How to Negotiate With Retentions; Getting the Absolute Best Deal

[htan]

Thank you for visiting my sticky!

The main purpose here is to give everyone a basis on how to effectively negotiate for a retention offer with their own carrier. Written here are the steps and guidelines I followed to obtain the following plan with a decent price;
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$40 + HST

Blackberry 45 Fab5 + 911, SAF
[300 Daytime Minutes | Nationwide Fab5 | 500mb] (10% Discounted)
6pm Evenings (100% Discounted)
Text Messages - Unlimited (100% Discounted)
Caller Display (100% Discounted)
Msg Ctr Express (100% Discounted)

System Access Fee (100 Discounted)
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Always have something to write down your progress including the date and time, representative name and employee id, prices offered, discounts offered, and anything else that may help you getting what you want

most importantly,
Always understand that they're helping you and you need them; make them understand your situation and form a relationship with them.
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1. Preparation:

1. Know what your usage is (will be used to convince the rep you need the features you're asking for)

Before calling in, I suggest that you download a few of your bills in .csv format from bell.ca and analyse them in Excel. Look for the details in which including certain features will reduce your monthly bill (incl. when you make the most calls, what your data usage is, long distance & other overages, overages on texts, etc.).
This will ensure that A. you have an idea of what you want and need and B. makes it easier to communicate with the reps in their language.

2. Anchor your pricing and feature set (ie "my last contract was $40/mo, had features x,y,z. I want to keep it similarly priced") if you can. NEVER HIT YOUR MAXIMUM PRICE POINT ON THE FIRST ROUND OF NEGOTIATIONS



2. Negotiations:

a. Be firm, but courteous and polite.

b. Put the onus on the retentions rep to find a plan and price for you; never dictate what you want, rather, use the data you found on your own usage patterns and say that x, y, z features will help reduce your bill

c. Once you have a base plan that you're satisfied with, keep the list of features requested to a minimum (use an anchor).

d. Referring back to point 2., even if you didn't get the feature set you wanted, you can always add them if need be because you've left room.

e. Now, gauge the situation - if the rep is hesitant to give any more discounts, the best thing to do would be to call back and speak to another rep to negotiate for more features.



3. Followup, confirmation, and verification.

i. Don't forget that you can always call back to speak to another representative and renegotiate even if you've accepted a previous offer. The only guidelines here? BE REASONABLE, BE REALISTIC.

ii. Always call and speak to another representative look up your account and check that you have received what you've been promised (there are horror stories around these forums about this, so it is IMPORTANT). Check the expiry date of discounts, and anything else that may crop up a few months into your contract.
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NEW:
Since the launch of the HSPA network, almost every North American carrier has been trying to limit data usage on their networks. The general consensus I've seen in recent posts is that

1. Unlimited data and unlimited browser is NOT offered or be allowed to transfer (even on grandfathered plans) onto HSPA.
2. Mobile Browser on new plans are generally capped, and discounts on smartphone data plans are notoriously difficult to obtain

[H0AX]

Above tips are very usefull but i would like to add something more

They tell you that you getting this all features and extra min everything for free and you get happy even when you call back they tell you the same thing...its not even csr fault because they tell you exactly what they see..so When you get free features and discounts .. ask them following things its few but very important

Date of when discount comes off from plan

Features that how long this feature is free for and what date its coming off ?

Take Agent Name and Number

Also note the date and time when you make this deal.

Whatever information they gave you on phone and you think date and discounts are right tell them to put this all in memo with dates and they have to put it as per your request and tell them that you will call back to make sure that what you put in memo..and if you call back any csr will read it to you if u ask for it they cannot deny

After deal check your INVOICE check all features that u r getting that u asked for, cuz in my past 4 yrs exp ppl dont check invoice and they under impression that they getting everything they asked for for free and if they see invoice by mistake after 1-2 years..they come back crying to dispute charges for last 1-2 years..so u wait 2-3 hrs to go into hassels and its not gurantee that u get refund for 1-2 yrs. You have to understand that CSR are human too they make mistake..and you have to work along too get the right stuff

After your first or 2nd invoice if you think that u r not getting u promised then call them right away dont wait because Bell Dispute policy is 3 months if more then 3 months you have to go thru supervisor..wait on phone like hours and other hassels so if you have time u can do it..if its under three months and memo is right ..they will give you refund and also the features and probaly something more for free as well

Hope those tips are helpfull if you follow those then u wont have any problem with any carrier ...

[Cadillax]

Can you call retentions before the end of your contract to renew? I.e. 2 years in?

[virusplq]

You can call to renew at any point but there is never a guarantee you will receive what you are asking.

[a in yul]

^yep; sometimes it renews your contract depending on how good of a deal they gave you..

[virusplq]

If you really expect to get something out of any company don't see for an arm, a leg and their firstborn. We have some people call in and say I want this, this, this and this for free or I cancel. well you know what, thank you for choosing bell your final bill will be in the mail.

[Cadillax]

^yep; sometimes it renews your contract depending on how good of a deal they gave you..

Woah hold up, so you're telling me I could possible call in asking for a better deal, but NOT have to renew my contract?

Also what If I'm on a family plan?

[virusplq]

Even id you renew your contract, it does not affect your HUG or anything so you can renew without it causing problems.

There are some occasions that yes, you can get better deals without renewing but the whole point of giving you that option is to renew.

[a in yul]

^exactly, depending on what you receive u may or may not be asked to renew as a condition of the freebie...

not to forget, sometimes u r in year 2 of contract so renewing for 1 additional year is strategic and smart.

[Cadillax]

Alright, so my current plan is this:

The following are your customizable services:

Preferred 30 Complete -36M/Cellular basic service hide
Caller ID
You cannot customize the following services:

1X Browser pay per use
1X Data pay per use
Basic Long Distance Rate
Digital Data Provisioning
Mobile Browser
Per minute billing
Text Messaging 2500

Does this mean that they can only play around with how much my base plan costs?
Can you bargain with phone upgrades at all?

[htan]

Does this mean that they can only play around with how much my base plan costs?
Can you bargain with phone upgrades at all?

there are no automated methods which you can use to get an offer on a contingency basis - this is how you'll get a retentive offer from bell that will actually sway you to stay with them.

if you want to negotiate, you'll need to speak to retentions - it's the only way you'll get what you want


you can bargain on phone upgrades

[Cadillax]

there are no automated methods which you can use to get an offer on a contingency basis - this is how you'll get a retentive offer from bell that will actually sway you to stay with them.

if you want to negotiate, you'll need to speak to retentions - it's the only way you'll get what you want


you can bargain on phone upgrades

Yes I am aware I need to call in, but I guess I should have been more clear. What I meant to ask was "Am I allowed to switch my plan from my CURRENT smartphone plan, to a BLACKBERRY plan?"

Or am I stuck with a regular phone plan for the remainder of my contract? That would seem pretty dumb to me..

[a in yul]

u can change; no probs.

[Cadillax]

u can change; no probs.

Thanks a ton!

[Sled2300]

Why does it say on my features list churnrisk? I know they are worried I'm going to buy out the remaining months of my contract and churn off the network but does it mean anything other then that.