While the most frugal won’t get cable, won’t get internet, won’t get home or cell phones, in reality most of you reading this have internet (unless you’re at a cafe), and most probably also have cable and a phone or two. Well, with a quick phone call you can easily get your rate reduced, often by a fair amount. I did this myself for my cell phone service a year ago. Here’s how:

1) Explore the competition.  By finding a better deal from your competition, you’ve got the edge in negotiation. One thing to look at is deals with other companies. If your cable is with Rogers and your internet and cell phone with Bell, you would save money by moving to Bell, even if the initial plan were the same price, as Bell offers a discount if you have a number of products with them.

Look for “new customer” offers as well. These are often great deals which you can use to your advantage. Always find concrete proof of these deals, and save them.

2) Call your current company, armed with your new offers. Immediately call the cancellation line rather than dealing with customer service, citing the competition’s offers as your reasons for leaving your current company. Their job is to do their absolute best to keep you. Even if you have absolutely no intention whatsoever of leaving your current company, making them think you will is without a doubt the most efficient way to get a better deal.

3) Be firm, but polite. One of the key things to remember is that the person on the other end of the line deals with disgruntled customers yelling at them all day. Call centers are known to be hell for a reason, and working the customer retention line is especially so. In order to entice them to give you the best offer they can, treat them as you would like to be treated if you were in their position. Remember to be firm, but do be polite.

4) Don’t back down, but do negotiate. The representative will tell you the other company is offering inferior service and try to sell you on theirs. Let them know that you are happy with the value they are offering, and you don’t feel the service is inferior. However, you do need to compromise at some point, or you will end up with nothing. If they offer you money off, it’s money off. You could go with the competition if you want to, or if you’re happy with your current service enjoy the discount!  When I did it I didn’t get quite as good a deal as the competition was offering, but I did save over 10% on my bill, with a phone call that took just over 10 minutes.

This is a great way to reduce monthly expenses on TV, internet and phone usage. Competition is stiff in these industries; take advantage of that!

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