Negotiated Discounts

Our Price-Lowering, Service-Increasing Approach

Negotiated discounts are a cornerstone of our services that involve a buyer and seller agreeing on a reduced price for goods or services. Here are the key features/benefits of letting Conformance1 contact vendors for you:

• Initial vendor comparison: By using our experience with other buyer’s outcomes merged with your needs and goals, we can perform an initial buyer comparison which can save time and potentially provide other value-creation perspectives which you may not have considered. In some cases, we actually pre-test the products or services for you and provide a performance report.
• Anonymous quotes and demonstrations: Many vendors won’t provide initial pricing until/unless the prospect agrees to an initial meeting, which may be too soon in the buying process if you are just deciding if the item is within your budget. Conformance1 can either be your proxy in those meetings to gain an initial price, or arrange for you to participate anonymously to avoide being “hounded” if the price or features aren’t really a good fit.
• Shared reseller discounts: Most vendors will provide a “commission” to resellers who bring them a buyer. This typically ranges from 10 to 30% and is offered in hopes that the reseller will bring multiple accounts to the supplier. Conformance1 can act as a reseller, but can instead pass the savings on to you.
• Pooled buying: Either through our creating a formal buying group, or simply by recruiting multiple buyers for the same product/service, we can typically negotiate discounts for all.
• “Excess Inventory” identification: Conformance1 can contact vendors who may have unsole time, capacity or inventory that is unsold and ask for discounts. This is often done for items that are time-limited (such as live training classes), or have minimal costs for adding extra usage (such as more users for software), but can also extend to excess physical products (such as metrology equipment).
• Additional features and better terms: In addition to pricing, other increased value can come from negotiating other aspects such as more features, wider access (i.e. more seats for software), pricing based upon actual usage or company size and other “sweetners” can be offered by Conformance1 as part of the negotiating process.
• Past pricing experience: To gage and set market limits and discard out of boundary pricing and terms
• After-sale support: Conformance1 can monitor the vendor’s performance in a variety of areas including support, product/service delivery, error-tracking, usage levels and more and ensure that the service levels and quality meets agreed upon parameters.

How It Works:

1. Need: We work with you to identify specific features, functions, integrations and other conditions to solve problems or fill specific needs.
2. Identification: We jointly decide upon an initial set of vendors to approach.
3. Discovery: We provide additional information including scheduling of anonymous meetings where buyer can ask questions of potential sellers without disclosing their identities to avoid unwanted sales calls. 
4. Negotiation: We approach the vendor and propose a group purchase or volume discount arrangement, particularly if the vendor has “excess inventory” or increased need for volume. The terms of the discount, such as the percentage off or the duration, are negotiated based on the number of clients and/or the potential purchase volume and other terms.
5. Agreement: Once the discount is agreed upon, we continue to work toward even better arrangements by using it to attract others and increase buying power.

Why Participate?

• Our lead clients can expect to see:
  • Cost Savings: Secure a significant discount by bringing in more business for the vendor.
  • Enhanced Reputation: Strengthen relationships with other clients by offering them access to discounted software.
  • Potential Revenue: Charge a small fee to facilitate the negotiation process.
• Other clients can also expect:
  • Cost Savings: Gain access to software at a reduced price that might not be individually negotiable.
  • Simplified Process: Save time and resources by not having to negotiate directly with the vendor.
• Our partnered vendors can expect:
  • Increased Sales: Gain multiple new customers, leading to higher revenue.
  • Stronger Relationships: Deepen relationships with our lead clients and establish new ones with other clients.

Our Other Services

While negotiated discounts are a key offering, Conformance1 also provides a wide range of services to help clients optimize their purchases and implementations:

• Name Your Fee Discount Program: Typically applied to training class purchases but can also be used for other products or services. Clients offer pricing through C1 without knowing who the seller is, helping to obtain a price they are more willing to pay.
• Group Purchasing Plans: Pooling the buying power of multiple clients to secure discounts from sellers. We help negotiate the purchase of products, services, and systems for strategic sourcing.

How, Why, and Where We Solve Management Systems and Process Problems

Conformance1 is a problem-solving resource for those producing goods and services in manufacturing, energy, environmental, construction, information services, and related segments. Our services are designed to help users evaluate and implement tools and problem-solving approaches through:

• Solution comparison and evaluation tools.
• Pre-testing and scoring of potential solutions before purchasing.
• Implementation checklists.
• Supplier listings and upon-request peer evaluations.
• Cost estimators and anonymous demonstrations/quoting for buyers.
• Buying groups to reduce costs and increase support for chosen solutions.
• Individualized support and consulting.
• General reference and educational materials and approaches.

A Buyer Advocate, Solution Strategist, and Industry Influencer

We provide continual improvement and business optimization by acting as:

• A Buyer Advocate: Assisting those purchasing product, service, and systems solutions to navigate past hyperbole, select practical approaches, and obtain the best pricing, support, and terms.
• A Solution Strategist: Guiding solution providers to understand buyer demand and needs to improve their offerings, support, and performance.
• An Industry Influencer: Researching, developing, educating, and evangelizing processes, strategies, technologies, trends, and concepts that deliver value and results.

We’re here to help you navigate the complexities of purchasing and implementation, ensuring you get the most out of your investment.

Please complete this form to express your interest and provide details about your organization’s needs.