| Jeffrey is the owner of
SavingAdvice.com - a website dedicated to saving you money. |
Most people toss out the junk mail
that comes in their mailbox never realizing that it can save them
hundreds of dollars a year. That's because "junk mail"
includes competing offers which can be used to lower the rates you
currently pay for services.
 When
companies send out junk mail, they're hoping to convert new
customers to their product or service. To do so, they often offer
discounted introductory rates below the normal retail price. When
you have an offer from a competing company, you have leverage
against your current provider to get them to lower their rates.
Say you receive a credit card offer
in the mail for a 0% interest rate for 6 months and you are
currently paying 18% on your current credit card. Call your credit
card company and simply say, "I received a credit card offer
from (credit card company A) that is offering me 0% financing for
six months (or whatever the competing offer is) to switch. Can your
company match this offer?" While they won't always match the
offer, you'll be surprised at how many times they will give you a
better deal than you are currently getting.
Junk mail offers aren't limited to
credit cards. Telephone companies, cellular phones, Internet service
and satellite/cable TV are a few others that are common. When you
call with a competing offer in hand, you're in a much stronger
position to receive a discount on your current services.
When you call, be polite. If the
first person you talk to can't give you the discount that you want,
ask to talk with a manager. Explain that you want to stay, but only
if you can get a comparable rate with what the competing company is
offering. Since it's much more costly to get a new customer than
retain one, in many instances you'll get the discount you want.
If you receive a discount that you're
satisfied with, then you've saved yourself money. If they offer a
discount but not as good as the competing offer, thank them and say
you'll get back to them. If the competing offer is worth switching
to, then call back the next day and make the switch (sometimes on
the second call a different person will give the discount you
wanted). If the competing offer isn't worth the effort, don't do a
thing until the next competing offer comes.
Getting into the habit of calling
your current service providers with all the competing offers you
receive will ensure that you get the best price available from all
the services you pay for. When you see how simple it can be to lower
your costs using this method, you may find that you'll start looking
forward to that junk mail filling your mailbox each day.
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