The power of the phone call is one of the best tools you have as a consumer. If you are polite and persistent you can often lower your costs consistently each year.
This goes along with the saying that “if you don’t ask you don’t get.” What I mean by this is that if you just take a few minutes periodically to make a phone call to your service provider and ask for a better deal or a better plan you would be surprised how quickly you get savings. Often they make the change for you immediately and you reap the savings right away.
For example, you call your cell phone provider and tell them that you need to lower your bill for budget reasons and want to know what they can do for you to lower your bill. Often they will just give you a discount or put you in a better plan. It’s that easy. Again, you want to be polite but persistent.
You can do this with your TV service, you insurance company, your gym membership, lawn service, etc. Literally any monthly service cost can often be reduced by just asking the question. Remember, if you don’t ask you don’t get. They can always say “no.” At least you tried. Also, if they do say no, you might seriously consider if you want to continue to do business with a company that is not willing to work with you.
If you want to make the call even more effective you can get offers and pricing from competitors that are better than your price with your current provider. Tell your current provider that you would love to stay with them and ask politely if they will match the offer of the competitor. This will put more pressure on them to give you a better deal. Again, the worst they can do is say no. Keep in mind that in many cases, if you really want to save, you must be willing to endure a little hassle and make a change. Getting competitive quotes and being willing to switch (if they won’t match pricing) is one of your best tools as a consumer!
Before making a change to a different provider, be sure to do some research on the new company. Look for reviews and feedback from other consumers. You want to make sure you are switching to a legitimate company with a good product or service. Ultimately you are looking for the best value, which is where price and quality meet.
What phone calls can you make this week to save yourself some money?
