It’s Shark Week and our Sharks are sharpening their teeth for the feeding frenzy. COO and Top Shark, Brian Keaney, dives in with some definitively interesting inside scoop.
What’s the fishiest item you’ve ever seen on a monthly bill?
My feeling is the “fishiest” items on bills are rate hikes. Several providers actually just announced rate increases this year (2018) on customers’ bills without providing any additional value or services. It’s frustrating to see since there is soooo much margin for the providers on these services. Every rate increase is simply their way of printing money at the consumer’s expense!
What is the most jaw-dropping, unexpected savings you’ve ever secured for a customer?
With our data and experience, we have a good idea going into a negotiation what we should be able to save our customers. So while I think people would expect us to give an example of our largest savings, I’m going throw a curveball and say that it would be instances where we expect no savings on a bill.
We have times when we go into a negotiation for a low-dollar bill where our data shows the potential of savings as slim ... and we may not walk out with a large “dollar” savings, but the percentage of savings is high. An example would be saving $16/mo on a $40 bill. That’s not a large monthly savings, but it’s 40%.
So relatively, it’s a huge (unexpected) savings!
What’s your success rate taking a bite out of consumers’ monthly bills?
100%! We look at every bill as a successful interaction for the customer. When we receive a customer’s bill, there are two possible outcomes: 1. the customer is overpaying and we are able to secure the lower rate they should be paying. And 2. after analyzing the bill we confirm the customer is paying the best rate possible for the services they have.
What is the most killer bill you’ve had to sink your teeth into? Were you successful?
Our Sharks like “chaotic” bills. An example would be a cellular wireless bill with six lines, all on different plans with multiple group and single-line insurance plans. We love consolidating these into more cost-effective plans for our customers!
Have you ever had a negotiation that did not go swimmingly? Were you still able to hammer something out?
Yes ... daily. If taking money from the providers were easy, everyone would do it, right? When we enter into a negotiation, we have a good idea what the outcome should look like. As a result, we go back into battle as many times as necessary to get the maximum amount of savings that our customers deserve.
What’s the most jawsome review you’ve ever received from a happy customer?
This may sound “fishy,” but we love all our customer reviews. Especially ones when the customer refers to their Shark by name, this tells us that our one-Shark one-customer strategy is working and appreciated! One of our goals is to create a personal experience for our customers and we do this by assigning every customer to their own Shark. The customer will work with their Shark for every bill they send us throughout the life of their relationship with us.
What’s the most ridiculous, bull shark response you’ve ever received from a customer service representative?
“There’s nothing we can do to lower your bill.” And sadly, we hear it more than we should. The good news is that if we feel (or know) that there are savings to be had, we don’t accept that response, and continue to attack until we achieve what we know we can get.
If you could give one piece of advice to a consumer who wants to stop drowning in bills, what would it be?
I would suggest negotiating down the services you have (using Billshark), and taking those savings to apply to other debt-based bills to pay them off faster.
Is there any risk to customers who want to try swimming with the Sharks?
None. Unless you consider saving money “risky.” 😛
There’s an ocean of monthly services out there. Which ones are your prey?
We specialize in most monthly services that are $50-$500, like your Internet, TV, Home Phone, Satellite TV and Radio, Home Security, Cellular Wireless, and other similar services.