Myriad issues can arise in the vendor selection process, not the least of which is negotiating the final contract with your new provider. How do you know if your vendor’s pricing is reasonable? What are the appropriate terms and conditions that should be included to meet the organization’s business objectives? What are the expectations of the vendor?
Enter Cornerstone Advisors. Backed by more than 10 years of experience, our meticulous negotiators work with you to ensure your specific issues are addressed quickly toward a final contract that is competitive and includes the most favorable terms.
The Benefits to You
Cornerstone has negotiated contracts with virtually every major technology vendor in the financial services industry, and our proprietary database of vendor pricing and service terms works to your advantage as you gain:
- An awareness of how your organization compares to peers in core and ancillary system spending
- The peace of mind that comes with knowing you got the most favorable pricing and terms
- A fairness/opinion letter detailing the results of the negotiated contract – a valuable tool to leverage for executive approval of proposed spending
Our Contract Negotiation Process
Cornerstone’s client-directed contract negotiation services include:
- An analysis of your pricing compared to peers
- A side-by-side comparison of pricing as proposed by competing vendors
- A thorough review of key pricing and service terms
- An examination of the proposed vendor contract, identifying terms that are onerous to your institution
- Close coordination with you to resolve documented issues
- Interface with the vendor (as directed by you)
Even if you are content with your existing provider, Cornerstone can help ensure you receive the best possible terms, conditions and price from your incumbent vendor during contract renewal proceedings.
The Cornerstone Differentiation
- Proprietary database of vendors’ pricing and service terms. We apply this data to your negotiating advantage.
- Familiarity with other vendors’ contract commitments. Our knowledge of the vendors’ contracts enables us to get issues addressed and included quickly, avoiding wasted time and effort on issues that we know, based on past experience, the vendors will not negotiate. In fact, a number of vendors have updated their contracts to include terms Cornerstone has negotiated in the past.
- Reputation. The vendor market respects Cornerstone’s experience and reputation for straightforward, thorough contract negotiation
We’ve Done this Before
Here are just a few examples of work we’ve performed in this area:
- Large New England holding company ($26 billion) – Branch Automation System Contract Negotiation
- Iowa community bank ($2 billion) – Contract Negotiation for Core System Renewal
- Massachusetts savings bank ($1 billion) – Trust System Contract Negotiation
- Ohio bank ($6 billion) – Core Services Contract Renegotiation
- Midwest bank holding company ($13 billion) – Core Services Contract Renegotiation
- Illinois bank ($800 million) – Contract Negotiation for Internet Banking and EFT Contracts
- East Coast savings bank ($707 million) – EFT Contract Negotiation
- Washington bank ($1 billion) – Core System Contract Negotiation Advisory Services
- Connecticut credit union ($850 million) – System Selection Advisory Service and Contract Negotiation
- Michigan credit union ($504 million) – ATM Processing System Contract Negotiation
- Large New York credit union ($2.7 billion) – Core and Call Center Systems Contract Negotiations
- New England credit union ($1 billion) – Contract Renegotiation
- Small Washington credit union ($261 million) – Core System Contract Negotiation