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The key to continuously serving your business mobile interests: Effective contract management throughout the term.

16 Sep 2024

Mobile communication contracts typically have a 2-to-3-year term, so once a new contract has been negotiated it’s all too easy to shift your focus elsewhere and assume the contract will take care of itself until the next renewal.

However, the foundation of establishing lasting positive change lies in the effective management of your business’ mobile estate during the contract term.

Organisations are continuously evolving, and their business mobile estate needs to adapt accordingly throughout the term of the contract to avoid unnecessary overspend.

Here are five tactics to ensure good management of your estate, creating the best conditions for a successful contract renewal:

Accurate tracking of Usage and Costs

Accessing and processing usage and cost data is not always straightforward, but consistent monitoring of mobile usage and associated costs ensures that you have a clear understanding of your organization’s needs and how they are changing. For example, data usage typically increases by between 30-40% during a contract term. By analysing usage patterns and identifying cost drivers, you lower the risk of unexpected overspend and increase your ability to make more informed decisions when securing your next contract.

Ensuring Co-Terminus Contracts

One of the significant challenges in managing mobile contracts is dealing with staggered expiration dates, which can result when new lines are added during a contract term. It is important that any new lines added during the contract term are co-terminus with existing lines – i.e. they have the same contract end-date – to simplify contract management and enhance your negotiating power. This alignment reduces complexity and increases convenience by allowing you to renew all lines simultaneously, giving you leverage to negotiate better terms.

Efficient Issue Resolution

Establishing clear processes for handling issues such as lost or damaged devices and ensuring swift replacements is vital. Prompt issue resolution maintains employee productivity and satisfaction, and holding your supplier to account demonstrates to them that you manage your contracts proactively, setting an important precedent. This proactive management can lead to better support and service terms in the renewal agreement.

Establishing robust internal process and training

Often, IT Directors negotiate the original contract, but the day-to-day management is passed to others in the team who may not have the subject matter knowledge and experience to ask the right question and request things like co-terminus agreements. Training your team to have the foundational knowledge base to manage the estate properly is critical to realising the most value during the contract term and ensure clear and objective insight going into the process to select your next contract.

Building Strong Supplier Relationships

Maintaining regular communication with your supplier, asking them to provide monthly analysis led bill monitoring, and addressing any service issues promptly fosters a positive relationship. Suppliers are more inclined to offer better terms to organisations that are engaged and proactive in managing their contracts.