Let's start by looking at this snippet of an email from a customer looking to acquire LinkDB Snapshots from us:
Hello Steven,
I'm back to revisiting this (sorry for the delay). It's down to you and [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] has similar data. They're more expensive if we use US (about $130k for the first year assuming monthly updates compared to your $X or so), but they are much cheaper if we buy the global dataset (about $160k for the first year). I never got firm pricing on the global dataset, so let me know how close you can get to [REDACTED].
You will see that the conversation has led to a bidding war. Of which I have to assert that we are not a budget vendor. We will never compete on the lowest price.
So, we do not ever provide price quotes to avoid putting ourselves into a position of a bidding war.
Instead, we provide a general price range, and I will funnel you to test out the finesse of our product – be it data quality or the standard of our API.
And once you are confident that our product fits you and our price range sit within your budget, we will begin the negotiation process as such:
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We would get on a call or a quick email for which I will ask you for your budget.
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If the budget is reasonable, then I will ask you if
you can make the purchase decision
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and if you are ready to make a purchase decision today
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If the stars align – I will make a fair offer as best as I can to meet your budget. This offer will be a price quote valid for only 24 hours. The offer is valid for only 24 hours to prevent a bidding war and/or quote shopping amongst vendors.
The offer will get worse should 24 hours lapse. Based on experience, serious buyers make the purchase decision immediately.