Signing a long-term contract with no escape clause

Signing a long-term contract with no escape clause is a bad business decision…7 Reasons why not to…

Handcuffs and poor service. Once many companies sign these iron-clad contracts, they often times disappear and do not follow through on SLAs. Service levels drop because they now have you locked in.
Huge Penalty Clause. Even if you want to get out of the contract, it’s a massive penalty fee or the balance of the contract. You are stuck with poor service.
Nickel and diming outside of a contract. Many of these contracts have fine print, allowing them to still invoice for services you thought were covered. So why do you even have this contract that you can’t get out of?
100 Pages of Legal talk. Contracts can be long and difficult to read. Many you have to click on a link to take you to a site where there are pages upon pages.
Proprietary equipment. Why sign a contract for something only they can work on? This limits your options on finding another provider and is a monopoly.
Costs FTE dollars. Takes FTE away from core banking functions – FI’s should be focused on core offerings like accounts, loans, wealth management etc.
Lack of online tracking and web interface. to review service calls. Most Time & Material companies do not have online tracking, web interface reporting capabilities.

If you want to learn more or have questions about any of the above mentioned, please reach out to your local Cook Account Manager or contact us here.