And it's in Your Own Interests...

Sale terms will be included in each contract and become effective only if they are included in the offer and accepted by the buyer. In other words your company must be able to prove that the customer had notice of the terms prior to, or at the time of, making the contract - and that both parties intended to include those terms in the contract.

Consequently, not only should all your company's new customers be made aware of your terms before trading commences, your entire customer base must be circularised with a fresh copy should your Terms & Conditions change for any reason.

Obviously, and to ensure that the intention to include your company's terms is the intention of both parties, Terms & Conditions should go out under cover of a letter requesting that customers 'signify acceptance by signing and returning the enclosed copy of this letter'.

Many customers inevitably fail to do this, and because it is difficult to prove that silence indicates consent, it is also advisable to add a sentence to the letter to cicumvent that obstacle: 'Should we not hear from you accordingly, your silence will be taken to indicate your consent to these Terms'. All envelopes, of course, should bear a return address, so that any undelivered mail can be returned to you via the dead letter service.