C
C

chewymammoth

Account Executive

Opinionated
Valued Contributor
Fire Starter
+2

Feeling morally questionable about charging extra for "connectors" that dont do anything

I sell a B2B SaaS product that has pre-built integrations with other software, and I've leveraged those integrations as a value add for our product to win deals many times. I position the integrations as being included functionality in the base package of our software, which it is. For all these pre-built integrations we have the option to sell "connectors" to the other software that the customer wants to integrate with. As an example, if a customer wants to integrate our product with their Salesforce instance, I can add a "Salesforce Connector" to the order form and charge the customer extra for it.


The thing is, it's all bullshit. The "connectors" do literally nothing, all of our pre-built integrations are out of the box functionality and can be turned on pretty easily by downloading something from our website, no paid connector required. The connectors serve no functional purpose, they just exist as a way for AEs to charge more when they think they can get away with it. Our website doesn't explicitly say the integrations are "free", but they're all openly available to download and the integrations all are 100% functional as long as you own our base product.


Recently my manager has started pushing me to not say that the integrations are included, and to sell more of these connectors. I'm feeling morally dubious about the idea. It feels like I'm taking advantage of customers by asking them to pay extra for something that I know does literally nothing for them. So far I've only thrown the connectors in "for free", such as "I can include the X connector for free if you can sign by X date", which I don't feel as bad about because I'm not actually making them pay extra for it. I like sales because I'm helping prospects solve problems, and I genuinely think very highly of our product's ability to help our customers, but selling these connectors just feels sleazy to me. Especially when I'm used to telling prospects that the integrations are all included in our base package (and they still are, I'm just not supposed to say that now).


What do you guys think, am I thinking about these connectors in the wrong way? If the prospect has deep pockets and will pay for a connector, is it ethical to charge them extra for it even though they don't actually need it? When I mentioned these concerns to my manager he told me that "nothing is free and all businesses charge different prices to different people", is that the mindset I should have here?

👑 Sales Strategy
10

13 comments

Sort by:
InQ5WeTrust
Arsonist
7
No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL
Sounds like questionable business practice to be fair. 

SaaS pricing is always a murky beast especially when you're talking about enterprise level deals. 

However, I'd expect the price increase to be necessitated by the presumed demands of a bigger org or use case. 

Not some little fake connecters. 

From the way you described it sounds like your concerns are valid. Could it be your team is changing the pricing model and they're trying to ease people into it? 

Either way, you've gotta eat yourself my guy, so either sell some connecters to keep the boss happy, or start that job hunt for a product that more closely aligns woth your morals and goals. 
1nbatopshotfan
Politicker
4
Sales
I’m not sure I agree @InQ5WeTrust - if these connector fees and integration fees are being used for product development and keeping out of the box functionality current than you should totally charge. The out of the box functionality most likely only works and keeps pace with new versions of 3rd party software with this revenue from the connector fees. 

Or, I’m totally wrong and the connector doesn’t need maintenance and doesn’t need any dev work and they are just using it to pad the bottom line. 
InQ5WeTrust
Arsonist
1
No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL
Totally fair point, hard to tell in full from the way above. 
1nbatopshotfan
Politicker
0
Sales
I do think they could possibly have a better pricing matrix though. If @chewymammoth wants to include them for free, then boost the price of the product in proposals, at that start. 
chewymammoth
Opinionated
0
Account Executive
This is a good point, I know our company built these integrations though I don't know how much maintenance is done on them after release. I think part of my mental hurdle here is that I've spent over a year pitching these integrations as included, because that's that's I was told to do, and it's kind of ingrained in me now. But if our company spent time and money developing these integrations, it does seem reasonable to charge for them, even if it's more of a bargaining chip than a tangible thing they're getting. But that's just SaaS pricing in general, you find some metric to charge more for so you're getting paid more for a wider deployment.
chewymammoth
Opinionated
0
Account Executive
The connectors have been an optional sell since I started over a year ago, I know a few other AEs that have sold them for awhile already. It's just recently my manager has started pushing us to sell them more, to increase deal size and addon attach rates.

My co-worker also made a good point that made me feel less weird about the whole thing. In SaaS we have high margins so we have the ability to provide decent sized discounts if it'll win us a deal. Even though in my role I can offer up to 30-40% discounts, I'm not taking advantage of a customer by not immediately offering the lowest price I can get approved. Nor am I taking advantage of them if I sell to them without any discount, even though I could. So if I charge one customer for a connector and don't for another, is it really any different than offering one customer a discount on our base product and not offering a discount to another?
Incognito
WR Officer
2
Master of Disaster
This sounds exactly like horse sales. 

It’s shady as fuck but at the end of the day you gotta ask yourself, did they get value equal to what they paid for? 
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
It's a job until you get another one 🤷‍♀️
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
I'm curious to know if you guys charge small or big amount. If it's a few pennies and customers feel that it's adding value (rather than using open API sort) I don't think you should feel bad.

The only thing that is pinching me is that you mentioned it's availability for free that is not clearly communicated. You guys need to erase that part to avoid any questions from your customers (in the future).
lincolnstinkin
Valued Contributor
0
BDR
Software is all ones and zeros... Why are you trippin that this part of the product is zeros?
JECU
Opinionated
0
Account Manager / Co-Founder
The big question to me is this. Does your org support the connection if it’s paid vs not for unpaid? Aka can they ask for assistance in setting it up vs it’s free and it’s on you, figure it out?
Flippinghubs
Opinionated
0
Account Executive
Seems a little sus 
FeedTheKids
Politicker
-1
Solutions Consultant
Nothing in this life is free.....

Cost dev hours to build. Paying support/onboarding team to train the user, etc, etc... 

Long story short, your in SaaS, sell your software as a service.

Just because it's a throw away on some deals to help close, doesn't mean you can't make some money on it. 

Related posts

13

Does Anyone Else Fill Up A Latex Glove With Water And Hold It After A Long Day Of Cold Calling To Not Feel Lonely Anymore?

Question
😂
🏡
🤷‍♂
12
I've done this with a Latex Glove
35% Yes
65% No, I used play-doh
48 people voted
4

How do you get around someone saying they can sign off on this knowing they can’t

Question
🎈
👑
🧢
10
24
Members only

Have you ever taken a pay cut for a job you actually like, or have you ever turned one down to remain in a job you don't enjoy? Seeking advice.

Advice
🎈
🙏
💰
29
Bravado is a community of trusted sales professionals endorsed by their customers.
Apple Store logo
Products
The War Room Jobs Salary Guide Tech Sales U
Company
About Us How It Works Blog Bug Bounty
Contact
Press Careers
© 2024 Bravado Inc. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy Legal and Privacy Center Sales Jobs
If you are hired as a contract sales rep by a Bravado customer, we may ask you to prove access to the employee email account provided to you by that customer. This data will be shared with customers to track your sales productivity; customers can use this data to confirm you meet the minimum activity requirements to pay out your ramp stipend and commission.