4 Steps to Not Being Held Hostage by Your Cell Phone Company

Be empathic by showing gratitude and appreciation
Make a focused comparison
Ask a great “How?” question
Use an effective pause

Recently one of the students in the MBA negotiation course I teach at USC did a phenomenal job of applying the skills taught in a negotiation with his cell phone company. In the end, the customer service representative actually volunteered to give him better deal without him having to demand one.

It’s not possible to be effectively confrontational without using the proper precursors and the right delivery. In the following example, the use of gratitude and appreciation opens the door to make a good focused comparison. The use of a “how?” question, right after the comparison, gives the counterpart an opportunity to take a look at what it will take to fix the problem. Effective pauses are important because you have to let these skills sink in to work and people commonly erase their effectiveness by continuing to talk.

Here’s how the conversation went so you can see the steps in action.

Sally: Hi, my name is Sally. How may I help you today?

Matt: Hi Sally, my name is Matt. How are you today?

Sally: I am doing well. How may I help you?

Matt: Thank you for taking my call today. It means a lot to me that you are here to help me. [Showing gratitude and appreciation]

Sally: Of course, Matt. What is the issue on your account today?

Matt: I am very sorry to bring this up today. [empathy] It seems like I am not getting the best deal on my account.

Sally: Let me see what your billing looks like. Currently, you have 3,000 shared minutes with unlimited text and 4 GB data to share amongst your five lines.

Matt: This is going to sound harsh. [empathy follow by an effective pause] I have seen an advertisement where you are offering new customers double my data with unlimited minutes and texting at roughly half the cost. [comparison and another effective pause]

Sally: Yes, this is a new plan that we have that we are offering to new customers.

Matt: Offering to new customers?

Sally: Yes. It is called the “More Everything Plan.” We are offering it as a promotion to our new customers.

Matt: We have been loyal customers that have been with you for ten years and have paid our bills on time every month. I am now finding out that with the great service you guys provide and the tremendous loyalty I have shown to this company, you guys are offering a better deal to new customers who have not shown you any loyalty or made a single payment. How am I supposed to live with that? [focused comparison and a great “how?” question]

Sally: Sir, you make a great point. Let me see what upgrades we can make to your lines and see what the best deal is that we can get for you.

Matt: Thank you, I appreciate that very much.

She gave him a much better deal.

Great negotiators don’t talk you into stuff or leave the other person feeling beaten. Great negotiators get you talking and let you come up with a solution to the problem. Great negotiators leave the other person feeling good about contributing to a win.

Empathy is genius. Make some rain.

Get more prepared for your next negotiation.

4 Steps to Not Being Held Hostage by Your Cell Phone Company

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go as a team.