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Negotiating Rates with Your Credit Card
Company
Ok, let’s face it, everybody hates high credit card rates, and they
drain hard earned money out of your wallet. As a valued consumer, it is
apparent that you learn how to negotiate to get the absolute best rate
that you possibly can. The good news however is that it doesn’t have to
be a difficult or time-consuming process. In fact, it can be very easy
indeed if you know what you’re doing. In this article we will discuss
the ins and outs of credit card negotiating to ensure that you get the
best possible rate with the least amount of effort.
1.
First and foremost, you should figure out if you even want to continue
using your current credit card company http://the-credit-card-shop.co.uk/credit-card-company.htm.
Are you pleased with the overall service that you are receiving? Do you
like their benefits? If the answer is yes then you can proceed. If not,
you should stop reading this article and start looking for a better
company.
2.
Second, you should evaluate your paying history and make sure that it is
positive before you call to negotiate. If it is positive then you have
power and if it isn’t then you’ll be negotiating from a position of
weakness and that might not be good. Instead, you should wait until it
is more positive before you call them to negotiate rates.
3.
Third, if you have a good history then remember this when you call. In
essence, you’ll have extremely high negotiating power. The company needs
your business in order to be successful and with clients they lose big
time. Therefore, you should always display this “take them or leave them
attitude” while conducting your negotiations.
4.
Draft up a script and memorize it. It can be as simple as “Hello, my
name is Bill and I have been a cardholder for X years and I consistently
pay my bills on a time. Well recently I have been receiving all types of
credit card offers from XYZ bank indicating that I qualify for an
extremely low interest rate of X and am considering leaving you and
going there if you can’t offer me a lower rate. Is this something that
you can help me with?
5.
Practice, practice and practice some more with your script until you are
completely and totally used to it. Once you are, contact the company.
Read your script and see what happens.
6.
If you get a hard nose customer service representative then don’t
threaten her. Be agreeable and ask to speak to his/her supervisor. If
that is not possible, be nice to her and try again she may have some
leeway. If you like your present company, you can even try negotiating
interest rates http://the-credit-card-shop.co.uk/low-interest-credit-cards.htm
, annual and even those yucky late fees.
7.
However, if you’re fed up, have an alternative company in the wings, and
your current company won’t budge with their rates then be willing to
take your business elsewhere. After all, you hold the power so don’t be
afraid to use it! They key however is to not bluff but to follow through
with your threat. Close the account, ask for them to send you
notification in the mail, cancel the credit card and use another card.
In
conclusion, you can be successful with the negotiating process if you
follow the above mentioned tips. If your current company is unwilling to
cooperate then you should simply take your business elsewhere. You’re
better off with another credit card company that values your savvy
negotiating skills!
This article is the property of
www.bestcreditcardsonline.com,
which has been offering credit cards services since 2002.
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