Discounting
topic on 3 shows · 10 statements across 9 episodes
Lenny's Podcast 
the a16z Podcast 
20VC
10 statements about Discounting, every show
Abel: Startups should only offer discounts in exchange for non-monetary value
“Discounting is great if you're getting, if they, if they're doing something for you far and beyond. Like for example, if they're a design partner if they're allowed, if they're going to be a reference for two years, if you're, if they're going to give you some…”
Discounting Uses High List Prices to Signal Quality While Enabling Conversion
“What discounting has a really powerful effect on is it can signal value with a high list price, but then bring something down to an affordable price.”
Mahtani: Leading with discounts hurts customers, companies, and reps
“I do not like to lead with discounting. It is a disservice to the customer and to the company and to you as a rep to lead with discount.”
Sam Blond: Startups should only offer discounts late in sales cycles to drive urgency
“I think where people make mistakes and salespeople in particular make mistakes is like just defaulting to discounting. This is something that happens very late in a deal and it happens with A very clear trade-off, which is driving urgency to close.”
Rosenberg: Asking payoff questions reduces discounting and speeds deal closing
“That's the question that's always missed by salespeople. They're just so happy to hear something that they think they can sell against. That they move too fast. Slow it down and ask that payoff question, because if you truly understand what the value is of sol…”
Rosenberg: Reference Stories Reduce Sales Discounting by Building Urgency and Conviction
“Those reference customers make your net new acquisition a lot easier. And by the way, help you dramatically reduce discounting because when people hear the reference stories of all the benefit that they get from the solution, You essentially create the urgency…”
Jiménez: Early-stage sales discounts must always be traded for references or referrals
“I think it's all about a trade-off. It's like, what are you demonstrating from a value trade for that? Is there something that, Hey, I'm going to give you this discount, but exchange for that especially in the early stages, I need references. You know, I need …”
Creating sales urgency without discounting requires deep customer pain
“If you don't have enough pain, there's Not a world where I can get you to have the urgency you need short of discounting.”
Dorfman: Discounting in sales is a red herring without clear ROI
“There's a time and a place. But I think discounting is Sort of a false hearing. It's just, do you understand the value you're providing? Do you understand how important that is to them and what problems you're solving? Do you understand their alternative to us…”