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The upper end of the market is still contracts all the way down. My company has around 250 employees and every single service we use, software and otherwise, is

The upper end of the market is still contracts all the way down. My company has around 250 employees and every single service we use, software and otherwise, is a negotiated old school contract. The market price isn't what most companies pay. If you pay significant amounts to Amazon (maybe 1 employee salary worth) you're screwing yourself if you don't negotiate lower rates Edit: Just asked the corporate overlords. It's actually against our finance rules to pay for any recurring service charge without a negotiated contract.

luckydata 7y ago
You're still paying market price, just not the published one. Negotiating b2b deals is a little like ordering from the secret menu at in&out. Doing tons of that lately and it's quite the mechanical endeavor. The only really annoying part of it is deals move only as quickly as the sales drones want it to. I have to sit through their "sales process" even if I know exactly what I want, I know what I can spend and ultimately the deal will be done on my terms. It's funny to think that some guy got high fived to death for selling me a contract for about 35% the original quote.
- ErikAugust 7y ago
  He’s being high-fived because you could have got it for 10% of the original quote.
madhadron 7y ago
> It's actually against our finance rules to pay for any recurring service charge without a negotiated contract. Your company probably also employs a professional shark whose job it is to squeeze the blood out of every stone he is pointed towards. With even a modest number of sizeable contracts, such a person would pay for themselves very easily.
- mruts 7y ago
  At my old company we were paying millions for contracts and software we didn't use or really didn't mean. One of the analysts volunteered to be the "undertaker" and renegotiate. After a year of screaming at people on the phone (I sat next to him), he managed to save us around a million dollars, which was around a 60% savings. He pocketed maybe 30% of the money saved that year. Not bad for a year of being a dick.
- nullwasamistake 7y ago
  Yup I know one of them, we have a couple sales sharks that do it when they're not busy attacking potential customers
linuxftw 7y ago
Technically speaking, you might enter into a contract with the power company. The 'negotiation' probably goes like this: Power Company: "You'll pay public rates on the same terms as literally every other customer" Your Company: "Deal!"
- Ice_cream_suit 7y ago
  Power companies give significant discounts to large customers.

luckydata 7y ago

You're still paying market price, just not the published one. Negotiating b2b deals is a little like ordering from the secret menu at in&out. Doing tons of that lately and it's quite the mechanical endeavor. The only really annoying part of it is deals move only as quickly as the sales drones want it to. I have to sit through their "sales process" even if I know exactly what I want, I know what I can spend and ultimately the deal will be done on my terms. It's funny to think that some guy got high fived to death for selling me a contract for about 35% the original quote.

ErikAugust 7y ago
He’s being high-fived because you could have got it for 10% of the original quote.

madhadron 7y ago

> It's actually against our finance rules to pay for any recurring service charge without a negotiated contract. Your company probably also employs a professional shark whose job it is to squeeze the blood out of every stone he is pointed towards. With even a modest number of sizeable contracts, such a person would pay for themselves very easily.

mruts 7y ago
At my old company we were paying millions for contracts and software we didn't use or really didn't mean. One of the analysts volunteered to be the "undertaker" and renegotiate. After a year of screaming at people on the phone (I sat next to him), he managed to save us around a million dollars, which was around a 60% savings. He pocketed maybe 30% of the money saved that year. Not bad for a year of being a dick.
nullwasamistake 7y ago
Yup I know one of them, we have a couple sales sharks that do it when they're not busy attacking potential customers

linuxftw 7y ago

Technically speaking, you might enter into a contract with the power company. The 'negotiation' probably goes like this: Power Company: "You'll pay public rates on the same terms as literally every other customer" Your Company: "Deal!"

Ice_cream_suit 7y ago
Power companies give significant discounts to large customers.