In our previous business article, we touched on the importance of customer care within service you have signed up for. Another vital component when considering broadband for your business is the actual contract that you have agreed to. This week, we run through an often overlooked consideration when switching broadband providers – contract lengths.
Change is often a feared element when running a business. To provide long term stability the majority of broadband contracts from major providers such as BT, TalkTalk, Sky and Plusnet seem attractive due to their 2-3 year lock-in clauses, backed up by promises of long-term support or price caps. But the reality in our fast-changing world is that these very long contracts now prevent you from enjoying service flexibility as your business changes over time. This stagnation can lead to missed priced opportunities, new service and network updates and lock you into a contract from 2018, in 2021’s very different business landscape.
The world has changed
It’s no surprise that our shopping habits, customer expectations and the way we consume information has changed as technology and human demand evolves. As consumer habits have changed, the need for superfast deliveries, instant gratification and top-class consumer experiences have normalised.
With these online consumer evolutions leading the way, change has also impacted the way we work – whether it be at home, in the office or other flexible working scenarios. Geographical borders have fallen by the wayside while the concept of brick-and-mortar office space has been in flux for the past 10 years.
The tools we use daily; including cloud storage & shared working platforms, communication platforms like Teams, and the adaptability of an always-online business culture means our reliance on on robust connectivity to work seamlessly is pivotal.
Why are contract lengths usually so long?
When internet was once a luxury, one-year contracts were the norm across all major broadband providers. As the popularity of broadband grew and became accessible to almost everyone, 18+ month contract lengths became the industry standard for providers to try and keep customers with their incumbent provider.
There’s a few reasons these providers insist on longer contracts for home and business, including:
- Having a guaranteed income so far in advance helps with financial security
- Long contract lengths justify costs of installation and equipment like routers.
These contract lengths were just about workable four years ago, but how can we compare the business landscape even four years ago to today?
Why does Zzoomm Full Fibre Broadband offer 12 month contracts?
To align with our changing landscape and consumer demands, Zzoomm are proud to be one of the only Full Fibre broadband providers to offer short, 12-month contracts.
There’s a few reasons why we have done this:
We trust you’ll love our service
Quite simply, whether you’re a small business, one man/woman band or a large corporation, our service will work with your demands. Not only are our business service contracts 12 months – our speeds are up to 40x faster than what you’re used to, we have a 24/7 support team and guarantee our 6-hour SLA agreements.
We want to put you first
We’d be lying if we said we aren’t here to grow our customer base. We are a new provider looking to share our service with as many businesses as possible. But what we don’t do is confuse or take advantage of our customers. This means once you’re in contract with us, you won’t see any sudden price hikes or service changes (for the worse). In fact, all we have changed since our launch is increase customer speeds while decreasing prices.
We’re evolving alongside customer demand
We understand that no one can predict the future, so being tied in to any contract longer than 12 months is a significant risk. Although Zzoomm are risk-takers when it comes to challenging the traditional broadband providers – we don’t want you to feel trapped by us which is why our contracts are shorter, without being less hassle.
Why do 12 month contracts benefit your business?
Zzoomm offer 12-month contracts so that you can make decisions right now, without thinking “what if?”. No three-year shackles, only fantastic broadband and support when you need it. By offering shorter contracts you can grow and expand with the knowledge that you can upgrade your service when you need to. We’re flexible, and as you’ve seen with our other posts our service can change, adapt and grow alongside your business. Haven’t seen? Check out our article here on more reasons why your business needs Full Fibre.
Looking at broadband as a business necessity
If the last 4-5 years have changed the way we are working so significantly, then what could the next 5 years hold? Switching to Full Fibre broadband is simply getting your business ready for the future, so you can get ahead of the game now and reap the benefits over your business lifecycle.
You don’t need to wait until you are out of contract with your existing provider
You can order one of our professional or dedicated services to run alongside your existing service provider, as many businesses do. That means when your old service contract runs out you can upgrade to one of our faster services or stick with your original Zzoomm service – whatever works for your business.
Another option is to talk to your provider and find out what solutions are available to you. There may be exit clauses, there may have been price changes that were not beneficial to you. All of these scenarios change the clauses in your contract and could allow you to make a switch earlier than you think, without penalty. Forget downtime, get fast Full Fibre now.
Have a chat with us today
Switching broadband providers doesn’t have to take up precious work day calendar space, our local team are here to certainly make sure it doesn’t feel that way, anyway. If you are interested in experts advice on how Full Fibre broadband will benefit your business, we’re on hand to provide our insight and share some inside industry knowledge.
Check your postcode and order today or give one of our experts a call on 0333 311 9933 to see how we can support your business growth.