BizQuiz: Are you an underearner? (Answer 5b)

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5) B—Moderate underearner.

Underearners can be poor negotiators, afraid to hurt a sales representative’s feelings, even though they may be able to reduce costs by consolidating. Or they don’t evaluate the quality and cost of all services on a regular basis.

Solution: If this is difficult for you, be objective. Look at the pros and cons of working with each vendor, including pricing, quality of service, ease of resolving billing errors, and more. Ask vendors to give you their best pricing based on your total volume and the current partial volume and tell them you are going to do this every year. Evaluate areas like merchant services on a regular basis by sending potential providers a copy of a typical bill and let them calculate what your fees would have been with them.

And don’t stop with supplies. Your financial vendors deserve the same scrutiny. Start by calling your credit card company and asking them to reduce your interest rate. If they won’t, look for a better deal.

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