When the contract is signed, I want the supplier to keep the attention they showed while selling, so everything does not cool the moment the money moves.

Job context

Who

Whoever owns the supplier relationship

When

After signing, across the contract

Trigger

The salesperson vanishing and someone else taking over

Situation

The selling team and the serving team are different teams

Constraints

Once signed, almost all leverage is gone

5 Pains

• The salesperson disappears after signing

  High

  And whoever takes over knows nothing of what was promised.

  Root cause: Salespeople are paid for signing rather than for keeping

• What was promised is not in the contract

  High

  So there is nothing to rely on.

  Root cause: Promises are spoken and contracts are written by lawyers

• Support slows over time

  High

  Quick in the first month and thinning after.

  Root cause: Resources go to new customers rather than existing ones

• Prices rise at renewal

  High

  Exactly when switching is hardest.

  Root cause: The higher the switching cost, the more the renewal price can rise

• No idea whether they are using it properly

  Medium

  So paying for a lot that goes unused.

  Root cause: The seller has no incentive to point out over-buying

5 Desired Outcomes

• Have continuous ownership after signing

  Social

• Have promises carry weight

  Functional

• Have support hold steady over time

  Functional

• Anticipate and negotiate the renewal price

  Functional

• Know how much of what they bought is used

  Functional

5 Existing Solutions

A solution is not the same thing as a product, a customer can hire a behaviour or a workaround too.

• Write every commitment into the contract

  Behaviour

  The only protection with force, and it slows the signing.

• Follow up conversations in writing

  Behaviour

  Creates a trail without the force of a contract.

• Schedule regular reviews with the supplier

  Service

  Holds their attention, at the cost of your own time.

• Begin renewal talks early

  Behaviour

  The most effective way to regain leverage, and rarely remembered.

• Keep an alternative alive

  Workaround

  The only real leverage, at the cost of maintaining something unused.

2 Opportunity Gaps

• The selling team promises and the delivery team performs, and what was promised does not cross the seam between them.

  Why existing solutions fail: Salespeople are rewarded at signing and bear no consequence when a promise fails, because by then they have moved on, so the system rewards promising more than the organisation can deliver.

  Potential opportunity: Tying part of the seller's compensation to the contract's second year, so the promise and its consequence sit together.

• The renewal price can rise by exactly the customer's switching cost, so the longer and more deeply they use it, the more they are charged.

  Why existing solutions fail: The most loyal customer is the one with the fewest options, so the market rewards raising prices on exactly that group, an outcome nobody designed and no seller has a reason to forgo.

  Potential opportunity: Fixing the renewal formula in the first contract, while the leverage still sits with the buyer.