What I learned this week: vendor list price is just a suggestion

Without much budget, startups have to really be careful about investing too much in technology.  On the other hand, you need to use systems that will scale.   So, having worked recently at a SaaS company I was sympathetic to wanting to make a fair deal when I went searching for marketing on automation software knowing I needed to push a little bit harder than I might be comfortable with.  

I'll spare you the three weeks of back and forth after I had decided what system I wanted... But the end result was shocking.  Let's just say I was able to get a discount over 50%.  OVER 50%!  And this was from a market leader.  

After I went through stages of delirious laughter, anger about what I had paid in the past, sadness over how willing I was to take 29%, and pride in the deal I just got it hit me that the truth was that list price is a bit f a joke.  And that pushing hard is expected, and pushing really hard is acceptable.  

So next time you're buying a SaaS product I suggest pushing harder than you're comfortable with on price.  A few wins like this makes your limited budget go a long long way.

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