Want a better contract? You've got to make your case.(required reading)

"If this is the best of all possible R worlds, what can the rest be?" --Candide, Voltaire

As every experienced subcontractor knows, good subcontract agreements do not appear out of thin air. They are crafted and negotiated. This may not be "the best of all possible worlds," but with skill, subcontractors can stand up for themselves and get better deals. But how?

When a subcontractor is involved in contract negotiation, it will need people with strong persuasive skills to obtain the best possible subcontract terms. The ability to persuade is a "soft skill,' i.e., a skill that is more art than it is science, but it is a critical skill you need to identify in your firm so that you can negotiate the best subcontract agreements.

The ability to persuade may not seem that important to your business at first glance. Doesn't the economic leverage of the general contractor trump any of your ideas that the general contractor doesn't like? The answer is, "No."

While a general contractor has an economic advantage over a prospective subcontractor because the general contractor controls the award of work, this inequality does not automatically give the general contractor the "final say" over the specific subcontract terms with a specific subcontractor. On the contrary, the subcontract is subject to mutual agreement, whether that agreement comes in the form of the general contractor's acceptance of your bid, your acceptance of the general contractor's counter-offer, or a negotiated solution such as a mutually agreed-upon subcontract rider.

The process of convincing the general contractor to accept your proposal with terms Tour firm wants begins well before any actual conversation or correspondence with the general contractor. It starts with customer research and preparation of the bid package, including supporting documents such as a scope of work letter. Your bid package communicates your expectations to the general contractor about the work your firm is prepared to perform, and under what conditions.

From the point of view of a negotiator, the strategic objective of the bid package is to convince the general contractor that your firm can perform the work at the promised price, or at least that your firm is worthy of approaching with a counter-offer or a negotiation process. Thus, when bidding, the ...