Sales Contract Negotiations

I will block any political commentary instantly. This is not about politics…This is about not ignoring the elephant in the marketing room. Here are SPECIFIC tactics to use because of the impact of the Tariff discussion…. It doesn’t matter if tariffs directly affect your business because they directly affect your prospects and customers. No matter what industry – business or consumer. Here are some very specific tactics to consider ensuring your marketing is doing as well as possible as these economic changes occur… When costs rise (or people think they will rise) it’s the marketer’s job to: ✔️ Message it ✔️ Protect brand trust ✔️ Retain conversions ✔️ Do more with less Here’s how to tactically adjust your marketing in response, with strategies broken down for both Business and Consumer audiences: Business to Business: Communicate Pricing Adjustments Transparently Use phrases like “Price Transparency” or “No Surprises” in subject lines, landing pages and websites. EVEN IF PRICING DOESN’T CHANGE you should tell everyone that. They don’t know what you know about your business. Use “Price Adjustment Transparency” Messaging Promotional Email Subject lines: -No Surprises: Here’s Why Pricing Is Changing -How We’re Managing Rising Costs—So You Don’t Have To STAT:🧠 Edelman: Transparent brands are 22% more likely to retain loyalty in economic downturns. Focus on ROI + Cost Consolidation Promotional Email Subject lines: -This replaces 3 other platforms -Spend smarter, not more -Same output. Lower cost. Make the CFO your marketing partner. STAT: 💡Kantar found that value-driven messaging during the 2008 recession boosted response rates by up to 15%. Annnnd - MUST DO! Prioritize Case Studies + Social Proof When stakes are high, buyers seek safety. For CONSUMER Marketers: Align With Search Behavior: Google shows spikes in search terms like “best value,” “trusted brands,” and “most reliable” during downturns. Use these phrases in subject lines and CTAs to match consumer intent. Show You’re on Their Side: STAT: McKinsey notes that 57% of consumers actively look for “value packs” and “fair pricing” during tough times. Be explicit in messaging: “Bundle & Save”, “Price Lock Guarantee”, etc. This isn’t about politics. This is about not ignoring the elephant in the marketing room. People want to feel comfortable when things get uncomfortable. 

Pricing shouldn’t feel like a fight. It should feel like a fair conversation between adults who both want the relationship to last. When costs keep rising and margins start to feel thin, the worst thing we can do is spring a surprise increase and hope customers accept it. The better path is to make small, evidence-based adjustments that people can understand, and to do it with enough notice that trust grows rather than erodes. Here’s how I guide teams through it... We set a simple rule first: price reviews happen on a predictable cadence, anchored to a sensible index, and capped so there are no surprises. Then we give customers a choice. A clear Good / Better / Best set of tiers lets people pick the value that fits, and it means we stop discounting just to “make it work.” For loyal customers, we start with a grace period and then move in small, scheduled steps. It’s respectful, and it smooths cash flow for everyone. We also swap blanket discounts for an early-pay credit that protects the list price while bringing cash forward. We add a few fair boundaries so small, urgent, or high-touch work is priced to match the effort. Where costs have increased in one part of the service, we re-bundle so value is obvious and buyers are never misled. And when it’s time to talk, we keep the message short and human: here’s what changed in our input costs, here’s the adjustment we’re making, and here’s what stays the same in terms of quality and scope. If you track a few signals for 30 days, you’ll see better results like: most eligible accounts receive the scheduled uplift, the overall discount rate falls, more invoices are paid early, average revenue per customer increases, and churn and NPS hold steady. The goal is pricing that is predictable, and defensible. Think caliper, not hammer, with measured moves that protect margin and maintain customer goodwill. How do you explain price changes to customers without losing trust? ------- ➕ Follow Jonathan Maharaj FCPA for finance‑leadership clarity. 🔄 Share this insight with a decision‑maker. 📰 Get deeper breakdowns in Financial Freedom, my free newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gYHdNYzj 📆 Ready to work together? Book your Clarity Session: https://lnkd.in/gyiqCWV2

Set and forget is not a pricing strategy ! Price--> Design--> Build We know that's what everyone says, but thats an oversimplification of what the entire process should look like. The assumption your pricing was correct in the pre-design phase and doesn't need change is dangerous, dangerous, dangerous !! I have seen too many physical and software products change drastically between initial design to final delivery. Product owners will typically assume that pricing still holds. You have to change that philosophy. In the real world we need a lot more iteration in price: Step 1: Initial Price: This stage you quantify the value and set an initial target price. This is a combination of internal/external research, some value quantification and pricing knowledge. Step 2: Design: With that price info, the product team designs a product that hits product and profitability targets. This is also where you need to keep track of the product margins. Often product will go design a better product at the expense of higher cost, and margins suffer before launch. Step 3: Reprice: Now that we know the new design constraints that impact the profitability, this stage gives you the opportunity to reprice the product based on the design. If substantial value has been added, price should go up. Do not fall into the 'lets over deliver on value and keep price same' trap. Step 4: Build: Now with that new price info and product roadmap the product goes through the build stage. Step 5: Pre launch reprice : Now significant time may have passed since last price review. The market for the product, the economy etc may have changed. This stage can assist in making last changes before product goes out. Good time to also establish guardrails for price performance, discount strategy, or sales strategy. Step 6: Launch: Goes without saying the product is out in the real world. Great way to capture feedback. Also a stage where performance is measured against the price guardrails. Step 7: Reprice 3: Based on sales feedback, you start charting next steps. Selling too slow, you may need discount or reprice. Selling too fast, it may be overdelivering on price vs value. Pricing metric may need change. Fx may have changed. This is the price adjustment stage, should be annual or semi annual. You can incorporate these steps into new product introduction framework or annual or semi annual pricing strategy process, either ways it will help establish good pricing principles in the org. I know of many products that once designed were never repriced years into its life.. Surely things must have changed all those years... Think of Pricing as a lifecycle !! -------------------------- We are in #Pricingtribe.

This one Claude prompt replaced 3 hours of buyer research for every SDR/AE team I work with down to 5 minutes. I timed it.. so no lies here. Here's what I keep seeing with the sales teams I work with. Reps do their research and come back with... 'I see your company just raised funding.' The same signal every other rep found. The same opening line every buyer already heard idk 10 times this week.. So I built a prompt that does the deep research in about 5 minutes. And I mean actually deep... not some fluff insight. I'm talking specific challenges tied to the role.... What buying signals happen within your inbound process.. Trigger events that signal buying readiness... Even the reasons they might resist your solution so your reps aren't blindsided on calls. Sales leaders... here's the exact prompt. Set this up as a Claude project and give your team access: "You are a B2B intelligence expert with 20+ years of experience researching buyer personas and creating targeted messaging strategies. Conduct a deep dive on the following persona: [insert Persona] in [insert Industry]. Identify the top 3 pain points most relevant to this persona's role and business context in (current year). Look at my inbound conversations and find 3 correlation points. List 3 trigger events that typically create readiness to buy. Outline 3 reasons this persona might resist your solution. Ensure all output is practical, specific, and grounded in real-world B2B dynamics. Now explain this to me so I know you understand the process." So.. I run this inside Claude as a project. That way the context stays loaded and every rep on the team can access it without re-entering the setup every time. But here's the part most people miss and it drives me crazy... Don't have your teams just copy and paste this.... Because AI doesn't know your buyer.... AI knows patterns about your buyer. ...The rep's job is to take that intelligence and make it HUMAN... to connect a dot the AI couldn't see. That's the workflow we build inside Sales Team Six. AI does the research in 5 minutes. The rep spends the next 5 minutes making it personal. 10 minutes total and the prospect can feel the difference between that and the 30 seconds some other rep spent letting AI write the whole message. The teams using this workflow are starting more conversations because their messages sound like someone who actually studied the buyer. Not someone who prompted a bot and hit send. P.S. I set up the full Claude project workflow so your team can copy it in 2 minutes. DM me CLAUDE and I'll send it over.

Every time I reread these four books, I find a new leverage point I couldn't see before. They're not on most startup lists because they're not about startups. That's why they work: 1. Seven Powers by Hamilton Helmer This isn't a "strategy" book in the loose sense. It's an index of durable powers (scale economies, network economies, switching costs, cornered resource, branding, counter-positioning, process power) and when they actually bite. The point isn't growth for its own sake but asymmetric advantage - growth that widens the moat as you scale. Takeaway: Pre product-market fit, only counter-positioning (attacking incumbents with a model they can't copy without self-harm) and cornered resource (exclusive access to something critical) are real. Post product-market fit, scale economies become available. Choose one primary power and kill any project that doesn't reinforce it. 2. Obviously Awesome by April Dunford Positioning is frame control. If you don't set the frame (the category where customers mentally place you), the market will do it for you and you'll be benchmarked on the wrong axis. Dunford gives an operational process for defining your competitive set, value narrative, and the "best-for" claim that makes price comparisons meaningless. Takeaway: Run her 5-step exercise: competitive alternatives → unique attributes → value themes → who cares most → market category. Then rewrite your homepage copy and pricing page to match. 3. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight Phil Knight's memoir about building Nike from selling shoes out of his trunk to a global empire. Don't read it as a hero's journey. Read it as a case study in creative constraints. Knight turned cash scarcity into competitive advantage through the Futures program (getting retailers to commit 5-6 months ahead) and creative financing when banks wouldn't lend. Takeaway: Map your biggest constraint. Turn it into a differentiator. Nike turned cash scarcity into advance retailer commitments that gave them predictable revenue when competitors couldn't. 4. Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows Many leaders optimize parts without seeing the whole. Systems thinking reveals where small changes create cascading effects - like how improving onboarding can paradoxically reduce retention if it brings in users who churn faster. Takeaway: Draw your growth loop as boxes and arrows. Find the one constraint that, if removed, would change everything else. That's your only priority. The best books should be reread at different stages. Each time through Seven Powers, different powers become available. Each time through Obviously Awesome, your positioning gets sharper. What book changed how you make decisions? Not how you think about them - how you actually make them.

Sales folks, take note! Spamming a target company's employees with your services and requests for meetings will result in your company making its way onto a buyer's blocklist. As a buyer in the localization industry, I receive dozens of emails and LinkedIn requests every single day from vendors looking to showcase translation, AI, QA services, and more. It's not humanly possible to give personal replies to every outreach. When vendors can't get through to me, they often reach out to everyone on my team... and sometimes to many others across my company. I'd love for this practice to stop. It wastes valuable company time and makes a vendor appear desperate and non-strategic. Here's what to do instead: 1. Appeal to ego! Invite a target company’s decision-maker to a panel, or start a vlog series and ask buyers to appear and discuss industry topics. It’s also a great opportunity to reposition your company as a thought leader. 2. Offer genuine insight, not just services. Share a case study, white paper, or benchmarking data that’s actually useful to the buyer’s role, and do it without a sales pitch. 3. Build a reputation before you build a pipeline. Comment thoughtfully on posts. Contribute to community conversations. If you consistently show up with value, you’re far more likely to get noticed. 4. Target smarter, not broader. Don’t shotgun your message to an entire company. Learn the org. Understand the buyer’s scope. Then send one well-researched, personalized note that shows you actually did your homework. 5. Focus on mutual value. Can you help solve a known pain point or offer perspective on something changing in the market? Frame your outreach around collaboration, not consumption. 6. Use timing to your advantage. Keep tabs on when companies are hiring for roles associated with your offerings, launching in new markets, or attending conferences. That’s when buyers are more receptive to new solutions. 7. Lead with generosity. Offer a no-strings-attached resource, intro, or suggestion that doesn’t benefit you directly. Reciprocity is a powerful trust builder. And please! Don't ever ever call me on the phone! ;)

75% of buyers don't want to talk to you. - We all hear this stat, but love to ignore it. They want to buy. They just don't want to be sold to. Until THEY are ready. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗜-𝗦𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗕𝗨𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝗜𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 Look at your own behavior: LinkedIn message from vendor? Ignored. Unknown number calling? Declined. "Quick chat" request? Deleted. You're not being rude. You're protecting your time. Your buyers are doing the exact same thing to your reps. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗧𝗛 𝗡𝗢𝗕𝗢𝗗𝗬 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗔𝗗𝗠𝗜𝗧 75% of B2B buyers prefer self-service over talking to sales. Not because they hate salespeople. Because they want to learn on their own timeline, at their own pace, without the pressure. But here's what kills me: Most companies respond by either forcing more meetings OR going fully hands-off. Both miss the point. 𝗚𝗨𝗜𝗗𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 "𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙-𝗚𝗨𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗗" Self-service doesn't mean no service. It means structured discovery without the discovery call. You still need to guide buyers to value. But invisibly. 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗡𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗬𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗗𝗢𝗡'𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞 1. 𝗠𝗮𝗽 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 - What do they need to know at each stage? - What questions will they have? - What objections will surface? - What proof points matter most? Don't just throw content at them. Sequence it. 2. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 Not: "Here's a demo video" But: "Based on your role, start here" Not: "Check out our resources" But: "Companies like yours typically need these 3 things" Structure the path without being in the path. 3. 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆 - Give them the tools to determine fit for themselves: - ROI calculators they can use alone - Assessment tools with instant results - Comparison guides they can share internally They're qualifying themselves anyway. Help them do it right. 4. 𝗘𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 Your champion is selling when you're not there. Arm them with: - Forwardable content (short, scannable, valuable) - Pre-written business cases - Stakeholder-specific value props Make it easier to buy without you than with you. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗨𝗦 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗔𝗖𝗛 This is why I’m getting started with Consensus They've figured out how to deliver personalized demos at scale. Buyers get exactly what they need, when they want it, without a meeting. But here's the key: It's guided self-service. The demo adapts based on their responses. It tracks what they care about. It shows you their digital body language. You're not absent. You're invisible. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗘𝗧 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗙𝗧 Stop thinking: "How do I get them on a call?" Start thinking: "How do I help them buy without me?" Because the best sales experience might be no sales experience. At least not the traditional kind. Meet the buyer where THEY are and you'll be shocked how much more likely they will be to meet you where YOU want.

How to Nail Competitive Advantage in Your Pitch Deck Founders often get it wrong—comparing a Frog Watch to a Rolex or an early-stage startup to a market leader. Investors see through this. Instead, here’s how to do it right: ✅ Be Realistic – Compare against actual competitors in your category, not industry giants. ✅ Focus on Differentiation – Highlight what makes you unique—tech, business model, traction, or market insight. ✅ Use Data, Not Hype – Show measurable advantages (cost savings, efficiency, customer adoption). ✅ Think from an Investor’s Lens – Why will customers choose you over alternatives? ✅ Avoid Buzzwords – "AI-powered, blockchain-driven" isn’t enough. Show how it creates tangible value. Positioning matters. A well-defined competitive edge makes the difference between a compelling pitch and an overhyped one. Remember, it’s not about being better than everyone—it’s about being different and relevant. ~~~~~ ♻️ Found this helpful? Repost it so your network can learn from it, too. And follow me, Fazlur Shah, for more content like this. #startups #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #investing

One of the biggest reasons deals stall isn’t that buyers doubt your solution—it’s that they doubt their ability to make the right choice. Matt Dixon's research for The JOLT Effect found that 40% of lost deals are driven by customer indecision, not preference for a competitor. And Brent Adamson's new book The Framemaking Sale highlights that customers with high decision confidence are TEN TIMES more likely to make a purchase. Here are a few ways you can help buyers build confidence in themselves: 1. Reduce Decision Complexity According to Gartner, 77% of B2B buyers report their last purchase was “very complex or difficult." Streamlining options, providing decision guides, or recommending a clear best-fit reduces “analysis paralysis” and gives buyers confidence they aren’t missing something. 2. Reframe Risk in Personal Terms Buyers often fear personal blame more than organizational failure. Use case studies and peer validation to show how people in their role succeeded—helping them feel safe and supported in their choice. 3. Provide Buyer Enablement Tools Tools like ROI calculators, pre-built board decks, or checklists reduce the burden on them and demonstrate that they have what they need to decide. 4. Normalize Their Concerns The JOLT Effect also emphasizes “normalizing indecision” as a critical skill—buyers need to know hesitation is common and that you can guide them through it. Framing uncertainty as a normal step in the process reduces the shame that often delays action. 5. Signal Post-Decision Support Harvard Business Review highlights that buyers who see strong post-sale support are more confident in making initial commitments. Show them the path forward—onboarding, customer success, peer communities—so they know they won’t be left alone after purchase. Helping buyers feel personally confident and protected is as important as proving your product’s value. The most successful marketers and sellers don’t just build confidence in the solution—they build confidence in the decision-maker.

June 2021: We had a $385K deal forecasted. 7 days left in the quarter... Then procurement called: "Your price is insane. We only have budget for $200K." I had two choices: 1. Panic and start discounting 2. Ask the right questions I chose option 2... Closed the deal at full price 6 hours later. The 4-word question that saved it: "How familiar are you?" When procurement pushes back, they're negotiating in a vacuum. They don't bring business value to the table. Their job is to grind you down. So I asked: "How familiar are you with the business challenge we're solving?" They said: "We're familiar. You're helping us ramp sellers faster. Valuable, but not worth $385K." Bingo. Surface understanding only. So I asked for permission: "Can we walk you through the math we did with your CRO?" They said yes. Then I laid out the case: "Your AE ramp time is 9 months. At month 9, the average reps produce ~$40K ARR/month." "You're hiring 80 new AEs starting January." "If you get them up to speed ONE MONTH FASTER..." "That's 80 reps × $40K = $3.2M in ARR you wouldn't see otherwise." "How believable is it we can cut a month off ramp time?" The CRO (who I'd brought into the negotiation) chimed in: "Very believable. I've gone deep with them." Then I isolated the objection: "So $3.2M return against $385K spend." "Usually price resistance comes from one of three reasons:" 1. You're not bought into the value 2. There's a logistical issue 3. You're trying to get a better deal "#1 isn't an issue. We've proven the return." "So what's stopping us?" Contract signed 6 hours later. 3 lessons: → Get your champion in the room with procurement (20% success rate is worth it) → Start negotiations by reviewing business value (60 seconds changes everything) → Isolate price objections into buckets (forces them to problem-solve, not discount) Negotiation isn't about leverage. It's about clarity. Articulate the value better than they can? You win. 💡 What's your go-to move when procurement pushes back? P.S. Here's 5 uncommon habits of elite revenue teams, based on 5,000 companies ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gr29f7Ci