minorityconsult
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? NY
I am a one man consulting company that subcontracts work on behalf of my clients. I have a client that is a fairly large union in NYC. I have been working with one of their managers as an advisor for a few years now.
Recently while out of work - this manager mentioned to me that she needs to get competitive bids out some work for the upcoming year and she is not looking forward to this process. Because I have expertise in the field that she needed assistance in, I offered to assist in this process. Our understanding is that I would negotiate payment from the winning vendor (like a broker - perfectly legal). She agreed that I would be able to represent myself as her consultant for 2006 when negotiating with all of the vendors in question.
Subsequently I negotiated a network consolidation deal with a large consulting firm that resulted in a 40% network saving to my client. I further went on to negotiate contracts with both their incumbent hardware vendor and 2 competitive hardware vendors. In each instance the contracts I signed to be the subcontract for I was to receive payment from the vendor that provided the work; and each contract was written on the vendors stationery and by their legal, or executive staffs. My relationship would always be a percentage of whatever revenues were realized as a result of any deals that were written with the union in 2006.
With all vendors contracts in hand we started to work on 2006 projects.
The incumbent hardware vendor offered a contract (written by them - on their letterhead), that offered payment made for ALL deals they would sign in 2006. Whether they had previously negotiated deals in 2005 that were to close in 2006 or not was on them, and they did. The incumbent received a signed contract for a deal the first week of January 2006 that they had started negotiations on in August of 2005. Because our contract stated ALL deals between them and the union for 2006, I held them to the terms of THEIR contractual agreement that they wrote.
I invoiced them and they paid once the hardware was installed.
The second or third week in January the union needed approximately 34+ phones and we bid between the 2 hardware vendors. The incumbent offered a deal that was discounted by approximately 43% by the new vendor at the table. So the incumbent lost. Of course doubt was cast in the mind of the union as to the integrity of the incumbent who refused to offer a discount on the same product.
From August to know we negotiated a deal worth >$600K. We (the union manager and I) worked with manufacturer to ensure that the playing field was level set for both parties. And I did everything to facilitate both vendors.
Ultimately the new vendor won the business. And the deal immediately grew to >$1.2M. As agreed, I called both the party that won and the client that lost the same day. After calling the incumbent, they (the incumbent) became very beligerent. Their VP of Sales asked to call the vendor and I said "okay".
The VP called the manager and began to begrate her accusing her of improprieties stating that she and I had dealt underhanded with them. He (the incumbent's VP of Sales) then asked if he could call the union CTO and let him know how the "consutant" (me) was going to be paid.
The incumbent's VP of Sales went on to accuse me of "strong arming" them into a deal, that 'the manager & I were having an affair', 'the manager was in on a fix', that I "would not let them speak to the customer".
My character has been dragged through unspeakable depths.
I spoke to the incumbent's CEO and he stated "this is not the way to win business" and that his VP acted in "unspeakable manner".
As a result of the incumbent's VP of Sales accusations my company is in jeopardy of loosing $50K in revenue if the deal that was won is taken off the table.
Of course there are more details, but do I have reason to think about pursuing legal representation? As I mentioned in the thread, I do not want to sue. I just want the deal that was won fair and square to be signed so that I can be compensated for a year's worth of work. Please advise.What is the name of your state?
I am a one man consulting company that subcontracts work on behalf of my clients. I have a client that is a fairly large union in NYC. I have been working with one of their managers as an advisor for a few years now.Recently while out of work - this manager mentioned to me that she needs to get competitive bids out some work for the upcoming year and she is not looking forward to this process. Because I have expertise in the field that she needed assistance in, I offered to assist in this process. Our understanding is that I would negotiate payment from the winning vendor (like a broker - perfectly legal). She agreed that I would be able to represent myself as her consultant for 2006 when negotiating with all of the vendors in question.
Subsequently I negotiated a network consolidation deal with a large consulting firm that resulted in a 40% network saving to my client. I further went on to negotiate contracts with both their incumbent hardware vendor and 2 competitive hardware vendors. In each instance the contracts I signed to be the subcontract for I was to receive payment from the vendor that provided the work; and each contract was written on the vendors stationery and by their legal, or executive staffs. My relationship would always be a percentage of whatever revenues were realized as a result of any deals that were written with the union in 2006.
With all vendors contracts in hand we started to work on 2006 projects.
The incumbent hardware vendor offered a contract (written by them - on their letterhead), that offered payment made for ALL deals they would sign in 2006. Whether they had previously negotiated deals in 2005 that were to close in 2006 or not was on them, and they did. The incumbent received a signed contract for a deal the first week of January 2006 that they had started negotiations on in August of 2005. Because our contract stated ALL deals between them and the union for 2006, I held them to the terms of THEIR contractual agreement that they wrote.
I invoiced them and they paid once the hardware was installed.
The second or third week in January the union needed approximately 34+ phones and we bid between the 2 hardware vendors. The incumbent offered a deal that was discounted by approximately 43% by the new vendor at the table. So the incumbent lost. Of course doubt was cast in the mind of the union as to the integrity of the incumbent who refused to offer a discount on the same product.
From August to know we negotiated a deal worth >$600K. We (the union manager and I) worked with manufacturer to ensure that the playing field was level set for both parties. And I did everything to facilitate both vendors.
Ultimately the new vendor won the business. And the deal immediately grew to >$1.2M. As agreed, I called both the party that won and the client that lost the same day. After calling the incumbent, they (the incumbent) became very beligerent. Their VP of Sales asked to call the vendor and I said "okay".
The VP called the manager and began to begrate her accusing her of improprieties stating that she and I had dealt underhanded with them. He (the incumbent's VP of Sales) then asked if he could call the union CTO and let him know how the "consutant" (me) was going to be paid.
The incumbent's VP of Sales went on to accuse me of "strong arming" them into a deal, that 'the manager & I were having an affair', 'the manager was in on a fix', that I "would not let them speak to the customer".
My character has been dragged through unspeakable depths.
I spoke to the incumbent's CEO and he stated "this is not the way to win business" and that his VP acted in "unspeakable manner".
As a result of the incumbent's VP of Sales accusations my company is in jeopardy of loosing $50K in revenue if the deal that was won is taken off the table.
Of course there are more details, but do I have reason to think about pursuing legal representation? As I mentioned in the thread, I do not want to sue. I just want the deal that was won fair and square to be signed so that I can be compensated for a year's worth of work. Please advise.What is the name of your state?