Salesforce Engagement Success Story: Fortune 500 Company Achieves Remarkable Cost Savings
At The Negotiator Guru, we recently had the privilege of working with a prominent Fortune 500 company to facilitate their Salesforce renewal process. Our primary goal was to help them reduce their annual licensing costs without committing to significant future growth. Through our expertise and strategic approach, we achieved outstanding results, saving the client an impressive $1.84 million in direct costs and enabling them to avoid additional expenses of $5.1 million.
Our Approach:
To ensure a successful engagement, we implemented our proven 4-step IT Software Negotiation Process, tailored specifically to the client's Salesforce requirements:
Step 1) Discovery:
Collaborating closely with the global client team, we thoroughly examined their historical use of Salesforce and gained valuable insights into their future plans for the platform over the next 3-5 years. This comprehensive understanding formed the foundation for our negotiation strategy.
Step 2) Strategy:
We facilitated productive discussions involving all key stakeholders to establish a unified vision of the necessary licenses and add-ons required to meet the client's evolving needs. This alignment ensured that our negotiation efforts were targeted and focused, optimizing the outcome.
Step 3) Negotiate:
Utilizing our outcomes-based negotiation tactics, we engaged in open and constructive conversations with Salesforce. We effectively communicated the client's strategic objectives and explored how Salesforce could best support their business goals. This approach fostered a mutually beneficial dialogue and helped drive the negotiation towards a win-win solution.
Step 4) Contract Execution:
In collaboration with the client's Legal department, we diligently identified and mitigated contractual risks and open-ended obligations. By ensuring a clear and favorable agreement, we provided the client with a solid foundation for their ongoing partnership with Salesforce.
The Remarkable Results:
Our engagement delivered substantial benefits to the client, yielding cost savings of $1.84 million and cost avoidance of $5.1 million over the contract term. Beyond the financial gains, the negotiation process fostered executive-level engagement between the client and Salesforce, enhancing their relationship and paving the way for a stronger partnership. The outcome was a win-win solution that satisfied both parties and set the stage for continued success.At The Negotiator Guru, we take pride in our ability to deliver exceptional results for our clients. This success story exemplifies our commitment to achieving substantial cost savings while nurturing valuable business relationships. Contact us today to discover how our expertise can drive favorable outcomes for your Salesforce engagements and negotiations.
See More Case Studies
From Phoenix to Tokyo, we turn impossible vendor demands into client victories.
How we reduced carrier shipping expenses by $450,000
Our client was a mid-market manufacturing company with approximately $80M in annual revenue Our focus for savings was in reducing the costs of their carrier shipping services.
We created these savings in a 3 ways:
- We saved them 20% on their LTL and FTL pricing by consolidating all of their existing contracts together from multiple locations into a single contract with a lower rate. We did this for FedEx, UPS and USPS
- We analyzed their shipping needs optimized their shipping channels (FTL, LTL, Parcel, Train)
- Significant cost savings were generated by moving lower priority packages from shipping with UPS to USPS
- Select shipments were moved from road to train which is becoming an increasingly cost effective way to ship packages
- We identified that slowing shipping down by 1 day would not impact the customer's business operations, but would reduce the overall shipping expenses by 10%
In total this created a $450,000 annual cost reduction for the company's carrier shipping contracts.
How we negotiated $13M in savings for a financial services firm
Reducing Salesforce contract from $25M to $12M
One of our recent clients was a financial services company with $15B+ in annual revenue and 5,000+ employees.
We worked with the client to:
- Identify current state of contracts across the globe
- Identify key stakeholders within IT and business units that utilized similar software packages
- Coordinate global business units and stakeholder meetings to discuss opportunity, gather feedback and drive results
- Utilize proprietary tools, templates and techniques to assign global roles & responsibilities, action items and negotiation tactics in interest of speaking from one voice
The results:
- $13M+ in client savings
- Negotiated client’s agreement with Salesforce down from $25 million to $12 Million for a 3-year contract
- We also identified additional cost-savings opportunities that benefited multiple business units across their organization
Value Creation ERP and E-Commerce Implementation
ERP & E-Commerce Engagement Overview
One of our clients recently engaged us to source, negotiate, and contract with a 1) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and 2) E-Commerce software platform.
Key Activities
- Identified current state contracts and client-based obligations
- Developed a risk profile of current state contract language against enterprise project plan timelines and dependencies
- Utilized our proprietary decision-matrix framework to drive C-Level decision making
- Advised client on key dependencies to consider throughout the project
- Directly provided hands-on support/representation throughout the entire negotiation and contracting process
The Results (not comprehensive)
- $300K+ Cost Savings
- $275K+ Cost Avoidance
- Milestone billing (vs. T&M)
- Delayed subscription period start, etc.
- Significant contractual risk mitigation
- Intellectual Property Rights
- Eliminated Scope Ambiguity
- Partner vs. Client Responsibilities
- Joint Collaboration Agreements, etc.
- A really happy client
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Upload your contract data or schedule a discovery call. If we can’t identify at least a 10%+ from a TNG Right Pricing™ opportunity, we won’t take your money (but we will offer you some free advice!)
