Do you know what will happen if you have to leave the provider you are currently with for one of your services? Say it’s the phone company your with and you want to change to a new flexible and low cost VoIP provider. Do you know how that would be accomplished with your existing vendor? I find that 95% of people never even consider what steps are needed when you need to leave a current provider. Here are three simple questions you should ask of every new or existing business relationship:
- How do we enter into and begin a new contractual relationship together? In other words, what are the details of getting started?
- What is the planned duration of the initial contract term? (this allows for us to renew after the initial period and make any necessary adjustments instead of just assuming a perpetual initial contract)
- In addition what is the plan for completion when all objectives are met, or in the unfortunate case where objectives are not met and the relationship needs to change how do we amicably exit our business relationship?
If you can’t answer these questions about your existing partners then you need to take a closer look. At worst, ask these questions in the new relationships you are forming now, so you don’t pay for it later.
[...] this post mirrors some of what I wrote about in Clear Definition Of Business Relationships Always Equal Success I felt it necessary to bring up with more detail because too often I find we all rush into things [...]