But at the end of the day, the tactic is used time and time again because these same CIO’s fall for it. Or they don’t have the power/support/energy/attention/respect from the business to stop it.

The day that IT management stops buying the end-of-quarter/year firesale deals is the day that these deals will magically disappear. Or rather, it’s the day everyone will discover that these deals exist every minute of every day of every year… and if you’re planning properly in advance, you’ll be ready to pounce or create them on YOUR time-table rather than the vendors.

Heck, I even wrote an entire article on it:

http://www.licensinghandbook.com/2008/04/01/firesale/

@Todd: I agree: EOQ prices are almost always available at other times as well.

@Allen: Again, planning and honest approaches always pay off.

Thanks to everyone for their comments!

We recommend clients quote systems 6 weeks before EOQ, then request new quotes with end of quarter discounts 2 weeks or so before EOQ. We are open and honest with vendors that we expect significant discounts, given the vendors’ history of calling with offers in the past.

We’ve seen savings of 15% to 60% off original quotes on purchases planned well in advance.

Regards,
Allen
afalcon@horizoninformation.com

I have always found that the time pressure tactics are fake. Depending on whether I want a broader, deeper relationship with the vendor or not, you can use their high pressure tactics against them.

You often can get good price concessions from software vendors at the end of a quarter or year. If you don’t want to play their game, or simply can’t get the deal done by the end of the quarter, get the quote in writing. 100% of the time I have been able to get the same price after the end of the quarter. See how low they will go when their quarter end is looming, and then do the deal on your own timeframe.

I just had this same issue come up in the end of June. We had been negotiating for some time with a vendor for a product. However, the deal depended on our sales staff signing a contract with a customer. It was a nice deal, but our customer didn’t want to to sign after 4 months of negotiation. I was straight and up front with my vendor – great deal but no purchase with a signed contract from my customer. I try to start these negotiations with my vendors at least 6 months out in order to verify all requirements and to get the best win for both sides. This includes straight maintenance contract renewals. It is worth the time and effort to plan well in advance, but a discipline that is not liked by many employees.

Good post.

Wayne

@Krishna: While successful oong-term salespeople figure this out, lots of newcomers still need to learn that sales is about relationships and not price.

You would think Marketing and Sales would have figured out by now that no customer likes to be rushed into buying – not for cars, not for the 12-CD greatest hits and certainly not enterprise software.

This will certainly put ones leadership skills to the test as you try to explain why we should take a step back and understand what problem we are trying to solve.

I know everyone has a job to do but I agree with you that this approach does not support creating that trusted relationship.