Haggling isn’t just a skill for market stalls, these days where it really pays is at call centres. And if you’re a Sky customer there’s no better time to put your haggling skills to the test, as June means some Sky TV customers are facing hikes of over £50 a year. Yet this isn’t just for Sky. It works for other TV firms, mobile, TV, broadband, breakdown and more. Last year on my site, I polled over 7,000 people who tried to call-centre haggle, to see how successful they were company by company.

The results are staggering, at Sky 86% succeeded in some form of discount, the AA 84%, TalkTalk 83%, Plusnet 82%, Virgin media 80% and RAC 78%. In other words, for every five people who tried, four got a deal.

And don’t think the amounts are trivial either, here’s just some of the successes people have tweeted me in Sky’s current round of price hikes… “Just saved £315 a year with a good old haggle with Sky, cheers Martin.”

“Phoned up and in 10 mins it'd knocked £134 off my bill. No change to services or terms. Thank you!”

“Managed to save almost 50% by calling. Firm but polite with a clear message throughout my call.”

So don’t be shy, it’s time to tool up and get a haggle on. Here are my top ten tips (but for you, I’ll do it in 9).

1. Benchmark the best deal

It's important to have the factual arsenal. Research the deals, discounts and codes that are available for new customers, as a basis for negotiation. Here’s a quick rundown for each of the main haggle areas.

Digital TV: For example, you can currently get 25% off all Sky TV bundles and £75 bill credit, compare this with what you will be paying. You can use this figure to haggle with Sky or Virgin. See www.mse.me/digitalTV for all the deals. And of course the cheapest digital TV option is Freeview. It's a one-off cost of around £20 for a box and there's no monthly subscription.

Breakdown cover: If you go via a cashback site, you can effectively sign up for basic AA or RAC cover for under £20. See www.mse.me/breakdown for full best-buys.

Broadband: Here the best deals are all promo offers. A common level is line rent and broadband for £16 a month, plus a £100 high street voucher. Full best-buys in www.mse.me/broadband

2. Timing is crucial

Haggling works best when you're near or beyond the end of your contract as then they have a real risk you’ll leave. There's no harm in giving it a try when you're not, if you struggle then diarise when you're nearing the end (you can give Sky notice of leaving 31 days before the end of your contract) and call back then.

3. The haggling Holy Grail is the customer retention department

If you're coming to the end of your contract, or are out of it, then you're wielding a powerhouse weapon: customer loyalty. If they don’t offer the deal you want, tell them you're going to leave. This means you get put through to what they externally call “disconnections”, but internally is called “customer retentions”. There the staff’s job is to keep you, and they have massively more discretion to offer you deals to do so.

4. Use charm, chutzpah, cheek and a smile

Aggression or anger will just put their back up. You're asking for a discount, and they're just as much within their right not to give it as you are to leave. Aim for polite, firm and non-combative.

5. Use the phrases that pay

You may find that the customer service rep will only offer a small discount at first, but if you don't agree with the price use phrases like: - I've worked out my monthly budget, and my absolute max is £[insert price here]/month - [TalkTalk/Virgin/BT] can do it for less...

  • I need to think about it...
  • I think my husband / wife will go bonkers if I pay that...
  • It's still a lot of money...
  • What's the very best you can do?

6. Don't panic if it calls your bluff and says it'll disconnect you

Some people worry and get nervous to try this in case they're disconnected. My easy 'get out of jail free' card on this is the phrase: "Hold on, I'll call you back on that. I'd like to check with my wife/husband/dog/Aunt Fanny first."

7. Ask if it can throw in extras

If it won't slash the price, see if it can include any extras, like free calls or extra channels, bigger download limits, or one level higher breakdown cover

8. If you fail? Try, try and try again

I’ve heard rumours that different staff members have quotas of how many deals they can do. Even if not true, it feels like that to many. You may have called the wrong person at the wrong time. So call back a few days later and speak to someone else. This works for many people.

9. Vote with your feet

If you don't get what you want and other firms offer the same for less, then you should seriously consider leaving and go grab one of those deals.

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