with the contract, or that there might be an alternative or an area of flexibility. If there isn’t, then don’t apologize for what’s in the contract. Allow for reasonableness but not permissiveness: When discussing contract enforceability for the first time, it may be prudent to allow for reasonable resolution or time to remedy. Essentially, you’re putting them on notice that if the situation doesn’t improve, then you’ll have to enforce the contract. However, don’t allow your reasonableness to be mistaken for permissiveness
Fear drives bad behaviors and can actually make people apologize for enforcing what’s already been agreed to. Fortunately, there are a few simple things that can be done to mitigate fear and help avoid apologizing unnecessarily. Know what’s been agreed to: It’s always surprising to learn that, in many of these situations, people have no idea what’s in the contracts they’ve signed with the other party. While going through the contracting process can be trying, contracts are put in place to help articulate working terms, define scope, outline dispute resolution, and minimize risk. If you don’t
— otherwise, you’ll open yourself up to being taken advantage of. Manage precedent early: There are times when it might be in everyone’s best interest to allow a contractual term to be ignored or waived. However, if you don’t intend to grant this leniency in perpetuity, then caveat the
Injecting emotion can make an innocuous situation bad and a bad situation worse.
know what’s in a contract, it’s difficult to know what’s at your disposal when things don’t go according to plan. Be factual, not emotional: When it comes to enforcing contract language, injecting emotion can make an innocuous situation bad and
change as “one-time only” or “this time only.” By doing so, everyone will understand that if it happens again, the contract language will still be at your disposal. If you don’t do this, then it will become difficult to enforce what’s already been agreed to. In the end, no one wants to be the “bad guy.” But enforcing language that both parties have already agreed to is not “bad guy” behavior. It’s called upholding your end of the deal, and you should never apologize for that. If anyone should apologize, it’s the person who broke the agreement in the first place!
a bad situation even worse. Typically, the best approach is simply to state the contractual term, the observed action that led to this moment, and the reason for enforcing the term — or how the other party can avoid its enforcement. The more factual you are, the less debate there will be. Don’t apologize — it dilutes your position: We frequently see people apologize for “having to enforce” an agreement. Keep in mind that both parties have already accepted the contract’s terms. No need to apologize for that! When you apologize, you potentially send signals
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