7 tips to becoming a customer service ninja

For most people calling customer service to deal with a complaint is a rather mundane affair. You dial in, climb through a complex phone tree and listen to inexplicably staticy hold music with interruptions that jolt you to attention only to be told, that "your call is important to us."

But for some people, like myself and Matt Jabs, the author of "Debt Free Adventure," calling up customer service is an art form, approached with the same level of practice, patience and obedience that a Ninja approaches his craft.

With this in mind Debt Free Adventure has compiled what I believe is the best compendium of customer service tips to stop overpaying for everything. Over many years I've personally tested these seven tips and can attest to their money saving power even when dealing with the best CSR's.
And so, I present to you the seven tools you need to become a customer service ninja, brought forth from the scroll of Debt Free Adventure to ensure that you may lower your bills and get rules bent in your favor so often that Jedis will fear your power.

If you wish to achieve customer service nirvana you must do the following in every interaction with customer service:

1. Ask for the discount.
2. Maintain an excellent spirit when dealing with the customer service representative, or CSR.
3. Separate the company from the CSR.
4. Make the CSR empathize with your plight.
5. Use the company's weakness against them by asking for a price match.
6. Truly be willing to quit.
7. Be confident and possess the persistence of a squirrel.

There is a detailed, non ninja themed, guide for each of these steps over at Debt Free Adventure with specific phrases to use for each step of the conversation.

For example, Jabs suggest that when emphasizing the difference between the CSR and the company you say something like, "I am just really unhappy with how much Comcast is charging me for service, especially with all the other options out there." Ask the CSR, "What would you do if you were me?" to gain empathy.

My most cherished customer service win was when a Sony speaker I had purchased broke under warranty and despite store shelves full of the speaker Sony's warranty department was unable to send me a replacement.

After numerous months and phone calls I finally apologized to the CSR, saying, "Listen, I'm sorry if I sound upset. I'm not mad at you, I'm just so tired of telling everyone I know or meet not to buy a Sony subwoofer because they don't stand behind their product. Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome subwoofer, but if anything goes wrong you better have the patience of a saint."

The only other clarification I can add is that if there isn't a lot of competition in your area you're better off just mentioning, "The competition" instead of naming direct competitors which they can talk down with a handy list of how these competitors can't compare.

If you follow these seven rules for talking to customer service reps you'll not only enjoy the time you spend on the phone but you'll save money and celebrate these small victories with the same bravado that Tom Brady celebrated his record setting five-touchdown quarter on Sunday.

To give yourself an additional advantage when calling customer service use Fonolo to cut phone trees down to size.