Gary Miller here, and you know that moment when you think you’ve got a deal locked up, then the incumbent vendor suddenly becomes your best friend’s pricing twin?
So I’m three months deep into this $180K business software deal with a manufacturing company outside Detroit. Great fit, solid relationship with their operations director Sarah, and we’re talking implementation timelines. You know, that sweet spot where you’re mentally spending your commission.
Then Sarah calls me on a Tuesday morning. “Gary, I need to be straight with you. Our current vendor just matched your price exactly and threw in six months of free consulting.”
Of course they did.
Here’s the thing about incumbent vendors – they’ll let a client complain for months, ignore support tickets, and act like they’re doing you a favor by answering emails. But the second they smell a competitor? Suddenly they’re bending over backwards with price cuts and freebies they’ve had available all along.
“Sarah,” I said, “can I ask why they didn’t offer you this deal six months ago when you first reached out about your frustrations?”
“That’s exactly what I told my CFO,” she laughed. “But he’s looking at the numbers, and free consulting is hard to ignore.”
I get it. I really do. CFOs see dollar signs, not relationship history. But here’s what I’ve learned in fifteen years of this – companies that only move when they’re about to lose you? They’ll go right back to ignoring you once the threat is gone.
So I pivoted. Instead of matching their consulting offer or begging for the business, I focused on what happens after the signature.
“Tell you what,” I said. “Set up a call with both vendors. Ask your current provider to walk through exactly how they’ll handle your integration challenges. Get specifics – who’s doing the work, timeline, what happens if you need changes.”
Best competitive analysis move I ever made. Their vendor showed up with a generic presentation and vague promises about “dedicated resources.” Meanwhile, I brought actual implementation examples from similar manufacturers, specific timelines, and introduced them to the consultant who’d be handling their project.
The free consulting suddenly didn’t look so valuable when they realized it was probably going to be some junior person reading from a manual.
Two weeks later, Sarah called back. “We’re going with you, Gary. The price match was nice, but we need someone who actually understands our business.”
Deal closed at full price, no discounts needed.
Here’s what I learned: when competitors play the desperate price match game, don’t panic and start slashing your numbers. Instead, make them prove they can actually deliver on those shiny new promises. Most of the time, there’s a reason they waited until the last minute to make the offer.
And that’s business software sales for you – sometimes the best response to competitor chaos is just letting them expose their own weaknesses.
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