Tech Contract Academy’s David Tollen was glad to sit down in June 2026 for a conversation with Gerhard Gschwandtner, CEO of Selling Power Magazine. We invite you to check out this (appx. 6 1/2 minute) excerpt from their conversation, now (free) on our YouTube channel:
Watch Their Conversation on YouTube here
David and Gerhard explored how tech sales professionals can better close deals, by first learning about the contracts accompanying that technology. With that knowledge, successful sales professionals can lay the groundwork with customers, reducing friction that can stall deals, and better know how to work with their own legal teams.
“Sticker shock isn’t just about price. If you hit your customer with unfriendly contract terms late in the sales process, you risk negotiation delays and lost deals.”
So David described the issue in his recent article, available (free) on our website: Contract Sticker Shock: It Isn’t Just About Price. (Spoiler Alert: It’s Also Your Contract Terms). In it he identified five steps that will help sales professionals treat the contract as an integral part of the sale (and, so, not all someone else’s problem):
- Find out which of your company’s terms customers usually don’t like – well in advance.
- Learn the reasons behind those “unfriendly” terms – again, well in advance.
- Learn what the Legal Department will compromise on, and what it won’t. (Yes, also well in advance.)
- Early in the sales process, let the customer know about terms it may find unappealing.
- Mediate between the customer and Legal.
Gerhard summed up their conversation in his article on SellingPower.com: https://www.sellingpower.com/blog/always-be-closing-really-means-always-be-contracting/. And in it, he identified startling statistics demonstrating the challenges facing salespeople and their companies:
“A 2026 survey of 1,200 sales professionals1 found that 45% of companies lost a deal in the previous six months due to slow quote and contract approvals, while 93% reported significant friction between sales, legal, and finance during the deal process. Meanwhile, the World Commerce & Contracting Association estimates that companies lose an average of 9.2% of annual revenue because of inefficient contract management.”
Gerhard went on to say, “That’s exactly the problem David Tollen has spent his career solving, and it’s why I was so glad to have him present at our Revenue Acceleration Summit as part of the Sales 3.0 Conference series.”
SOLUTION
David and Gerhard discussed a novel, efficient solution to support tech sales professionals:
David’s 3+ hour recorded course, available on-demand – Tech Contracts for Salespeople: Closing Deals of SaaS, AI, and Other Software and Technology. More information about the course (and enrollment) is available here: https://www.techcontracts.com/tech-contracts-for-sales-teams/
Lessons include:
- Contracts as Deal-Closers. (A portion of this lesson is available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE5yhQvqSVU. To preview the full lesson (also free) visit the course’s sales page.)
- Selling your SLA
- Selling Gen-AI: Special Rights and Restrictions
- Agile and Other ‘TBD Deliverables’ Projects
- Why Indemnities Jam Up Deals and What to Do
To view more of David’s and Gerhard’s (appx. 20 minute) conversation, you can visit Gerhard’s YouTube channel: Always Be Contracting: Why the Best Salespeople use the Contract as a Closing Tool
Finally, please visit techcontracts.com for more contracting resources. Those include articles, sample contract clauses from The Tech Contracts Handbook, and other trainings. (Sample lessons are available to view – without obligation – on each course’s sales page.)
fn. 1: March 2026 survey by Conga of over 1,200 commerce decision-makers
[Tech Contracts Academy®, LLC is not a law firm and does not provide legal services. Its publications and courses are for general, informational purposes only. They are not to be considered and do not provide legal advice. Access is subject to Terms of Use and Privacy Policies, available on each course’s sales page. Course details are subject to change. No CLE for Salespeople course.]