Hello! Seiiti Arata. In order for you to continue building your financial prosperity, you need to reduce your spending and increase your income. Personally, I believe you have a great potential to increase your income, so you should focus your attention on what you can do to earn more.
Having given this brief explanation, there are also some simple things you can do now to reduce your spending, which will have a cumulative effect over several years, so it’ll definitely be worth it. In our financial enrichment course that you can find at https://arata.se/moneytaboo, it is explained how to do this, with examples of different types of negotiations, to help you reduce payments on different types of monthly-paid services.
1. When should I ask for a discount?
Requesting a discount is a bit of a touchy area. On the one hand, there is the financial aspect. On the other hand, there is the emotional aspect, which is a lot more personal. Firstly, let’s consider the financial aspect.
The best kind of discount you can receive is in situations where there is an immediate or large final saving. You could achieve an immediate, large result by getting a discount when you buy a car or a property. Although the discount may be proportionately small, for example you might only be saving 1% of the total price, this 1% could represent thousands of pounds. In this way, it doesn’t take much effort in terms of investment in order to receive a large return. The only problem is that throughout your lifetime, there won’t be many chances to make investments on such a large scale. Therefore, it’s rare to come across opportunities to save money on buying a house, a car, or any other big expenses.
Recurrent spending is a part of our daily lives. An example of receiving a recurring discount could be getting a lower price every time you go to buy fruit from the market. Every week, you save a few more pennies. Provided that the process for the discount is simple, fast, socially appropriate and even expected, it may be worth it in the long run.
You’ll realise that asking for a discount may become less worth it if you’re putting a lot of effort into getting the discount, but not receiving the results that you’d expect in return for the amount of time and effort you’re putting in. There is a haggling culture in a lot of street markets in many regions, where it is normal and sometimes even expected that you ask for a cheeky little discount. In other environments, you may end up struggling to haggle and end up getting no discounts at all. This would be a huge waste of your time.
Always think about how much time you’re putting into getting discounts. Time is the resource that you are putting into achieving a financial discount. In order for you to get discounts, you’ll have to invest some time and effort in doing a bit of research in order to find out what options you have. If you’re negotiating over the phone, the chances are that you’ll be on hold for a long time until you are connected with the person in charge; so always make sure that you’ve made enough time to account for little bumps in the road like this.
2. Look for discounts on monthly, automatic payments.
Next, take a look at your personal finances and keep an eye out for monthly, automatic payments that you make. If you can negotiate a discount on this type of payment, the discount can be applied to all future transactions. If this does happen, you’ll see a great result from your efforts.
For example, take into account bank and credit card fees. Internet subscription plans and telephone services. When you get a good discount on these services, it’s like having money automatically being saved on a monthly basis.
You can contact the service providers and explain that you want to renegotiate the fees you are paying. Even if the discount is small, you only have to make the effort once to feel the benefit many times over the term of your contract.
3. Keep calm and be respectful.
Some people believe that to negotiate well you need to be tough, and that you must yell or talk loudly. This isn’t the case. It is only necessary to be clear about what you want, to explain it assertively and to devote enough time to see the negotiations through.
Companies that offer banking and telephone services are huge businesses. They serve millions of customers. Therefore, they have several documented processes. Call center centers follow procedures. All employees are trained to follow a protocol.
Part of the protocol is to persuade you to give up on asking for the discount. That is why the person responsible will not be the one to speak to you first. The first customer service person is screened, and they only have the power to direct you to a department that will negotiate a rebate or discount, or to a department that is responsible for keeping you loyal to the brand. For example, if you were to say that you are dissatisfied with your plan, they might send you to speak to someone that will offer you free, extra services so that you continue to pay the same amount but have a more inflated service plan. Worse still is when they try to make you pay for it at a later date.
Remember that usually the triage person has a target of sending the maximum number of calls to additional sales, and so they will do everything possible to prevent you from being transferred to the discount department.
It is important to remain calm and clear throughout this whole process. Your reason for calling is to pay less. Explain this in a polite way, but still be assertive to make sure that you are transferred to the correct department.
Make a list of the results that you have found when doing your research, including the best prices you could pay if you were to go with the competitor. As long as you go through the procedure calmly, the responsible person will propose a new price within the limits of what is possible. However, there are certain factors that are a sure fire way of increasing your discounts, such as threatening to cancel your subscription to the service.
It’s time to think outside the box. As well as looking for monthly and automatic discounts, you should consider things like: what can you do now that will generate a monthly income for you? For example, if you were to install a vending machine into a commercial building and just keep on top of basic maintenance, you would find that the machine would generate a quick and reliable source of income for you with very little effort on your part. There are so many other things you could do that could begin to earn you a persistent, monthly income in the future if you take the time to think of some ideas.
Whether you’re looking to make quick money or a way to save money, if you put it into practice right now, well done. Congratulations. If you feel like there’s something stopping you from doing so, try and understand what it is that’s stopping you. Is it laziness? Is it out of your comfort zone? Or are you afraid of it going wrong? Is it the fear of being judged, of what people will think of you?
You need to keep in mind that there are people, right now, who are using the same internet or mobile phone services as you, using the same banks and credit cards to pay their bills, however they are paying less than you. Right now, there are people that have installed vending machines around the city and that are making money. Why is it that some people will chase after a more financially stable future, but other people do nothing about it?
If you think there might be some emotional or psychological barriers that are stopping you from making the best choices in regards to your finances, have a look at arata.se/moneytaboo where you can find some information about not only the choices that will lead you to spending less money, but important decisions that you could make in order to help you earn more. A good financial balance comes around when you are applying your efforts in the right places, which can help you generate a greater income. There is more information about this topic at arata.se/moneytaboo.