Practice holding value when procurement opens with a 30% discount demand. Navigate BATNA, ZOPA, and trade-offs without eroding price on the first counter.
Head of Procurement
Hidden agenda: Needs a win to show Finance; less concerned about feature depth than headline discount %
Style: Anchors high, cites policy, compares line-item to Competitor B
Director of IT (champion, referenced)
Hidden agenda: Will not join call unless procurement escalates — protecting political capital
Style: Not on this call
You play Alex Rivera. Read their lines aloud or have a partner play the buyer.
Final commercial round. Your champion (Director of IT) supports you but cannot override procurement. Contract is $240K ACV, 3-year term preferred.
Stakes: Quarter close in nine days; competitor B undercut you 15% on paper but lacks implementation scope your champion needs.
Company: Financial services buyer (~1,200 employees). RFP completed; you are vendor of choice on fit, not price.
Protect list price or trade concessions for measurable customer commitments (term, scope, case study) while keeping the economic buyer engaged.
Read through each act, then work the decision points below. Coaching notes appear after annotated lines.
Pat Okonkwo · Head of Procurement
Alex, I’ll be direct. We need thirty percent off list to get this to signature this quarter. Competitor B is already there.
Alex Rivera
I hear you have a savings target and a short timeline. Before we talk percentages — what outcomes does Dana’s team need locked for audit season?
Pat Okonkwo · Head of Procurement
Outcomes are in the SOW. Price is the blocker. Thirty percent or we reopen the RFP.
Alex Rivera
Reopening adds six weeks minimum — Dana flagged that risk last week. Help me understand: is the gap list price, or scope we included that B left out?
Pat Okonkwo · Head of Procurement
Your scope is why you’re preferred. Finance still wants the number. Give me something I can take upstairs.
Alex Rivera
If we align on a three-year prepaid with migration bundled, I can take a structured proposal to Dana today — not a blind discount. Would that satisfy your process?
Pat Okonkwo · Head of Procurement
Prepaid helps. I still need a headline discount. Fifteen percent won’t clear Finance.
Alex Rivera
What if we document implementation SLAs and a joint case study — concessions that don’t reset pricing for your other vendors?
Pat Okonkwo · Head of Procurement
Case study is marketing fluff. Cut price or I escalate to reopen bids.
Alex Rivera
Then let’s put Dana and Finance in one room Thursday — business case on TCO, not line-item discount. I won’t sign a 30% cut without their sign-off on scope trade-offs.
Pat Okonkwo · Head of Procurement
…Fine. Thursday, 30 minutes. Bring one page — dollars and dates.
Choose a path before reading the debrief. In pair practice, pause and discuss which option you would take.
Decision 1 of 2
Match Competitor B with 15% immediately to save the deal
Risky“We can do fifteen percent if you sign by Friday.”
Why: Concedes before understanding BATNA and trades. Sets precedent; Pat will push for the remaining 15% next call.
Reframe to outcomes and scope before discussing price
Recommended“What outcomes does Dana need locked for audit season?”
Why: Shifts from anchor to value. Opens ZOPA on scope and term instead of headline %.
Threaten to walk away unless Pat stops negotiating
Risky“Take it or leave it — our price is final.”
Why: Only works with strong BATNA and relationship capital. With Dana as champion, alienates procurement and may trigger RFP theater.
Decision 2 of 2
Email a 20% discount after the call to keep momentum
RiskyWhy: Unilateral concession without get; undermines Thursday meeting leverage.
Require joint session with Dana/Finance on TCO and trades
Recommended“Thursday — Dana, Finance, one page on dollars and dates.”
Why: Multi-threads economic buyer; negotiation becomes business decision, not procurement squeeze.
Offer free pilot year to avoid discount on paper
AcceptableWhy: Can work as structured trade but often hides discount in cost of delivery — document scope limits carefully.
Continue practicing related situations.
Jordan Chen has twelve minutes, a failed vendor rollout last year, and zero patience for slides. Can you earn a second conversation without pitching too early?
Your champion booked a demo for six people. Three minutes in, Security says no API access — and the economic buyer goes quiet.
Frameworks and research cited in this scenario.
Negotiation is not about winning at the customer's expense. The Harvard model teaches how to expand the pie before dividing it.
Discounting is a symptom of weak value articulation. Value-based sellers tie price to measurable business outcomes the buyer already cares about.
Objections are not rejections — they are requests for more information. The best sellers treat objections as discovery opportunities.
MEDDIC turns gut-feel pipeline into rigorous qualification — the framework behind some of the most predictable enterprise sales organizations in tech.
