Insights

That recently negotiated contract may not produce as much savings as you expected. Similar to buying a car with hidden fees like maintenance plans and creative financing, most telecom contracts have back-end costs that can significantly cut your savings. The carriers’ contractual sticker-prices proclaim double-digit reductions knowing they will recover margin through utilizing methods and tactics that are rarely uncovered, acknowledged or challenged.

Talk is not cheap. Ask anyone at a Fortune 1000 company responsible for overseeing the enterprise’s telecom sourcing or telecom contract management. Not only is it not cheap, it’s as complex as can possibly be—which is precisely how the telecom providers like it. The more complex the telecom agreement, the easier it is for them to add fees, hide costs, and generally jack up how much you pay to connect your company to your customers.

In the movies auctions always look glamorous and exciting. People with tons of money bid millions of dollars on priceless works of art. In real life, auctions are far less appealing – or successful. Not only are the items up for auction typically far more mundane, but the bidders are a combination of people who really know what they’re doing, the professionals, and those who have no idea what they’re doing, the rank amateurs.