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>But asking us to drop our price by 25% or 30% just for kicks is not typically a sign of an outstanding customer. Disagree completely. Repeatedly asking for a

>But asking us to drop our price by 25% or 30% just for kicks is not typically a sign of an outstanding customer. Disagree completely. Repeatedly asking for a discount over a long period of time for no reason, maybe. But just asking for a discount at the beginning or out of the blue seems to be a wise tactic in financial transactions. If I ask for a discount the worst they can do is say no, and very often they say yes and I pay less. If I ask and they say no I and I push it and they're firm about not giving a discount, great - I'm paying a fair price that we're both happy about. If I ask and they lower their price, great - they lowered their price and now I'm paying a fair price that we're both happy about. Just seems to be part of the game you play...

fusiongyro 14y ago
Whether it's "part of the game" is probably regional, but he does say it takes the presence of several to really pinpoint the toxic ones.
halcyondaze 14y ago
I work with a SaaS product, and we've noticed that almost every customer that asks us for a discount right off the bat tends to 1. Have a low LTV and 2. Not be a good fit for us support and headache-wise. Just our experience.
jakejake 14y ago
There are some valid reasons for asking for a discount, such as plans to buy a large quantity of licenses, pay for a year in advance, the company is a charity, non-profit, school, etc. If the request for a discount didn't have some sort of justification like this then I still wouldn't write them off, but I would probably make a mental note. Regardless of the size of their company, some customers will never be content unless they bend you over backwards so far that you're losing money on their business. They want to get more value than they paid for. Whether that's because they don't appreciate the value of resources they consume, or it's intentional, I can never tell. On the flip-side, the weird thing is that these difficult customers can also wind up being your hugest fan. It can be a real love/hate relationship!

fusiongyro 14y ago

Whether it's "part of the game" is probably regional, but he does say it takes the presence of several to really pinpoint the toxic ones.

halcyondaze 14y ago

I work with a SaaS product, and we've noticed that almost every customer that asks us for a discount right off the bat tends to 1. Have a low LTV and 2. Not be a good fit for us support and headache-wise. Just our experience.

jakejake 14y ago

There are some valid reasons for asking for a discount, such as plans to buy a large quantity of licenses, pay for a year in advance, the company is a charity, non-profit, school, etc. If the request for a discount didn't have some sort of justification like this then I still wouldn't write them off, but I would probably make a mental note. Regardless of the size of their company, some customers will never be content unless they bend you over backwards so far that you're losing money on their business. They want to get more value than they paid for. Whether that's because they don't appreciate the value of resources they consume, or it's intentional, I can never tell. On the flip-side, the weird thing is that these difficult customers can also wind up being your hugest fan. It can be a real love/hate relationship!