Are you paying too much for your cell phone, home phone, cable or internet? Chances are, you are! Well, you can lower your monthly bills with one easy phone call...and when I see easy, I mean easy. One thing people often forget is that they are customers, and customers mean money for companies. These companies want your money and don't want you or your money to go to another company. In fact, these service providers want to keep you as their customer so bad that they have a whole department dedicated to keeping you as a customer, and they hire and pay tons of employees to try to keep you. They are spending money to keep you as a customer! This department is often called "Retention Services", "Customer Retention", "Loyalty Services" or something along those lines. It's a subcategory of "Customer Service". It is much easier and more cost effective for these companies to maintain their current customers, than constantly trying to get new ones (advertising $$$).
Before you make that call...
What are you going to say? How do you know if the deal they are offering you is any good? Can you can get a better one? How do you deal with the retention services rep?
First things first, do a little research. Google the offers of your service provider, as well as their competitors. If you find a better deal than what you are currently paying take note of the deal and where you found it. You can also call the other service providers, tell them the service plan you are currently on and see what they would offer you to switch over. Then call your service provider and speak to customer services. Tell them that another company is offering "x" deal which is much better than what you are currently paying and ask them if they can match the offer. In most cases, you will most likely be connected to a retention representative. The retention rep already has a list of deals that they are able to offer you at their disposal, special plans & features that no other departments have. They generally start out with weaker deals. If the deal they offer you is not close to what the competitor is offering, tell them that the deal the competitor is offering is still much better. The retention rep will probably keep countering with the offers they are allowed to give until they can't give you a better deal. For instance, If you were trying to get your cell phone bill lowered they might take off one of their frivolous fees that they charge such as a"$5 access fee", or they will upgrade your services by adding more daytime minutes, start your evenings sooner, add extra data to your plan, add free voice messaging, free text, free caller display or a combination of the above. If you really went all out and threatened to cancel and the rep called your bluff, just tell them that you have to "think about this" and remember what deal they were able to give you and call back the next day and tell the new rep the deal that you were offered. Even if you just take the first offer they give you, no hassle, you will still be saving or getting a lot more than you were before.
You can also Google "retention" and the name of your service provider to find forums and discussions of other customers who were able to get a better deal and what they got. Look at the most current forum posts and threads, as many of the deals posted could be outdated. This is a pretty good strategy because someone else already did the work for you in finding out what the "retention offers" are that the service provider is offering. This time when you call and get connected with a retention rep just quote the retention offer that was offered to other people and just tell the rep that a few of your friends or family members were given this offer and ask them why you are paying more. They will often give you that deal cause it's one of the retention deals that they offer and you will get it without any hassle.
Finally, be nice! There is no need to be rude or mean. Keep in mind that the person on the other side of the phone is just doing their job. Some places offer their retention reps a bonus or a commission for saving a customer while offering them the lowest level retention offer. If you get a rep that isn't giving you the same deals everyone else is getting, just hang up and try again with a different rep (some reps are "softer" than others). If you are looking for new hardware (e.g. new cell phone), make sure you are getting the best deal possible as there is no more negotiating once you make a deal for hardware. With all these retention offers you will most likely have to extend your contract. Make sure you get a good deal before you do and try not to get stuck in a long term contract.You will often get calls from your service provider to extend your contract and they might offer you a deal that is a little bit better than what you currently have. Don't take these as you can always get a better deal from retention services.
My family is currently with Fido for our cell phone service and Rogers for our internet, home phone and cable. I have reduced the cost of all of our services and received many add-ons and channels for no additional charge using this strategy. So do your research, call your wireless, cable, phone, or internet service provider and lower your bill today!
-Thrifty Kash
Before you make that call...
What are you going to say? How do you know if the deal they are offering you is any good? Can you can get a better one? How do you deal with the retention services rep?
First things first, do a little research. Google the offers of your service provider, as well as their competitors. If you find a better deal than what you are currently paying take note of the deal and where you found it. You can also call the other service providers, tell them the service plan you are currently on and see what they would offer you to switch over. Then call your service provider and speak to customer services. Tell them that another company is offering "x" deal which is much better than what you are currently paying and ask them if they can match the offer. In most cases, you will most likely be connected to a retention representative. The retention rep already has a list of deals that they are able to offer you at their disposal, special plans & features that no other departments have. They generally start out with weaker deals. If the deal they offer you is not close to what the competitor is offering, tell them that the deal the competitor is offering is still much better. The retention rep will probably keep countering with the offers they are allowed to give until they can't give you a better deal. For instance, If you were trying to get your cell phone bill lowered they might take off one of their frivolous fees that they charge such as a"$5 access fee", or they will upgrade your services by adding more daytime minutes, start your evenings sooner, add extra data to your plan, add free voice messaging, free text, free caller display or a combination of the above. If you really went all out and threatened to cancel and the rep called your bluff, just tell them that you have to "think about this" and remember what deal they were able to give you and call back the next day and tell the new rep the deal that you were offered. Even if you just take the first offer they give you, no hassle, you will still be saving or getting a lot more than you were before.
You can also Google "retention" and the name of your service provider to find forums and discussions of other customers who were able to get a better deal and what they got. Look at the most current forum posts and threads, as many of the deals posted could be outdated. This is a pretty good strategy because someone else already did the work for you in finding out what the "retention offers" are that the service provider is offering. This time when you call and get connected with a retention rep just quote the retention offer that was offered to other people and just tell the rep that a few of your friends or family members were given this offer and ask them why you are paying more. They will often give you that deal cause it's one of the retention deals that they offer and you will get it without any hassle.
Finally, be nice! There is no need to be rude or mean. Keep in mind that the person on the other side of the phone is just doing their job. Some places offer their retention reps a bonus or a commission for saving a customer while offering them the lowest level retention offer. If you get a rep that isn't giving you the same deals everyone else is getting, just hang up and try again with a different rep (some reps are "softer" than others). If you are looking for new hardware (e.g. new cell phone), make sure you are getting the best deal possible as there is no more negotiating once you make a deal for hardware. With all these retention offers you will most likely have to extend your contract. Make sure you get a good deal before you do and try not to get stuck in a long term contract.You will often get calls from your service provider to extend your contract and they might offer you a deal that is a little bit better than what you currently have. Don't take these as you can always get a better deal from retention services.
My family is currently with Fido for our cell phone service and Rogers for our internet, home phone and cable. I have reduced the cost of all of our services and received many add-ons and channels for no additional charge using this strategy. So do your research, call your wireless, cable, phone, or internet service provider and lower your bill today!
-Thrifty Kash
For more helpful tips on how to save money and get everything cheaper check out ThriftyKash.com
You can also find the best deals in Canada in the deals section of ThriftyKash.com
ThriftyKash - Get everything for cheaper!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kash_MahdiYou can also find the best deals in Canada in the deals section of ThriftyKash.com
ThriftyKash - Get everything for cheaper!
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