Negotiation Tactics To Score Better Deals For Telecom Carriers Services

telecom-negotiation

Telecom carriers have lots of experience negotiating their contracts. They know how to make a contract sound amazing so that you don’t realize how many questions you have until you’ve already engaged their services. Your business needs telecom services to run, and you need them at a price that fits your budget to define outsourcing. To achieve a contract that works for you, you need to know what to negotiate.

Opt Out Of Auto Renewal

Whether you’re going in for a three-month contract or a three-year contract, telecom companies want you to sign on with auto renewal. That way, they renew your contract automatically unless you remember to say otherwise. You’re busy running your business; don’t take the chance you’ll forget to cancel the auto renewal if you’re not happy. Trying to cancel a contract in the middle of service means you’ll incur financial penalties that might not be worth the cost of breaking the contract. Have the telecom company take auto renewal out of your contract. If you like their services, you’ll renew.

Reduce Revenue Commitments

When you sign up with a telecom company, they will try to get you to agree to a Minimum Revenue Commitment, which means they expect you to spend at certain amount of money with them each year. To hit that number, you must actually use the telecom services and proprietary technology a certain amount. If it’s too high and you can’t meet it, then you get charged with penalties or must pay it anyway. Lower this number, or ask them to nix it all together. Not having a commitment frees you up to move your services to other providers.

Get a Service Level Agreement

Your telecom provider should offer you a standard service level, encompassing data speeds and networks. The service level agreement ensures that your provider will always give you the service level stated in your contract. If they don’t, they typically offer credits on your bill. Sometimes you can add a “terminate for cause” clause into your contract, saying that if the provider fails to meet the expectations set out in the contract (like the service level) that you’re within your rights to terminate the contract without incurring a penalty.

Use a TEM Company

Negotiation a telecom contract is difficult when you don’t know the ins and outs of your telecom expenditures. A Telecom Expense Management (TEM) company manages your accounts, giving you insight into how you’re spending your money, and helping you reduce overall telecom expenditures while getting the most out of your services. Asentinel Telecom Expense Management uses software and automation, giving you information you can use to leverage your negotiations with your telecom company.

Be Aware Of Mergers

If you are going to be negotiation with a telecom carrier, or even TV providers, you want to be aware of all the recent acquisitions and mergers. This may seem a bit over the top. However, having knowledge of which telecom carriers are owned by the same company can help you score a deal. If two companies operate under different names but answer to the same CEO, you may be able to get them to price match by demonstrating your knowledge if their prices are different. Make sure you use all the knowledge available to you when preparing to negotiation with telecom carriers for lower prices.

Make a list of the things you need from a telecom carrier, and privately determine what your business must have in the contract. When negotiating a telecom contract, or enterprise TV contract, don’t back down. Ask the questions you have, state the terms you’d like, and be prepared to walk away and find another carrier if the one you’re looking at can’t meet your needs.

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