Let’s talk phone contracts. When you’re choosing the right telephone system for your business, you’ll probably be looking for a service provider who can provide the best phone service for the best price.
It should be simple, really. A reliable telephone service for your business from a provider who can guarantee support when you need it offers security and manages your connection.
What often throws business owners into turmoil when choosing their phone system isn’t just the costs of the service but the contract you end up tied into.
Usually, the only option is to sign up to a contract for your telephone system that can range from 1 year to as much as 3-5 years+.
You’re literally committing to years with a company on the belief they will consistently provide the best telephone service for you.
But hold on, if they are confident in their ability to do this for you, why do they need to tie you into a contract? And why aren’t they brave enough to give you a monthly phone contract, so you have the ability to leave at any time?
How do telephone service contracts work?
Phone contracts are supposed to offer a money-saving solution because you’ve committed to being with the provider for a period of time. Often, the longer the contract, the better the deal on your phone system.
Sometimes the term of the phone contract will include the cost of equipment such as the telephones themselves. These may be rented or leased to you for the duration of the contract, or the costs over time mean you outright own the equipment by the end of the fixed term.
This means you are tied in to staying with that provider until the contract ends, or you pay a large fee to leave early.
Why do telephone services have contracts?
From your point of view, it gives you the reassurance of the fixed price you’ll be paying for the contract period.
From the provider’s point of view, it means they’ve got your guaranteed custom for the agreed period. The problem is, there tends to be little wiggle room if, for some reason, you aren’t happy with the services you’ve been provided with or circumstances have changed within your business.
Unfortunately, what often happens is once they’ve tied you into a contract, the level of service and customer care you were promised disappears.
The money you’ve saved on your long-term contract is wasted in the time you have to spend trying to call your provider because of a connection problem or issue with the equipment itself, often spending several frustrating hours on hold.
Why most telephone providers don’t offer monthly phone contracts
There is a cost for the provider to set up your phone system and get you up and running. If you’ve decided this isn’t the service for you after a month, they could lose money.
It also means there is a greater risk of leaving their service if you’re unhappy. Problems occur, of course, especially when technology is involved, but for a large provider dealing with lots of customers, finding a solution to those problems doesn’t often happen very quickly.
If you could leave easily, the likelihood is you would do so. A long-term contract prevents you from doing this. What does this mean for you? Unreliable support, frustration, and your time and money wasted.
What your telephone service provider should be doing for you
It’s quite simple. If a customer is happy with your service, receives the support they need, and is well looked after, they will stay with you regardless of a phone contract.
Here at Kingstar Services, we offer our telephone service, Kingstar Voice. We know there are several ways we look after our customers and believe all telephone services should be doing the same.
- Answer the phone to customers in a reasonable time frame.
- Answer any questions they may have so they feel reassured and heard.
- Treat them as the individual they are, not just another number.
- Understand them and their business so you can provide them with what they need.
- Don’t assume the service is working for them. Ask.
It’s harder for large companies to provide the personal touch, but there is no excuse for not looking after your customers.
Why we don’t believe in contracts for our telephone services
Here at Kingstar Services, we DON’T tie you into a contract when you sign up for Kingstar Voice. Sadly we have seen many cases where people have been forced to stay with a provider who isn’t delivering the service they promised.
There is very little that can be done to get out of a phone contract, unless there’s a serious breach on their part, and time and time again we’ve seen people stuck and frustrated.
We believe telephone system providers should be doing more to keep their customers, and if they don’t have a contract to rely on they will have to deliver a quality service instead.
Keeping an unhappy customer stuck in a contract could also do the provider more harm than good. People talk, and the damage word of mouth can bring will not be worth their contract!
We want all our customers to feel like VIPs. We want them to stay with Kingstar Services because they choose to, not because we’ve made them sign a contract.
This is why we only provide monthly rolling contracts. We won’t tie you in, we want you to choose to stay with us. Without a long-term contract you have a guarantee our services and support won’t drop off and we’ll always be committed and motivated to provide you with the best telephone and customer service.
We know not being in a contract could lead to concerns of random price increases, that’s why we offer a price promise. We won’t randomly charge you more. Why should you believe us? Well, you’re not in a contract so if we tried you can walk away!
We also understand things change, the service you’re on may no longer be suitable for your needs. Because you’re not stuck in a contract, we can adapt and be flexible with your business.
The only time we’ll ask you to sign a contract is if you want to rent our equipment, but we still guarantee the best customer service and care.
We won’t take you for granted, we won’t tie you into a phone contract, and we will ensure you choose to stay.
Find out more about Kingstar Voice Telephone Systems. Contact us.
Article authored by Laura Bean Creative Little World
