Supposedly, we now live in a bargainer`s economy, where the price of just about everything is negotiable as retailers, banks, contractors, homeowners and everyone else seem willing to bend just to make a sale. Does that include telecom service providers? The Wall Street Journal has a story suggesting that AT&T, Time Warner Cable and others may be receptive to customers who try to pursue unadvertised discounts and other deals. It`s awfully nice of service providers to be understanding during difficult economic times, but, of course, they are just trying to hold onto their customers during what`s also a tough time for them.
However, will their new willingness to make a deal come back to haunt them at some point? How do you set up a bargaining table and then determine when to dismantle it again? Service providers` readiness to make deals will teach their customers that there is always a deal to be made-either that, or customers will keep switching to the next best deal. Maybe that`s the way it should be, but for telcos at least, it will take some getting used to.
The WSJ story features the experience of AT&T customer Alan Weinkrantz, who is a prolific blogger and industry consultant, and probably a lot more savvy than your average customer, but once the word gets out...
