Finance Tips

In the days when life was simple and there were few risks, the insurance industry was profitable and able to offer a reasonably good service to its customers. But now the world is more complicated, there are real challenges for the insurers. If you look at the market for insuring vehicles, you can see the extent of the change. Back in the 1950′s, there were not that many people on the roads but, thanks to the arrival of the Boomers, the number of drivers increased dramatically and car ownership expanded. Millions of new vehicles came on to the roads. With all the extra vehicles, the chances of being involved in an accident increased. As more people had access to credit, they were buying new vehicles which were more expensive to repair or replace. The cost of labor to do all the repairs was also rising fast. Put all this together and you have a recipe for rapidly rising premium rates.

Apart from accepting a higher deductible, the main way of earning a discount with an insurer has always been to give the insurer more business. So, if your family owns three vehicles, you insure all three with the same company. If you also insure your home, want to cover your health costs or insure your life, a bundle has always been rewarded with sometimes quite substantial savings. But, here comes the problem. While insuring vehicles has consistently remained profitable, homeowners insurance has become increasingly challenging. Even though the US is one of the countries refusing any action on climate change in the current round of talks in Durban, the US insurance industry has recognized a major change in weather patterns over the last twenty years. That’s why you will now find it very difficult to get flooding coverage if you live anywhere near where the water level is known to rise, why hurricane damage is being defined to make it more difficult for you to claim, and why sinkhole, mudslide and earthquake coverage is getting more difficult in the areas at risk, i.e. the land drying out or being affected by more than the usual amount of rain.

In the past, companies would cross-subsidize, treating their profit on vehicle insurance as support for the other divisions. That’s no longer an option. The premium rates have been forced to rise faster than inflation because of the increasing levels of fraud and the rising costs of repairs. There comes a point when the other insurance divisions of home, health and life have to become more profitable. Allstate’s answer is to make it a condition of buying homeowners insurance that owners also buy vehicle insurance. The regulator in North Carolina has just allowed Allstate to drop 45,000 existing policyholders who refused to transfer their vehicle insurance. The same is happening in Arkansas. In most states, it’s lawful for insurers to give just 30 days notice of its intention not to renew. So here’s the big question for you. How will you react if you get a letter from an insurer threatening not to renew your homeowners policy unless you bundle cover together? Will this trigger a rush to other insurers who offer unconditional auto insurance quotes? Ironically, it may force you to discover other companies actually have lower car insurance rates.

One of the best ways to save money any time is with Disney World discount coupons and codes.

You see, the Walt Disney World company often has special offers on their vacation packages, and those can have substantial savings! However, the best offers are only announced 2-3 months in advance. Most people prefer to book their vacation long before that to make sure that they’re able to stay in their favorite hotel, and so that they can make restaurant reservations early. After all, Walt Disney World resort guests can book a table up to 90 days early and some of those tables are hard to get, and you don’t want to miss dining with Cinderella because you were waiting for a discount that may never materialize.

The good news is, there are always discounts available at Walt Disney World, even when they’re not running a special promotion. For example, simply purchasing your tickets early or as part of a package can save you up to per person.

Using AAA to book your vacation or hotel stay can save you 10-15% on room rates, even if you’re staying on property. Some guide books contain special coupons which will easily pay for themselves. And the Disney Dining Plan (only available as part of a package) can save you up to per person per day.

If you’re able to visit the World during their value season, you’ll save even more money, and will be more likely to run across those special offers mentioned above. And for the best deals possible, mix and match all of the discounts that you can find. Along with some other frugal tips, Disney World discount coupons can really save you money on vacation.

Disney World has become the pinnacle of all family vacation destinations. While there is no doubt that your family will have fun at Disney World, getting there and back on a tight budget is sometimes easier said than done. But like all vacation spots, there are some tips for Disney World that can save you hundreds of dollars.

One of the largest expenditures you will face on any vacation is the cost of food and beverage. Tourism areas know that you have to eat on your trip and some use this advantage to hike up prices beyond reasonable means. Disney World is no stranger to the tourism industry and you certainly aren’t going to find any $3.00 lunch specials within park boundaries. But there are ways to control your food costs at Disney. Here are some simple tips to get you started.

Use the Meal Packages

If you are purchasing a Magic Your Way package, then you have probably contemplated whether or no the food options are worth it. As it turns out, they are actually a pretty good deal based on convenience and cost. Typically you have access to two sit-down meals and one concession snack with the most popular packages. There are plenty of restaurants within the park that participate in this offer, and if you plan your meal effectively, then you will find the package to be a great add-on. Purchasing in advance also helps to control your budget so that you don’t spend beyond your means.

Eat Before You Go

This is a very good strategy, especially for breakfast time. There are hundreds of convenient food outlets in the vicinity of the theme parks, and all of them offer substantial savings to what you will find inside Disney. Obviously it is difficult to exit the park solely for meals, but grabbing a bite before you enter is easy enough to plan for.

Eat Later Meals

The way that you structure your meal times can also impact how much you will spend of food and beverage. If you can eat a later lunch for instance, you will probably be able to hold off on dinner until your trip home. This will allow you to dine outside of the park where there are cheaper options. You can also consider subsidizing meals with concession snacks to get your family by until you find an option on the outside. If you plan properly, you will likely only need to have one full meal inside the park.

Utilize Children’s Portions

As the average portion size continues to increase in America, we find ourselves leaving more and more on our plate. Use this to your advantage by purchasing kids meals for adults. A simple platter of chicken tenders and fries is usually more than enough to tide over the average adult. Of course many of the sit-down restaurants have policies against this, but the food court areas do not. Thus, you can beat the system by targeting these outlets for your primary meal.

Like any tourism business, Disney World charges a premium for their food items. While this can be disappointing to first-time visitors, veteran Disney-goers know there are plenty of ways to find a cheap meal. The key is to know your options and plan ahead. A small amount of strategy can save you hundreds of dollars.

The most common type of credit cards on the market today are without question credit cards with rewards. They come in all types and varieties including cash back, gas, airline miles, hotel, etc., etc. The most popular of all are the cash rebate credit cards. Getting a 1% to 5% rebate on the merchandise we use on a daily basis can add up to substantial savings.

Coming off this world recession has taught us all, or at least it should have, not only the lesson of using credit wisely but also the value of a dollar and how to stretch it as much as possible. Rewards cards are great when it comes to adding value. After all, doesn’t it make sense to get something back from the money we spend?

There is however, a very important caveat when it comes to credit cards with rewards – it is absolutely vital that before you even apply for one of these offers that you fully understand exactly what the terms and conditions entail. I am speaking specifically of interest rates, fees and the terms of the rewards program itself.

The key to truly cashing in on rewards cards is to pay off your balance in full every month in order to avoid interest charges. That’s how you get ahead. It can be all well and good to get 5% off every time you fill up your gas tank but those savings will be quickly wiped out on the other end if you are paying interest because you carry a balance.

It’s kind of a no-brainer but some people just don’t put two and two together when they apply for an offer. Oftentimes the banks and financial institutions run their slick advertisement campaigns to make their offers sound incredibly attractive. What they don’t want you to know is everything that is included in the fine print… So read it carefully.

The way credit cards with rewards work when it comes to goods and services is that the issuers work out deals with other companies. An example of that would be an airline rewards card offered through a partnership between American Express and Delta Airlines. Another example would be 5% savings when you fill up at a BP station using your Chase card.

Again, and I cannot stress this enough, credit cards with rewards can be a fantastic deal but only when they are used wisely. Carefully read the terms and conditions of any offers that interest you. You must also take note of the features and benefits of the rewards programs themselves.

In closing I am going to part with a cautionary warning about rewards cards. Recently it was announced that several major credit card issuers will be taking rewards points away from cardholders that are late making payments. Note that I did not say they are in default but rather are simply late making a payment.

The lesson here is that it is imperative that you fully understand what all the details of the program are before you sign on the dotted line. Whenever someone is surprised by their credit card company you can bet that the surprise is not pleasant. To the contrary, they are usually quite expensive.

The serious website business owner is turning to live chat. While there are many good reasons for this, here are three important ones: sales, sales, sales! In this article, we will focus on the use of live chat to sell your products. You will learn some tips on implementing and getting more sales.

We have all heard about the many advantages of offering live chat to your customers. Over all it just makes good business sense. How many of your customers would tell you that customer service is not important to them? It only makes sense that if customer service is high on their list of things they look for in an online business and they contact your business through live chat, your product line is important to them. Every live chat call to your business is a potential sale.

In today’s competitive market, your business must take advantage of every opportunity to make that sale. Every contact you have through live chat is a potential sale either now or in the future. To do this requires two important things; a proactive sales plan and a well-trained live chat staff.

Your proactive sales plan should consist of targeted product special deals. These special deals should be designed specifically for contacts made through your live chat service. The offer can be one general offer, or better yet, specific offers targeting the reason someone is using your live chat service.

If a customer contacts you wanting to know if your product will do X, Y, or Z you have a potential up sale. If your live chat customer has a legitimate complaint, offer them a newer product at a substantial savings. Have you ever thought about offering a trade-in special sale? Upgrade with our product and receive a 20% discount. The options are endless.

Just as important to the success of your sales plan is having a well-trained staff. Each person who goes online with a customer needs to know the special offers available at the time of customer contact. More importantly, the script your representative uses should have a place where they are required to let the customer know about your specials. This does not have to be a “hard sell” but an informational service. Keeping in mind that the goal is to convert prospects into buyer; always ask, “Are you interested?”

Your live cat sales plan needs to include how the efforts of your live chat staff are rewarded. The use of staff incentives should be included, after all, if your live chat staff is being asked to sell something they should be rewarded for doing so.

The use of live chat as a sales tool makes sense. You do need to keep in mind that as a sales plan this approach has both short-term and long-term results. The key to the success of this approach is immediate follow-up through email. While your customer may not buy on live chat, they have heard about your offer. The seed has been sown.

Take the next step toward increasing sales; add planned selling to your service.