How to Handle:
“We need custom contract terms”
Custom contract requests are common in enterprise sales. The key is understanding which terms actually matter and finding a balance between accommodation and efficiency.
Why Prospects Say This
Legal departments have standard requirements. Industry regulations mandate specific terms. Past vendor problems created new policies. Large organizations have bargaining power.
Best Responses
The Scoping Response
“We can work with custom terms for the right partnership. What specifically needs to be different from our standard agreement? Understanding your must-haves helps me get you the right answer quickly.”
Why It Works
Shows flexibility while focusing the request.
Best For
Initial custom contract requests
The Common Ground
“We've worked with a lot of enterprise clients, so our terms already include many common requirements—data protection, liability limits, compliance provisions. Let me send our standard agreement and your legal team can redline what needs to change.”
Why It Works
Starts from a strong baseline and reduces work.
Best For
When your standard terms are already robust
The Process Setup
“Custom contracts are possible—we just need to loop in our legal team. To make this efficient, could your legal send over their required terms so we can do a first pass? That usually speeds up the back-and-forth.”
Why It Works
Sets up an efficient process for negotiation.
Best For
Larger deals that warrant the effort
Do's and Don'ts
Do This
- Understand what's truly required vs. nice-to-have
- Know your own non-negotiable terms
- Set up an efficient legal review process
- Use past enterprise contracts as templates
Don't Do This
- Agree to terms without legal review
- Let contract negotiations drag on indefinitely
- Treat small deals like enterprise contracts
- Give away unlimited liability or IP rights
Follow-up Questions to Ask
“What specific terms does your legal team require?”
“Which requirements are must-haves vs. nice-to-haves?”
“Can we start with our template and redline from there?”
“What's your typical timeline for contract reviews?”
Industry-Specific Variations
“We have mandatory contract clauses”
“We work with government agencies regularly and are familiar with standard FAR clauses. Send over your required terms and we'll confirm we can meet them—we usually can.”
“We need a BAA and specific HIPAA terms”
“Absolutely—we have a standard BAA ready to go that's been approved by other health systems. I can send that over along with our HIPAA compliance documentation.”
Pro Tips
- Build a library of approved contract modifications for common requests
- Know your red lines—what terms are truly non-negotiable
- Set expectations early about legal review timelines
- For large deals, bring legal in early rather than at the end
Tired of Handling Objections?
Let us handle the prospecting and objections for you. We book qualified meetings with decision-makers who are ready to talk - no cold call rejections.
Get Qualified Meetings