Has anyone else noticed that customers are looking for more and more ways out of a contract? They all want a 3 year price with a month to month contract. This is how Wikipedia defines contract:
A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do, or refrain from doing, an act, which resulting contract is enforceable in a court of law. It is a binding legal agreement. [1] That is to say, a contract is an exchange of promises for the breach of which the law will provide a remedy.
I recently had a customer that wanted to buy an Internet T1. He liked my price of $299.00 with a router but said that he was concerned about the contract. So, I gave him a one year price. He thought that was too high. So, I went back to the vendor and got him a business downturn clause, another addendum with an out for poor service, and a 90 day trial period. He still balked at everything. This is a three hundred dollar a month deal with as many outs as I could give him and he still was not happy. He wanted a clause that basically said he could take his ball and leave at any time. I finally told the gentleman to quit wasting my time and hung up on him.
This is not the first time this has happened to me recently. If you sign a 3 year lease on a car can you take it back halfway through the lease? I don’t think so. So, why should you be able to get out of your telecommunications contracts? I deal with a lot of traders who only do one year deals and spend the extra money so that they have this flexiblity. Why don’t others see it this way?
I do however have a solution. SBC/Ameritech used to do it this way. You sign a 3 year deal and if you leave after one year you pay the difference in what the one year vs the three year contract was. If anyone knows of a vendor that handles things this way, I would love to work with them, and would appreciate you letting me know about them…..Thoughts?