Hurray! You got that new customer and everyone is excited the contract is complete. But is it? Take care to make sure that the contract contains your customer’s legal name, not a partial name or pseudonym. For example, McDonald’s, the place with the salty fries, has a legal name of McDonald’s USA, LLC. If you don’t have the real legal name in your contract, you may find yourself spending valuable time and money to prove to the judge your contract wasn’t actually with McDonald’s the auto body shop in Hartford, CT or McDonald Motors in Conway, NH or McDonald Physical Therapy in South Bend Indiana . . . you get my point.
USE LEGAL NAMES IN YOUR B2B CONTRACTS
Whether you are a solo operation or managing a large sales team, develop the practice of obtaining the real legal name of each new customer/client. Making the effort when you are getting your contract signed is WAY easier than proving in court you are filing suit against the correct entity. There are simple ways to determine an entities legal name: (1) ask them, (2) check the contracts provided on their website, (3) conduct a free search under their Secretary of State’s website. If you have concerns about a company’s legal identity, don’t sign off on that contract. Questions about your contract? Call the contract professionals at Frisella Law Firm.