gopats

Enterprise Account Executive

Negotiating over pennies

am I being tricked by this CRO?

they're looking at us and a competitor but the CRO (SMB so small org) keeps getting on calls with me to negotiate.

he claims the other competitor is quoting I'm 30-32k and they like the competitors product more. I nearly price matched (which was actually a surprise that I could get it approved) and he said he's gonna go back to them now and then get back to me. I quoted 35k and he has validated this is a 500k problem if they don't solve it.

I'm a recently promoted SDR to AE and this will be my 3rd deal. ACVs around 40k and sales cycle usually 3-6 months.

is this CRO wasting my time just to negotiate? not sure what to do here.

🤞 Negotiation

20 comments

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BmajoR

Arsonist

Account Executive

Sounds like they're using you to get a better offer from the other company.

sketchysales

Politicker

Sales Manager

this is exactly what it sounds like.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Seems likely.

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

You have 2 strikes against you - the other guy is cheaper and he likes them better. At least he's being honest enough to tell you he's shopping your price and using it to beat up the other guy.

He could be lying. He could also be testing you.

If he comes back and wants a bigger discount, tell him you need actual proof of the competitors bid. Tell him he'd ask for the same if the roles were reversed.

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Yep. Useful tool.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Call them up and ask: "if the other tool is cheaper and you like it more, why are you still talking to me?"

Then go on mute

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

Power of the pause.

GTMLeader

Good Citizen

GTM Leader

Before this question, I would ask them: 1)What is it about the competitor's product you like over mine; 2) If I matched the competitor's price, would you buy from me?
Prospects lie all the time. Telling you that makes him think he has the negotiation power.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Golden. Use this.

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

you're getting shopped for a better offer. why does he like the competitors product more? if he comes back to the table I'd say this is our final offer, you get what you pay for blah blah FUD talk track.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

When all else fails, Go Pats.

gopats

Fire Starter

Enterprise Account Executive

Go pats

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Tell him you gave him your best and final and be prepared to walk away.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Absolutely. And it is probably too late here, but the give/get is important.
"if I can get you a price that's more in line with the other vendor so you can justify the cost, can you sign by 8/31?"
Otherwise, you're just handing out free treats with no commitment.

pirate

Big Shot

🦜☠️ Account Executive

Just say that look the competitor is telling you x but don't have what we do and walk away and say you did everything you could

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

Try and understand where you stand vs competitor. What’s important for them - budget or product that solves the problem. I would ask what can make him sign off this till today? If he is looking at more discount, do you have any option to get this guy on a multi year?

gopats

Fire Starter

Enterprise Account Executive

We do solve better than they do. He has validated that but every time we negotiate he says otherwise. I’ve offered multi-years. Feels like he says inconsistent items

DataCorrupter

Politicker

Account Executive

Something that hasn't been mentioned yet: sell the value/feature set of your product.

If both quotes are at 30-35k, does your product save them more time than the competitors? Does it help reduce risk? Does it have a lower total cost of ownership? These are all things you can sell to the CRO. "The other guy may be 5k lower, but it will cost you X hours to accomplish the same thing with their product. How much would you pay someone to do that for X hours each year?" Sounds like you already have some of these rough numbers if you know its a 500k problem.

Many different ways to say that exact thing, but you get the idea. If the CRO doesn't agree/doesn't care then it's definitely a race to the lowest possible quote for him.

ASalesCoach

National Director of Sales

your quote is being used to negotiate with the product they want. I would focus less on cost and more on value. can you get them to want your product more? are they missing some business value that your solution brings and your competitors does not? Is there a longer play that your solution offers and the other does no allowing you to push for the initial investment knowing that there is greater ROI down the road? if the answer is no, as long as you are in the same general cost range, you have already lost.
sorry, but might be time to move to the next opportunity.

pwnzor

Opinionated

Head of Sales

You're wasting your time

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gopats

Negotiating over pennies

20 comments

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