Leveraging 30+ years of experience and longstanding relationships with worldwide partners, our team crafts and fine-tunes contracts that provide highly negotiated cost-savings and concessions, while mitigating risk and liabilities. That standard of negotiation is driven by our commitment to maximize the ROI for every client, every time.

 

Inclement weather, national security emergencies, strikes, volcanos, monsoons –you name it, we’ve dealt with it. During the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, Bucom’s negotiation and contract interpretation experience proved invaluable for our clients:

• ALL contracts were either extended or canceled, without attrition or penalties
• Rescheduled meetings were extended for two years versus the industry standard of one year

 

Creating personal connections with our hotel sales partners helps them buy into us and your event, which facilitates better negotiations and more overall value for you. No communication technology can match the trust built through one-on-one conversations.

 

The art of contract negotiation

 

 

It’s important that contract provisions are complete, accurate, and don’t have any undefined terms or ambiguities. We’ll negotiate one complete contract on your behalf.

 

Points of negotiation and contract terms that maximize savings and protect our clients include:

 

 

*Staying current on evolving CDC guidelines, internal corporate guidelines, and city/state/country guidelines is critical to protecting your organization’s financial contractual obligations.

 

Understanding changing contractual language

 

 

Of these clauses, the two that have proven most advantageous for our clients in today’s rapidly evolving industry are:
-Commercial impracticability
-Force majeure
Here’s what they are and why you need both.

 

Commercial impracticability

Including specific language in your contracts that clearly states the purpose of your meeting and the critical mass needed to achieve your goals (e.g., networking, international travel, tradeshow, hands-on training, etc.) may provide a stronger argument if your event becomes commercially impracticable.

 

Commercial impracticability addresses the situation in which you could technically still hold your event, but the purpose of your event is diminished under the circumstances. Accordingly, raising commercial impracticability provisions in contracting is crucial in today’s negotiations because if nobody can attend your meeting due to restrictions, even though the hotel is still open, the purpose of having that in-person meeting no longer exists and you may be excused from your performance under the agreement.

 

Force majeure

This allows the parties to negotiate their contracts and provides the ability to exercise the right to cancel without liability. To exercise a force majeure clause, the event that is occurring must be a force majeure event that has specific impact on your ability to hold the meeting (commercial impracticability). Consider revising the force majeure clause to include more explicit language, as mentioned above, to provide broader protection to your organization.

 

Let us help you get a better deal

Knowing whether you’re getting the best deal under fair terms isn’t easy. We are 100% focused on bringing the most value with the least risk to our partners. Our negotiating and contracting process is like no other, and we partner with your internal legal team to ensure all essential terms and conditions align with your corporate policy.

 

Learn more about how we can help you maximize savings and mitigate risk

 

Look for the next post in this series to learn about health and safety tips for your attendees.