Achieving Dodd-Frank Section 1071 Compliance: How Kenway Consulting Can Help Your Financial Institution Succeed

In the evolving regulatory landscape, compliance is more than a mandate—it's an opportunity to drive transformation. The Dodd-Frank Section 1071 regulation, effective between 2024 and 2026, introduces a new layer of complexity for financial institutions, requiring detailed reporting on lending practices to promote transparency and equity for women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses.

For many institutions, meeting these requirements feels daunting. How do you implement a scalable, cost-effective solution that ensures compliance while supporting future growth? At Kenway Consulting, we specialize in turning challenges into opportunities. This blog outlines actionable steps for achieving Section 1071 compliance, backed by insights from a recent project with an international bank.

Understanding the Dodd-Frank Section 1071 Regulation

The Dodd-Frank Section 1071 regulation mandates the covered financial institutions collect and report detailed information on small business loan applications, adding an additional level of detail and compliance requirements for banks, credit unions, and nonbank lenders. Aimed at fostering transparency and equity, this regulation emphasizes non-discriminatory lending practices, particularly for women-owned and minority-owned businesses. Effective between 2024 and 2026, Section 1071 requires financial institutions to gather up new key data points on small business credit applications, from loan terms and ownership demographics to pricing information, and report this data to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for regular oversight.

Key Provisions of 1071 Regulation:

The Challenges Institutions Face

For many institutions, the journey to compliance includes overcoming significant challenges:

  1. Regulatory Pressure: Deadlines for compliance loom large.
  2. Data Complexity: Managing sensitive data securely across decentralized systems.
  3. Scalability Needs: Balancing immediate needs with future growth.
  4. Cost Constraints: Finding a solution that doesn’t break the bank.

How Kenway Consulting Tackled the Problem

When a leading international bank approached Kenway, they faced all these challenges. The stakes were high—they needed a solution fast, one that was scalable, cost-effective, and aligned with their unique operational needs. 

Assessing the Options

Kenway evaluated two Salesforce-based approaches to support Section 1071 compliance: Salesforce Survey and Salesforce Experience Cloud leveraging OmniStudio in Financial Services Cloud (FSC).

Salesforce Survey emerged as a strong choice for institutions prioritizing simplicity and cost-effectiveness:

For institutions seeking advanced functionality, Salesforce Experience Cloud leveraging OmniStudio in FSC offered robust scalability and validation options:

Tailoring the Solution

Kenway recommended Salesforce Survey, combined with Salesforce Marketing Cloud for survey distribution and tracking. This approach prioritized:

Steps to Implement a Scalable Compliance Solution

For financial institutions embarking on their compliance journey, the following roadmap can help ensure success:

  1. Assess Your Needs
    • Identify the scope of your compliance requirements.
    • Evaluate your current systems for gaps in data collection, reporting, and security.
  2. Choose the Right Technology
    • Select a platform aligned with your budget, functionality, and scalability needs.
    • Salesforce offers flexible options, from basic surveys to advanced systems like Experience Cloud.
  3. Streamline Data Collection
    • Implement tools that automate data entry, reduce errors, and ensure consistency.
    • Incorporate built-in tracking to monitor compliance progress.
  4. Strengthen Security Protocols
    • Define robust access controls and data retention policies.
    • Use encryption to protect sensitive demographic and loan data.
  5. Plan for Scalability
    • Design a solution that adapts to evolving regulatory demands and business growth.
    • Include pathways for future upgrades to more advanced systems.
  6. Partner with Experts
    • Engage consultants with experience in financial services and compliance to guide your implementation.

How Kenway Can Help

At Kenway Consulting, we bring deep expertise in compliance, data management, and Salesforce solutions to every project. Beyond system implementation, our comprehensive services include:

Achieve Compliance with Confidence

Section 1071 compliance doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With the right approach and a trusted partner, you can transform regulatory requirements into opportunities for growth and innovation.

At Kenway Consulting, we’re committed to helping financial institutions achieve their compliance goals while positioning themselves for future success. Let’s work together to create a solution tailored to your unique needs.

Contact us today to learn how Kenway can help you navigate Section 1071 compliance with ease and confidence.

Case Study – Streamlining Success: Transforming Transfer Agency Processes 

Client Profile 

Background 

As a leading player in the financial services industry, the client has a reputation for delivering exceptional custodial services. Within their portfolio lies their critical role as a transfer agent, supported by specialized teams including: 

Each time the client acquires new business, their transfer agency team undertakes the intricate process of onboarding and converting services from the previous custodian. This transition demands immense coordination and precision, often straining resources and impacting downstream processes. 

When the client secured a significant new business, they quickly faced unprecedented challenges, including higher-than-expected volumes and unique client demands. 

Challenges 

The onboarding process for the new business revealed several operational hurdles: 

The situation threatened to impact client commitments and relationships, requiring immediate intervention. 

Approach and Solution 

With Kenway’s help, the client reimagined their transfer agency processes. Together, we developed a scalable operating model that empowered the client to drive successful change in their organization. 

We embarked with a comprehensive review of the client’s current state in a timely and efficient manner that drove definition of roadmap for future improvements: 

  1. Current and Future State Analysis: 
    • Conducted SME interviews across all teams to map existing workflows. 
    • Standardized over 300 procedure documents to streamline operations. 
    • Facilitated tabletop discussions to uncover inefficiencies and align team processes. 
    • Recommended prioritized improvements with measurable ROI. 
  1. Future State Documentation: 
    • Created end-to-end process flows for transfer agency subgroups, enhancing transparency and accountability. 
    • Developed a conversion runbook, ensuring consistency and quality in future client transitions. 
    • Added new procedure documents, user guides, and client reporting templates to close documentation gaps. 
  1. Change Management Execution: 
    • Established a Resolutions Team and Quality Assurance Team to address critical gaps, supported by detailed onboarding materials. 
    • Built the Transfer Agency Knowledge Center on SharePoint, transforming a difficult to maintain shared drive into a centralized repository for streamlined knowledge management and easy self-service. 

Results and Impact 

The partnership between the client and Kenway delivered tangible, lasting results: 

A Partnership for Lasting Success 

Through close collaboration, the client demonstrated their ability to adapt and innovate in the face of challenges. By leveraging Kenway’s Product and Program Management expertise, operational inefficiencies were turned into opportunities for growth. 

The client’s feedback speaks to the power of this partnership --"Amazing, a model for what a lot of teams should have." 

The redesigned processes and tools allowed the client to ensure delivery commitments were met, creating tangible results for the servicing of their client and the management of business operations.  

Ready to Transform Your Business? 

Partner with us to drive innovation, streamline processes, and achieve results tailored to your unique needs. Contact us today to see how we can help you succeed. 

Salesforce Case Study – Agent Application

Summary

Kenway Consulting helped a leading financial services client automate the process of onboarding potential new Agents, by designing and building a scalable solution to digitize their New Agent Application using the Salesforce Sales Cloud, Salesforce Experience Cloud, and additional integrated tools within.

Client Profile

One of the company’s non-bank subsidiaries falls amongst largest insurance premium finance companies operating in the United States, serving commercial and life insurance loan customers throughout the country, operating with approximately 200 employees. The client generates revenue by offering financing on insurance premiums to Agencies that act on behalf of insured parties.

The Problem – The “Why”

One of the largest premium finance organizations in North America wanted to digitize their new insurance Agent Application process to streamline the onboarding process and catalyze more rapid engagement of new agents, resulting in improved back-office productivity and more revenue generating activity. In addition to increasing business process efficiencies, the agent onboarding portal aimed to enhance the overall agent experience and allow agents to interact with and track progress of their applications.

In order to provide custom lending terms to new insurance agents/agencies, the company collects specific information via the application process to onboard new agents and inform financing decisions. Historically, the application process for new agents was:

New Agent Applications were submitted as scanned PDF documents attached in an e-mail and saved as local files, requiring employees to manually enter the provided information into Salesforce. Further, due to the manual nature of the agent onboarding process, there was lack of any tracking or visibility on the status of applications until a final review was made.

Kenway was engaged to architect, design and build a technology solution that would combine the activities executed by internal and external parties from the start of a new application through the approval process. Ultimately, Kenway built out a solution to allow external agents to complete all the required paperwork in an online portal, facilitated by Salesforce’s Experience Cloud, with a legally binding signature, and directly sync the information from the application back to the client’s Salesforce Sales Cloud environment. Finally, Kenway helped build an integration from their Salesforce Sales Cloud to sync the data from the Agent Application to external applications. 

Top Considerations for Driving Change

The Solution

Kenway designed and built a scalable solution that utilized industry-leading techniques to build upon the client’s existing Salesforce platform, all while incorporating the need for legally binding signature verification, the ability to provide additional documentation and to validate the Agent Application, and the workflow automation requirements.

The architecture included a mix of enterprise applications and custom development to simplify and automate the overall application experience for both potential new agents and company employees. The solution maintained a high level of flexibility in the process, bi-directional exchange of information, and minimal manual work required to ingest, store, and derive value from the data captured throughout.

New features, such as the ability for each applicant to keep track on the status of their applications, were achieved by building a Salesforce Community Portal (via Experience Cloud) for new applicants to access and complete any necessary tasks. Kenway also developed a mechanism to support repeated submissions by the same application, while maintaining the data filled out in the original submission and any subsequent submissions within the current Salesforce instance.

To ensure that, upon completion, the applications were legally binding, DocuSign was integrated into the Salesforce portal and process. Kenway leveraged the DocuSign interface to create data-validation rules to prevent submission errors, pre-populate agent information that was submitted previously within Salesforce, require a legally binding signature before submission, and attach the completed and signed application as attachment on the underlying Salesforce Object.

What We Delivered

In addition to the Salesforce Community Portal, Kenway designed, developed, and automated supporting business processes with added functionalities and features that significantly streamlined the process execution. This gave the client the ability to consolidate a fully digitalized agent onboarding process, in which both parties can execute any needed action in a more efficient and direct way. 

Deliverables:

 

Example of DocuSign integration
Figure 1: Example of DocuSign integration for application form completion

DocuSign functionality
Figure 2: Digital Signature functionality through DocuSign integration

Info Management and Status Tracking in Salesforce
Figure 3: Information management and status tracking of an Agent Application in Salesforce

Achieving Success: How Kenway Spurred Results

With the digitization of the Agent Application and the automation of supporting business processes, the client can now manage the entire agent onboarding process in one consolidated platform. 

In addition to expediting and enhancing the client’s internal processing, the Client Portal also improves the user experience for potential new agents. Agents can self-service any inquiries on Application Status or data entry requirements and can move through the onboarding process faster, resulting in quicker revenue generation for the client.

Read more about how we’ve helped drive success for other companies here. >>

 

Closing The Gaps: Implementing a Modern Data Platform

A leading asset management firm was struggling to support its sales teams in understanding the full breadth of their relationships with current and potential clients. It needed a scalable and manageable data solution that would provide invaluable insights and analytics to better target its wealth advisor clients. The company lacked real clarity around advisor profiles such as the universe of products being purchased, percentage of sales versus competitors, and engagement with the organization’s sales and marketing representatives. Establishing a complete view of its clients (Customer-360) would drive improvements to targeting and the company could then produce better business outcomes around its efforts for sales, marketing, and product distribution.

Achieving the "Golden Record"

How Kenway Consulting improved risk rating and regulatory compliance processes through an enterprise-wide data governance operating structure

Client profile

Industry: Financial services
Solution: Data governance operating structure
Client: Fortune 500 global financial services provider

A global financial services provider lacked visibility into their client risk rating due to inconsistent client records. The organization had incomplete and disjointed client information across their customer relationship management (CRM) system and their separate banking service platforms (e.g. wealth management, asset management, tax, etc.). Due to these shortcomings, the organization was unable to accurately aggregate client holdings, understand risk exposure at a client or portfolio level, or identify potential compliance risks. Compounding the operational challenges this posed was impending regulation the financial services provider was subject to federal anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-client (KYC) regulations that would also require standardized and consistent client information. To address these issues, Kenway collaborated with the client on an enterprise-wide data governance framework to properly oversee the creation, ingestion, maintenance, and consumption of its client information.

What is data governance?

Data governance consists of the policies & standards, procedures, and resource roles & responsibilities necessary to ensure that an organization's data is accurate, timely and of high quality.    

Policies & standards: Clearly defined rules that dictate how data must be entered, transformed, and connected

Procedures: Actions required to cleanse historical data, update systems, and deploy operational processes to adhere to policies

Roles & responsibilities: Resource alignment and management frameworks to provide sponsorship, direction, and operational support for data governance procedures

A data governance program enforces the integration of company strategy, standards, policies, and communication.

Additional benefits to data governance

The problem

The lack of an effective data governance framework around client data resulted in incomplete risk ratings and the inability to meet upcoming regulatory compliance requirements.

Inconsistent & incomplete client data

Historically, the financial services client had leveraged separate systems to address individual banking services. Each system had different required fields, different definitions of a client, and did not share unique identifiers to match data across systems. The organization's inability to connect client records impeded their ability to accurately aggregate holdings across products, allocate revenue and profitability, and, ultimately, understand their risk exposure at individual client and portfolio levels.

In addition, these same shortcomings in client data governance across the organization's systems made it difficult to comply with KYC regulations to verify customer identities, and with AML regulations to ensure that their credit and deposit activity did not aid money laundering. Without a consistent, holistic view of customer information, these reports would be both inaccurate and time-consuming to generate.

The solution

In order to build a data governance operating structure, Kenway guided the client through their data governance methodology to design, instantiate and operationalize organizational data governance.

In order to properly perform the client risk rating process, regulators require specific data with precise definitions. Through a series of workshops, interviews, data analysis investigations, and data journey mappings from creation to user consumption, Kenway guided stakeholders across the organization to determine the underlying issues preventing them from effectively complying with data regulations.

Through this analysis, Kenway found that the root cause of the organization's client data issues was a result of multiple versions and definitions of "party" data stored in its CRM and account opening systems. These systems served a diverse set of use cases from customer relationship management to account servicing. As each business unit employed its unique requirements to these client- and account-centric systems, several unique views of "client" resulted. The fragmented requirements around client data meant that:

From a data governance perspective, this required the organization to determine the operating model to uniquely identify clients and deploy a unique identifier policy. Kenway worked with the organization to identify a definition and policy for legal entity, along with the associated requirements for source systems enhancements. Additionally, Kenway determined that a centralized data store of mastered client data had to be created to address these gaps.

Define the policies needed to achieve the required outcomes

Kenway developed a legal entity identifier policy for the client through collaboration with a variety of stakeholders across the organization. This policy defined the unique identifiers required for each legal entity record in the account opening systems and the CRM platform, creating consistency and alignment for client information across all of the platforms. This provided the necessary standards to ensure that client records had complete and accurate sets of data. Additionally, this enabled the matching and merging of legal entity records across all platforms, as each record included the information required to map legal entity records across systems.

Implement a data governance operating structure

Once the legal entity identifier policy was finalized, Kenway defined the necessary procedures to ensure proper implementation and long-term success. Kenway and client stakeholders mapped out the plan to remediate existing client data issues, and designed process and technology changes to proactively address future data needs. This covered understanding processes surrounding the creation of client data to the definition of legal entity roles and relationships, through the high-level design of a client and account data hub that enabled downstream systems to accurately utilize the mastered client data. From a functional perspective, Kenway defined these activities and the roles and responsibilities needed to properly enter, review and modify data throughout its lifecycle, which provided clear accountability for ongoing data quality.

What we delivered

Our deliverables

The Master Data Management solution

Kenway helped the client develop the business case to implement a master data management (MDM) solution which would manage key client and account data in the required form, with the required attribution - in order to satisfy the client's regulatory requirements. The business case highlighted that the MDM solution would deliver significant return on investment by streamlining processes with a centralized, accurate and complete set of client and account data. Furthermore, the establishment of a data stewardship function to profile and cleanse data on an ongoing basis ensured that these efficiencies would permeate into the future. This initiative relied on the policies and procedures aligned with the data governance operating structure, using it as the foundation for the technical and process modifications to actively manage data moving forward. 

The result

Master data management benefits

How can Kenway help your organization?

Kenway focuses on the people, processes and technology surrounding your data ecosystem to create the best solution for your organization. Kenway's capabilities focus on defining and implementing processes to help you govern your data from the point of origin to the point of consumption, and to the point of retirement. By taking this approach, we believe that data can be managed in a way that minimizes cost while maximizing the organization's ability to ensure data quality. 

Kenway's data governance framework will:

Contact us today to get the most out of your data!

Kenway Helps to Put IT and Product Management on the Same Page

GUIDING PRINCIPLE

To communicate swiftly and effectively through all channels, at all levels, internally and externally, regardless of whether the information is good or bad. To strive to establish, foster and maintain the role of trusted advisor for our partners, prospects and clients through long-term, mutually beneficial relationships.

THE SITUATION

Kenway Consulting was asked by a financial services client’s IT department to provide program management services for their Enterprise Document Management program. Kenway was tasked with making observations and recommendations to improve the program and to manage the implementation of these recommendations.

The program was over budget, and communication between IT and Product Management was ineffective and hostile. Competing personalities were compounding these issues resulting in emotional strain throughout the program. Furthermore, the Program Management team was wary of Kenway’s assistance, because they assumed favoritism would be shown to the IT group since that was the group who solicited the assistance.

STEPS TAKEN

Kenway met with all members of the program to understand their perspectives and pain points, and to identify opportunities for improvement. Kenway provided the structure that was lacking, allowing conversations to migrate from the ineffective, i.e. stating subjective opinion, to having effective, objective, clear, and fact-based dialogues. This method allowed the teams to engage in discussions that would have previously been avoided or unproductive. Kenway played the role of objective mediator, delivering the tough messages and making recommendations for the betterment of the program as a whole regardless of whether it was perceived to be in favor of IT or Product Management.

THE OUTCOME

While the program still has several challenges to overcome, it has progressed significantly. Communication and collaboration between Product Management and IT have become more clear and effective. Trust is growing between the groups, and now sessions are able to derive “needs” for the effort as opposed to “wants.” Throughout the process, Kenway focused on acting with integrity and putting the overall client needs above those of a single organization.

Kenway Enables Project Managers with PMO Creation

Business Challenge

Kenway Consulting was asked to assist a Major Financial Institution in the creation and management of their Business Program Management Office (PMO). The sponsoring business organization recognized the importance of an Enterprise view, and needed a road map to aggregate the needs and requirements of multiple stakeholders. Kenway provided capacity to manage and broker the relationship between the business and technology organizations.

What We Delivered

The creation of the PMO enabled the project managers within the initiative to focus on their respective projects while Kenway put a program-wide management of issues, risks and project plans in place. Included in this project was the configuration and deployment of a documentation repository, leveraging Microsoft SharePoint Team Services, to house the standard project management deliverables created by Kenway.

In addition to the traditional PMO work, Kenway Consulting orchestrated several strategic initiatives on behalf of the client, including a Financial Analysis on the development vendor selection for the first release of the initiative, a Communication Plan used for enterprise updates, and a Data Strategy for maintenance and upkeep of client demographics.

Result

Upon the successful implementation of the first release of the Initiative, Kenway Consulting was asked to implement and manage the functional support processes and procedures and perform the business requirements analysis phase for the second release of the initiative. When the time came for the client to staff the full project team for the second release of the enterprise wide initiative, Kenway Consulting again provided the capacity to lead the Program Management Office.

Additionally, Kenway Consulting was asked to create and lead the Quality Assurance efforts of the project. Best Practices were put into place to ensure quality within all phases of the Software Development Life Cycle. Kenway delivered a best practices solution to ensure the quality standards of the client were achieved.

 

Kenway Ensures the Success of Their Business Partners Despite a Difficult Enviroment

GUIDING PRINCIPLE

To welcome and respect the uniqueness of each individual with whom we engage

To operate, think, demonstrate, speak and lead with integrity and emphasize it through all mediums

To communicate swiftly and effectively through all channels, at all levels, internally and externally, regardless of whether the information is good or bad

To always, under all circumstances and under all economic conditions, do what we believe is “right” for the client, even when what is “right” may directly lead to less business and lower revenues

To include in all engagements, a plan to transition knowledge to clients through training, tools and alternative resources

THE SITUATION

Kenway had been providing Business Intelligence (BI) services to a Financial Institution and its various business units. The BI Lab Team had been a presence at the client for several years and had delivered high impact analysis to their business users. However, several issues had arisen around a new business sponsor, the mistreatment of Kenway employees and the questioning of Kenway’s delivery methodology.

New Business Sponsor:

A client resource was stepping into a newly created role as the business sponsor for the IT group through which Kenway was providing their services. This client demanded that Kenway shift our staffing model to a method that had previously proven incapable of effectively addressing the significant ebbs and flows of project demand for the group. Their demands extended further to require Kenway resources to effectively work as much as the client desired with no potential for relief from additional resources as well as to effectively be “on-call” at any time, regardless of its relation to normal business hours. This directly contradicted both Kenway’s staffing model and our overall viewpoint on how we treat our employees.

Employee Mistreatment:

The aforementioned New Business Sponsor, when challenged on their demands, went on to speak to one of Kenway’s employees in an extremely unprofessional manner. Additionally, another client resource acted unprofessionally in front of both Kenway and client resources, causing direct impacts to Kenway’s level of comfort working within close proximity of the client while onsite.

Questioning Delivery:

As a result of the previously documented situations, the client then began to call into question the delivery method (approach, tools, etc.) that Kenway had successfully been using on this project for well over a year causing unnecessary tension and distractions. Even after Kenway explored utilizing client desired delivery tools and found them to be ineffective, the client insisted that the way Kenway delivered the data was incorrect.

STEPS TAKEN

Kenway assessed the situations individually and holistically. Much debate was had about how to handle this challenging engagement. Throughout this process, Kenway proactively kept all impacted employees informed of the situation, what was being done, what to watch out for, and solicited feedback and concerns from each team member. Ultimately, the decision to discontinue services became the clear best choice. The manner in which to do so was also debated – to terminate services immediately or to ramp down Kenway’s presence over a number of months. In the end, the decision was made to ramp down over a number of months in order to allow for a proper knowledge transfer and to ensure that the business sponsors were fully informed. As a result of this key decision, the following steps were taken:

In regards to the new business sponsor, Kenway worked with its direct clients in the IT organization to minimize any direct involvement with the individual and to instead use the IT clients as a conduit. No changes would be made to the existing staffing model; with the existing staffing model being leveraged to ramp resources down through the completion of the existing contract period. This was communicated objectively and with the background rationale to the new business sponsor as well as the IT clients.

In addition to the actions taken with the new business sponsor, Kenway also worked with the IT clients to relocate to a client site away from the client that had acted unprofessionally. There was further agreement that any engagement with this individual was to be done over a web conference or over the phone.

Finally, Kenway worked with the IT clients to obtain acknowledgement that the delivery model would not change on any project that Kenway performed. Furthermore, both Kenway and the IT clients solicited feedback from their business partners about the delivery methodology to ensure that they were receiving the end products that they desired. The Kenway team also transitioned historical and in-flight projects to the IT clients, allowing them to modify or complete them in the manner they deemed fit.

THE OUTCOME

Despite the difficult client situation, Kenway continued to provide optimal consulting services. Rather than taking the easy road and simply disengaging immediately with the client, Kenway opted to take the more challenging, but right road. Kenway did not want the actions of a few individuals to negatively impact the majority clients who valued our services and approach. The Kenway team diligently documented and transitioned its work in order to best position the group to succeed moving forward. In the end, Kenway resources were able to maintain their focus and were appropriately rewarded with the praise of their business partners for a job well done on the respective projects that Kenway completed.

 

Kenway Displays the Value of its Services-Based Model

GUIDING PRINCIPLE

To maximize return on investment for our clients and for Kenway, and scrutinize decisions based therein. To encourage professional growth through challenging work opportunities, training and mentoring, and to provide employees the freedom to maximize their own potential by enhancing the aforementioned opportunities.

THE SITUATION

A long term client was beginning to make demands concerning the staffing of Kenway resources. They wanted to hold onto specific resources in a staff augmentation manner despite the fact that Kenway could support the needs of the client at a lower cost and high quality with a different approach.

STEPS TAKEN

The two parties began formal discussions on the situation. Kenway explained that their model does not provide people to fill needs but rather assesses the needs and provides the right mix of services for the current needs of the project. While the current resources had provided tremendous value, the phase of the project had shifted calling for a new set of skills to be mixed in with the subject matter expertise already gained.

The conversations were difficult and caused a temporary strain on the business relationship between Kenway and the client. The idea of Kenway leaving the client was even discussed as it seemed the fracture between both sides was irreconcilable.

THE OUTCOME

In the end, Kenway was able to communicate the value of their services-based model. Kenway continues to provide more services in this area with many more engagements on the horizon. By being transparent and objective, Kenway was able to lay out the value of a consulting company that delivers high return projects as opposed to working in a staff augmentation manner that while keeping the customer satisfied was not in their best interests.

 

Kenway Displays Integrity During Contract Negotiations

GUIDING PRINCIPLE

To generate revenue by being good, being truthful and spreading the word. To operate, think, demonstrate, speak and lead with integrity and emphasize it through all mediums.

THE SITUATION

Kenway had been pursuing work with a large client for several years. This hard work eventually resulted with an opportunity that had the potential to lead to a long term relationship. However, issues arose when it came to sign the Master Services Agreement (MSA). Generally, companies provide MSA templates, and the parties involved negotiate the final wording before work begins. This potential client had a unique clause in their MSA that prohibited vendors from doing any work on their premises that was not exclusively for them. Kenway could not possibly adhere to this clause, because as a small consulting firm, our employees, at times, are asked to provide knowledge and expertise for both internal operations as well as for other clients during business hours.

Kenway was completely open during the negotiation and requested that the sentence be altered to allow for such interactions, reassuring the potential client that they would not be charged for these activities. After some discussion, Kenway was given the verbal confirmation that the client would accept this structure. However, Kenway was then told to sign the MSA in its current state so that work could begin, because the modification could take several weeks to process through their legal department.

STEPS TAKEN

After discussing options available, Kenway quickly chose to deny this request and would not sign the MSA knowing that it would be violated. Kenway’s role as a trusted advisor would have been immediately compromised there by starting the relationship off in a negative position.

THE OUTCOME

Kenway eventually walked away from the work. Despite the potential for a strong relationship, the inevitability of violating the MSA was simply not the way to begin a mutually beneficial relationship in which trust is paramount.