One of the goals of any well-written contract is to put an agreement in writing. But it’s also important that that writing accomplish something else: clearly defining an agreement between two parties so that the expectations of both sides are properly managed and established.
Enter service agreements. These documents can have wide-reaching uses. But they’re often used in purchases of service-based business from corporations in our daily lives, which is why our cell phone agreements and other such bills are typically handled as service agreements.
These contracts might sound scary, but there’s a good chance you’ve signed one in the past few months. A service agreement with a satellite TV provider, for example, will qualify as one. There’s a good chance you didn’t even review these agreements thoroughly before signing it; that’s how used you are to the common service agreement.
As is the case in all legal documents, knowledge is power: it’s important that you review competing service agreements so that you know what services packages actually contain. You’ll often find that advertising can be misleading; legal documentation is usually not quite so misleading. Yes, it might be a dry read, but giving a service agreement contract a good read can be worth the effort.
These agreements will lay out both payment terms and the expectations of services to be rendered. They’ll also have other information in them, such as how the service agreement can be terminated in some cases. This is important to have included if you are a purchaser, because it often means you’ll have an “out” in the future if you need it.
As a business, a good service agreement should help you sell what it is you offer – and you’ll want to make sure that payment is guaranteed in these agreements, or else you may never get paid for what you do.
To download service agreements, CLICK HERE.