Whether you are selling a product, you are a manufacturer, or a service providing organisation, you need to draft the terms and conditions that will guide the operations of your business. Failure to do so effectively has attracted countless litigations in the corporate world. If you do not want to fall victim of expending unneccesary resources on lawsuits you need to take your time to find out about the business you are about to venture into and draft its terms and conditions carefully and effectively.
Some entrepreneurs who feel they are knowledgeable enough write the terms and conditions of doing business on their own, others consult a business lawyer to get this done for them. If you chose to consult a lawyer, bear it in mind that while lawyers are professionals, they do not understand the all businesses the same way. Whether you are consulting a lawyer or you are writing it on your own, your aim is to reduce conflict between you and your customers as much as possible. What are some of the factors that you need to incorporate as you draft the terms and conditions of your business?
It Must be Understandable
While Terms and conditions contain a legal agreement between you and the user of your products, it is your responsibility to ensure that the content is presented in a very simple way. When your customers read through, they should not be distracted because you use bogus and technical law jargons that they are coming across for the first time. From one paragraph to the next, the terms and conditions should be presented in such a way that your readers will get the message without going to the law library.
However, you need to sound professional enough because those that read through the terms and conditions attached to a product are learned enough to sense that you may not be informed enough to write terms and conditions on your own. Strike a balance between being simple and being professional.
Define Terms and Acronyms Used
Every key word that your terms and conditions contained must be properly defined and explained. You will sound legally professional when you define terms like 'customers', 'clients', 'offer', 'duration', period, usage, guarantee, warranty, contract, etc.
You also need to define your business and the business name. Endeavour to explain abbreviations especilly when they are known to your organisation alone. Even when a term seems to be known to the whole world, get it defined. Failure to do so may prevent a loophole that can be used against you when you least expect.
Explain the Quality of Your Product or Service
Tell your prospective customers that your organisation has ensured that the finished product you are offering to the public has gone through several quality checks. That you have put everything in place to ensure their safety and that of their children. That the materials used in the poduction process has not violated any environmental law. That your staff have been trained to deliver the best of customer service. Tell them the truth.
This is important so that in the eventuality of accident and injury or even death occurs while your product is being used, you will not be held liable.
Include What you are Offering
It is pertinent that you explain to your customers what you are selling to them. If you are service providing company, tell them the type of service you are offering and the people patronising you. If you sell products, state the name of the product and the explain the type. Also, you need to include the people that the product is meant for and when, how and where it should be used.
When a product is used by a minor while it is designed for an adult, you may not be held liable because you have made provision for it in your terms and conditions.
Do not Promise What You Cannot Give
Never write the terms and conditions for your organisation with the aim of deceiving the public. Doing so will only put you in legal problems later. Whether you are drafting your terms and conditions for the first time, or you are doing it for the purpose of sales prmotion, think about what you are offering your customers and meet up with the promise.
If you think lying in your terms and conditions will increase sales, you will soon spend the money acrued from the sales on endless litigations.
Explain Money-Back Guarantee Terms
In a bid to increase patronage, organisations often promise the prospective customers money back guarantee in the case of damage or any other eventuality that happens to the product. There is nothing wrong in doing this if you are sure that you can deliver on your promise. So endeavour to explain in details the terms of your money back guarantee.
Even if the guarantee or warranty is not money back and it is time bound, give out the details of the things that can make their warranty become void within that period of time. Not stating this explicitly will only make your customers making claims of refund when the damage occurs as a result of carelessness on their part.
Clarify Terms of Instalmental Payments
If your terms and conditions include instalmental payments, explain in details the conditions surrounding it. This includes the rate, the duration of payment, the number of instalments, the warranty on the product while the customer is yet to pay.
Make Provisions for Conflict Resolution
Since you are dealing with a lot of people, conflicts are bound to arise. It is your duty to foresee this and make provision for its resolution in your terms and conditions. Tell your customers that you are willing to resolve crisis and do away with lawsuits as much as possible.
Terms and Conditions are Subject to Change
The situation of things in your market will keep changing. Hence there will be need for you to change some things in your terms and conditions. Presently, it is pertinent that you inform the customers that you have the rght to change the content of your terms and conditions without notifying them.
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