Handling Discount Requests

One of the most expensive phrases in 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀: "I'll get back to you with another proposal" One of the biggest mistakes founders make when presenting price or negotiating is to chase procurement's request for a better price. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀— If you're going back to get a better price without context, you're a puppy dog chasing after an impossible ball. You end up: • Guessing what discount percentage is going to get the deal done. • Wondering why the list price you presented doesn't work. • Second guessing the value of your product. • Undercutting the ultimate price you could close the deal with. Skilled negotiators from the competition aren't guessing what discounts or deal structure are going to get the deal done. They're pushing back on nebulous discount requests and are engaging in rich realtime negotiation. So the next time you're asked to come back with a better price, here's what you can do: 1. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 → "The price is the price because..." 2. 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 → "This is our view but it'd be great to get a sense for how you think about budgeting for a platform like this." 3. 𝗔𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗢𝗥 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 → "That makes sense so thank you for providing that context" → "I'd view our product in a bit of a different light because..." 4. 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 → "Can I ask what price would work for you? Is there a magic number you have in mind?" 5. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁 → "If we don't miss that price are we in a place where this deal doesn't get done?" 6. 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝗵𝘆𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 → "If we're able to meet that price can we sign the contract this week?" → "If we're able to meet that price, can we move forward with the legal terms as is?" etc. 7. 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 → "I'll need to discuss with my cofounders but can commit to getting back to you tomorrow" With an approach like this you: • Have an opportunity to reposition the value of your product • Gain clarity around a deal structure that will work • Can accelerate the deal vs. slowing it down Want more sales & negotiation tips? Follow me and check out the resources in my featured section. S/O to Chris Do for the hook and post format inspiration ✨

Stop giving STUFF away for free. Discounts. Faster timelines. Extra calls. Scope creep. You hand them out like candy because you’re scared of losing the deal. (i kno b/c i've done it) And then you lose the deal anyway OR worse… you win it on their terms, not yours. The fastest way to destroy your leverage is to give without getting. Every kid on a playground understands this: “You can ride my bike if I get a turn on your scooter.” “I’ll clean my room if I get dessert.” Kids trade. Adults, especially salespeople, beg. We cave at the first ask. AND DO SO - We train buyers to disrespect our time, our product, and our value. (i know this b/c I have done it myself) Examples I see on repeat when working with sales teams: ❌ Buyer: “Can you drop the price?” ➡️ Rep: “Sure, I’ll see what I can do.” ❌ Prospect: “Can we get implementation faster?” ➡️ Rep: “Absolutely.” ❌ Customer: “Can you throw that in for free?” ➡️ Rep: “Yeah, I think we can make that work.” And in that moment… 💥 You just taught them that you work for them. Here’s how pros handle it: “I’m open to that if you can also ______.” “We can look at a discount if you sign a 2-year deal.” “We can speed up delivery if 50% is paid upfront.” “We can customize if you’ll be a case study.” That’s NOT being difficult; that’s being a professional. It turns a handout into a trade. And trades are how deals get stronger, not weaker. This isn’t greed. It’s respect. It’s teaching buyers that what you bring to the table is valuable AND valuable things get traded, not given. If you forget everything else, remember this line: 👉 Never give without getting. Use it in your next deal and watch what happens: Deals get bigger. Timelines get shorter. And buyers treat you like a partner, not a doormat. 💡 Tactical challenge for the week: The next time a buyer asks for anything, stop before you say “yes.” Then ask: “What are we getting in return?” stay Supered⚡, -matt

Salespeople: When your buyer asks for a discount: Before you do anything else, ask what's driving them to need it. DON'T respond by haggling. DON'T respond by defending price. DO respond by seeking to understand. This is really simple but I rarely see it done. Example: Yesterday I had a sales meeting with a finance leader. He was looking to finalize a purchase of pclub.io for the sales team. But he wanted me to take 15% off the price. Me: "What's behind that ask? What's making you need 15% off beyond wanting to get the best deal you can?" Him: "We have a funding partner that will automatically approve projects like this under [$XX,XXX]. 15% off takes us under that threshold." Me: "What happens if you're above the threshold?" Him: "We can still get it done, but there's a lot of paperwork, and it will take a month or two. We can move forward in a week if we get this under the threshold." After a few more minutes, we found a creative idea. They needed licenses for their SDRs. They needed licenses for their AEs. If we sold a separate contract for each, both contracts would be under the threshold. Which fits their funding partner's criteria. And we could get those "two" deals done in a week instead of two months. Without me giving a 15% discount, which would be unfair to our other customers. Here's what I'm NOT saying: I'm not saying you should go replicate that exact idea we landed on. This was a unique situation. And it's not the point of the post. Here's what I AM saying: Salespeople assume too much when buyers push on price. Sometimes, they're just trying to posture. But sometimes, there's a real constraint driving the ask. And sometimes, you can solve for the constraint without discounts. But you can't do that until you ask. Ask the question. Make your quarter-ends easier (for you and the customer). P.S. Here’s six (advanced) SaaS sales skills that can help you grow from $200k per year to $1M per year over time: https://lnkd.in/g8mixtVc

When I worked in the Pricing team at Grameenphone, my line manager once told me something I didn’t fully understand at the time. "In your role, people will keep coming to you with requests - campaigns, discounts, new packs. Your job isn’t to say yes to everyone. It’s to learn how to say no without saying no." Pricing sits right in the middle of product, marketing and finance - meaning almost every team’s idea touches you in some way. One day it’s the Internet team asking for a quick weekend offer, the next it’s the B2B team pushing for a bulk discount. The first lesson I learned: Don’t say no to the person - understand the business outcome behind the ask. Instead of, "Sorry, can’t do this now," try "Can you help me understand what impact you’re expecting from this? Is it acquisition, retention, or revenue protection?" Sometimes you’ll realize it’s not actually urgent - or that another initiative is already achieving the same outcome. You’ve saved everyone time without sounding like you’re blocking work. The second lesson came later. There are times when you run the numbers and realize - the idea someone loves will actually hurt the business. Maybe the discount is too steep, or the elasticity doesn’t justify the volume bump. That’s when saying “no” becomes really tricky. What I found works is anchoring the discussion in facts, not feelings. Something like: "Our model shows this might lead to a net loss of X. I can walk you through the assumptions - or we can tweak the offer together to see if there’s a middle ground." You’re not killing the idea - you’re bringing the other person into the decision. The truth is, in cross-functional work, “no” is rarely a rejection. It’s often an invitation to think sharper, define clearer outcomes, or build smarter trade-offs. So next time you have to push back, don’t just decline. Ask, explain, involve. That’s how you protect your priorities and your relationships. What’s a line you’ve used that helped you say “no” politely but effectively? #Leadership #CareerTips #Communication #Bangladesh #InvisibleSkills #Collaboration

One of the worst advice I put into practice the first three years of my sales career: "Do not talk about pricing in the first call" When I just started in sales, I felt anxious to talk about pricing every single time. "Is that pricing not too high?" "Are they going to immediately reject us?" Not being able to talk about pricing made it even worse. Treating it as something to be hidden is just weird. But things got a lot better over time. Because I learned from experts with practical, not just theoretical knowledge. Here are a few rules that helped me tremendously: 1️⃣ Do not withhold pricing. Never say something like: “I cannot give you a price right now” 2️⃣ Always have a range of pricing ready when the prospect is asking. Something like: “Other banks that did projects with us typically spent 75k to 200k for the initial project” 3️⃣ Only communicate the exact price when you know the business case 4️⃣ Right after you communicate pricing, you have to ask: “How do you feel about that price” 5️⃣ Never communicate the first pricing through email or text - only in a meeting 6️⃣ Adjust the offering to the business case. If you have a 1.5 Mio. efficiency case, do not offer 50k. Go for a 350k-500k option and pack it with some support and services that will make the implementation more successful 7️⃣ Don’t make any promises about discounts right in the call in case you are not sure. Say: “I have to check internally and get back to you” 8️⃣ If you give a discount, always get something in return. A few options: 👉🏻 Reference Video or Case Study with KPI Improvement 👉🏻 Introduction to other companies 👉🏻 Signature by a certain date (e.g. end of quarter) 👉🏻 Presentation at Webinar for other potential customers 👉🏻 Long-term contract (2 or 3 years) 👉🏻 Yearly up-front payment 👉🏻 Open for reference calls with other prospects 9️⃣ In case they say “This is expensive”, you clarify first: “There are usually two different reasons I encounter when someone says that. 1st you do not see value for the costs or 2nd you do not have the money available. What exactly is it in your case?” 🔟 The client says: “We only have Amount X” - what do you do? Find a different solution other than a discount. Make them pay the mentioned amount this year after the start of the project and the difference at the end of the project or when the new year starts in January. If you put those into place, you will rock that dicey topic.

Discounts don't close deals. Here's what actually happens: - You offer a discount early in the sales process. - You think the prospect will get excited, 'great deal!' - But then... silence. No response. Deal stalls. Never hear back. - Your pipeline fills with fluff. Forecast calls become a nightmare. I know because I've been there. And I learned some hard lessons. Which totally changed my approach. Now I follow these 5 rules: 1. Involve procurement early. “Linda, could I provide a recommendation? Typically when we share pricing we loop in procurement on the same call. It ensures we’re in alignment with their expectations and can tackle any questions that may come up, in real-time. Your thoughts on bringing them on our next call?” 2. Get alignment on the business case. With all key stakeholders. + procurement If not, you're going to be in a pickle If they aren’t fully sold on the value, then you’ll act in desperation or they’ll ask for a discount. 3. Become the vendor of choice first. If you're not, what the heck are you actually negotiating on? "Linda, let's set aside pricing for a moment. If we put all the solutions your considering on the table, which one give you and the exec team the most confidence in meeting you + your team's requirements?" 4. Know the next steps and approvals "Assuming we agreed to a price, what next steps and approvals need to happen before signatures? Could you walk me through the process and who's involved?" 5. Always get something in return for any "gives." It's a 2-way street. If there's a pricing incentive, get something in return. (e.g. multi-year, EoQ signature, case study, etc...) ..................................................................... Following these rules boosted my win rate and eliminated those painful forecast calls. The truth? Discounts don't drive decisions. Value does.

I used to sweat every time, When potential client asked me about pricing?? The dreaded question: "How much do you charge?" My first instinct? To explain, why I was “affordable” or offer a discount to make it sound better. That was my biggest mistake. I soon realized that, Pricing isn’t about Lowering your rates or justifying every penny. It’s about confidence & clarity in how you present your value. Here’s how I learned to master pricing and objection handling: 1. Understand the VALUE you’re offering : • Instead of focusing on “how much” it costs, focus on what it brings. • How will your service make their life/business easier? • Will it save them time? Make them money? Solve a specific pain? 2. Set your price based on the value you deliver : • Don’t compare yourself to others—find a pricing structure that reflects your skills, expertise, and the outcomes you provide. • When you price based on value, objections around pricing become easier to handle. 3. Anticipate objections & prepare responses : • Before the conversation even starts, know that some clients might question your pricing. • Be ready with responses like: “I understand that you have a budget, and here’s how I can help you get the best results within that.” “This is an investment, not an expense, and here’s how you’ll see ROI.” 4. Don’t be afraid to walk away : • If a client isn’t ready to pay for the value you offer, that’s okay. • Sometimes the best move is to walk away with your head held high. • Remember: You’re not for everyone. And here’s the secret: Confidence is the key!! When you believe in your worth, others will too. So the next time a client asks, “How much?” You’ll answer confidently, knowing you’re offering something priceless.✌🏻

“We’d love to work with you, but we just don’t have the budget.” If you’ve heard this from a nonprofit, you’re not alone. As a consultant, pricing objections can feel personal, especially when you know your offer could transform their organization. But here’s the truth: objections aren’t rejections. They’re an opportunity to build trust and clarify value. Here’s how to handle them like a pro: 1. Don’t defend—diagnose. Instead of jumping into justification mode, get curious. “Can you tell me what kind of results you'd need to see to feel confident making this investment?” This reframes the conversation from cost to outcomes. 2. Stretch the gap. Show them the cost of staying stuck. What’s the cost of inaction? What’s it worth to accelerate impact by 6 or 12 months? Most orgs aren’t just saying no to you—they’re saying yes to staying overwhelmed. 3. Offer choice, not discount. Avoid cutting your rate. Instead, create options: a phased approach, a shorter engagement, a pilot project, etc. It keeps your value intact while giving them flexibility. 4. Make it about mission, not money. You’re not “selling” consulting. You’re helping them move their mission forward, faster. And that is always worth investing in. If you’re a nonprofit consultant navigating pricing conversations, know this: your fees aren’t the problem. Your clarity is. When you’re confident in your value, they will be too. How do you handle pricing objections in your work?

The last minute discount request is not a negotiation. It is a trust test. Don’t fall for it. I see this happen many a times. The deal is in commit. Legal has already signed off. You are just days away from getting the final signature. Then out of nowhere, the buyer asks to waive the implementation fee just to get it done today. The rep caves. The margin takes a hit. Before we ask why smart reps do this, let me tell you that I have seen some of the absolute best reps fall for it. It is not a weakness. It is just human nature. Behavioral economists actually call it the endowment effect. Once a rep mentally takes ownership of a deal, once it’s “theirs” in their commit, in their forecast, in the story they’ve told their manager, they will pay a ransom to protect it. That ransom usually comes in the form of discounts, free services, extended terms, anything to keep the number alive. But here is the thing about procurement. They are not just trying to save money. They are running a probe. They want to see if you actually believe in your own pricing. Every time you concede without asking for something back, you retroactively invalidate your original price. The buyer does not think you are doing them a favor. They just think it is a good thing they did not pay the first number. The fix is a simple framework. Trade, but don’t concede. When that late stage ask comes in, you agree, but only on the condition of a commercial trade. - We can waive implementation if we move to annual upfront billing. - We can adjust the price if we reduce the scope. - We can extend payment terms for a two year commitment. If their budget gap is real, they will take the trade. Your margin stays protected. If it was just a bluff, the request evaporates. And for revenue leaders, we know this from our experience. When a deal gets shredded at the finish line, it is rarely a procurement problem. It is a signal that the value was not built deeply enough in week one. Procurement is not the enemy here. They are just the final mirror. If we do not like what we see reflected back, the problem started months ago. Audit your last 5 closed won deals. How many ended with an unprompted concession in the final 48 hours? That number is your trust deficit.