I know this might sound obvious to the pros here, but I just saw a project get delayed by months because legal wasn't involved until the final contract stage.
We were almost ready to sign with a new marketing automation platform. Our marketing ops team had done all the demos, built the scorecard, and picked the winner. But when legal finally saw the vendor's data processing agreement (DPA), they flagged huge issues with data residency and sub-processor terms. We had to go back to square one.
So my simple question: how do you get legal involved early without slowing everything down? Do you have a checklist of things they need to look at before we even send the RFP? Like specific clauses around data ownership, indemnification, or exit terms?
I'm in marketing ops, so I'm thinking about features and integrations, but I clearly need to learn the legal side too. Any tips or templates for including legal requirements in the initial RFP document would be a huge help.