Consider these facts:

1. Telecom contracts follow a bell curve. 15% are above average, and 70% are average and 15% are below average. Surprisingly, only 5% of companies negotiate excellent contracts.
2. Consider the stakes. Negotiating and average contract, as opposed to an excellent one, can cost in the $40,000 per year range (assuming a 100K monthly telecom spend), and this number can be as high as $60,000, assuming a poor contract negotiation.

Unless you have unlimited time to keep pace with the constant change in the telecom industry, you probably don’t have the insight to drive the best contract possible.

Excellent contracts, however, offer much more than industry leading rates. OCx insures that you are covered for changes in your business as well as changes in the telecom industry. Does your contract optimize SLA performance and allow you sufficient ramp to test and deploy circuits? Without the appropriate language, you risk forfeiting the cost savings gained through competitive rates as the contract matures.

Expertise, a Singluar Focus, and Leverage. OCx is one of the only telecom experts with a singular focus on Restaurant and Retail operations. Your business and applications are unique, and your contract should reflect it. Because we regularly negotiate telecom contracts for large, national chains, we have the volume, knowledge and the leverage to negotiate industry leading rates and terms. Your contract is too important to trust to inexperienced consultants or telecom “generalists.” And as many of our clients and vendors know, if a contract does not meet our standards, we will take it off the table.

Business Downturn & Divestiture	Protects you against penalties for closing or moving locations
Technology Upgrade	Allows you to migrate to technologies that better serve your evolving needs
Co-Terminous Circuit Termination	To avoid contract captivity. Prevents the contract from being extended each time a circuit is added mid-term, perpetually extending the contract.
Annual Price Reviews	Allows you the opportunity to take advantage of lower rates being offered by the carrier
Reasonable SLA’s	Allows reasonable timeframes for SLA performance recoveries
Test & Implementation Ramp	Allows sufficient time to rollout services and ramp to meet minimum spend commitments
Low Volume and Term Commitments	Gives you freedom to scale without penalty
Pre-Negotiated Rates for Future Locations	Protects the integrity of your overall contract by limiting possible rate increases
Customer Satisfaction Assurance	Gives you a cancellation window if you are not satisfied with service

RFP Preparation & Management

While RFPs are not always the best way to achieve the best contract outcome, we understand that they are sometimes required. Often, RFPs are used to drive down rates of the incumbent carrier, or to simply put competing offers on similar terms for the sake comparison. Either way, OCx can structure, write and manage RFPs, working closely with you and the carriers to create a competitive situation. We will then evaluate the RFPs according to your needs and make recommendations. OCx can significantly reduce the amount of time you spend managing and evaluating the RFP Process. RFP Case Study (link – AGI/Camping World)