Discount to drive execution, not decision

Your AE offers: "We can reduce the price by 10% if you can get the contract signed this quarter." How often has that actually worked?

I'm betting not often.

A discount tied to a signature date is the first tool sellers reach for to manufacture a compelling event - that almost-mythical concept that forces clients to act by a certain date. The reason it usually fails is simple: a buyer won't choose your solution because they get a few percentage points off. The product's value has to be significantly higher than the cost for them to consider you at all. 10% off doesn't make a wrong decision right, and it doesn't make a slow buyer fast.

Worse, it tends to backfire in two ways. They feel pressured, which makes them more negative towards you and your company. And once they know you can drop 10%, they'll insist on it even if they close a month later, and you'll struggle to justify why you can't.

There is one scenario where this works: when the client has already decided to go with you, or is very close to it. They want to go ahead anyway, so they're happy to help you hit your number while picking up a financial benefit on the way through.

The hard part is knowing whether that's actually true.

Probe before you offer

It's all too easy to hear "Yes, it's looking good for you" and assume you're on a path to winning. You're not, not yet. You need to probe.

Ask: "That's brilliant. What needs to happen between now and a formal decision? Who is involved?"

Don't accept wishy-washy answers like "the team just needs to get comfortable with the tech." You need specific people, specific timeframes, specific criteria.

If you get that detail, you can ask the key question: "What's the likelihood we could get this all done and dusted by the end of June and have you live in July?" Note the reference to going live in July. Don't just emphasise the contract close date. You want them thinking about production rollout and the benefits they'll get from it, not just the paperwork.

Whatever they say, dig into the details to understand what's actually realistic. From there, three scenarios:

• If it's clearly going to happen well before the end of your quarter, don't make the offer. Why give away revenue for no reason?

• If there's no realistic chance of moving forward in time, whether because of multi-month procurement, board approval cycles, or anything else you should already be aware of, there's no point making an offer they can't act on.

• If there's a decent chance but nothing guaranteed, this is the moment.

Dangle, don't offer

Even here, don't offer the discount. Dangle it.

"Great! It would be fantastic to get you up and running this quickly, and to be honest it would help me too to get it done in the quarter. Do you think a 10% discount for signing by the end of June would help motivate your organisation? Should we ask the deal desk to approve something?"

Three things worth noting in that:

• I'm exposing the value to the seller as well. You're working together towards a mutually beneficial outcome, and if they're about to go ahead with your solution they probably want to support you as an individual too.

• I haven't offered the discount. I've asked whether it would help. It's not easy to row back from here, but it's much easier than if you've made a clear offer verbally or in writing.

• It lets them respond honestly. "To be honest, procurement is uninfluenceable. The timeframes look fine but I've never seen them move faster even for a massive discount." Or: "You know what, that will really help. The main hesitation is that my boss has a budget hole. He agrees this is worthwhile, and dropping the price will get this through faster. Can you do 20%? I can pretty much guarantee we'll get it done."

It's possible you're being manipulated by a skilled negotiator. But most of the time you'll be dealing with honest people who want to get things done efficiently, and who will tell you what's actually possible if you give them room to.

A discount based on closure date can drive execution. It won't drive decision-making. You have to know where you stand in the cycle before you start dangling discounts, and most of the time, the work isn't in the discount at all.