End-of-Year Negotiations

In this short video, Tim gives his take on how to close the year strong and shares his thoughts on end-of-year negotiations.

Question: What's your advice on how to close the year strong? What are your top negotiation tips for in-house counsel?

Answer: First, I think you have to make sure you're not letting the pressure of the year-end or the time period end dictate how far you're willing to give on certain things. Like, it's not about getting the deal done. It's about getting the right deal done. I actually had a conversation with one of my teammates the other day where aiming for the middle doesn't work. Like, imagine you just get fifty percent of your bonus. Or you get fifty percent on a test. Nobody's going to be happy with that.

If you meet in the middle, you usually end up in the fifty percent range. So, go and get the right deal done. Be strong in the way that you're negotiating it. And, if you can use the time period end as a forcing function to get someone on the phone or get someone to pay attention to the deal, then I think that's good. But, I don't think it should ever compromise how far you're willing to go just to get a deal done.