There's a ludicrous scene in "Ocean's 11" where Bernie Mac's character Frank negotiates the transport for the casino heist. Frank agrees to the offer and shakes the car dealer's hand. Then he tightens his grip and crushes the dealer's knuckles. In excruciating pain, the dealer immediately drops his price!

Your next cloud contract negotiation (hopefully) won't mimic these events. But at a minimum, this movie proves anything can happen in the boardroom or hotel exhibition hall, so you need to prepare.

Below, we cover some scenarios more likely than knuckle-crushing and showcase the value of hiring a cloud procurement expert like Cloud Negotiator.

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Nightmare Scenario 1: When Emotions Get the Best of You

Thrashing out a cloud contract can be a surprisingly emotional experience, fraught with uncontrollable feelings that fluctuate as negotiations advance. You might run the entire emotional gamut in a couple of hours:

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Fear — NetSuite sales reps might intimidate you.

Frustration — When you can't agree on costs, licenses, or where to eat during your break.

Joy — When you think you've got a good deal.

Anger — When you return to the office, read over your contract, and realize you've been out-negotiated. Again.

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You want to be cool and seriously collected in the boardroom. But you're jittery. Your palms sweat. Your heart races. You forget what to say. You wish you'd left cloud procurement to the experts.

Research shows that specific emotions — sadness, anger, envy, excitement, disappointment, etc. — affect behaviour during negotiations. These emotions could even affect the entire outcome of negotiations.

Nobody's saying you need to be a robot or be devoid of any emotion during cloud vendor talks, but you must regulate your behaviour in the meeting room. (Or try to.) Come across as too eager, and you could lose the negotiation. Appear angry, and you miss the deal. Think of cloud negotiations like a game of poker, where you always call your bluff.

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Sometimes it's a struggle to control our emotions, especially in the highly pressured environment of cloud negotiations. That's why you should hire a procurement expert like Cloud Negotiator to negotiate for you. As "middlemen," we don't have personal or emotional attachments to your business — although we are remarkably passionate about your cloud service needs — so it's easier for us to liaise between you and the vendor. We'll get you the best deal. No emotions involved.

Let us connect you with a global cloud procurement specialist. Submit a quick estimate here, and we'll be in touch.

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Nightmare Scenario 2: When You Get Your Numbers Wrong

Mistakes happen if you're not used to discussions. It's easy to get your numbers wrong and quote the wrong price or make another financial error. Before you know it, you've signed a new contract and received the crappy end of the deal.

Vendors from Salesforce, Oracle, and other service providers are artful negotiators. These quick-thinking, quick-talking sales reps outsmart even the most confident CFOs, cloud product managers, and heads of purchasing.

 

But they can't outsmart us. Thanks to hundreds of partners worldwide, Cloud Negotiator can negotiate a new cloud contract or renew an existing one. No oversights. No blunders.

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We know about numbers. And license clauses. And terms of service. Because we understand the "tricks" vendors have up their sleeves, we outwit, out-think, and outplay the world's biggest service providers and bring home the best deals ever. Meet us.

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Nightmare Scenario 3: When You Say the Wrong Thing

Imagine the scene. You've semi-secured a good deal with Sage Intacct, and you agree to sign the contracts the following week. You and the vendor engage in small talk while leaving the boardroom, but you totally say the wrong thing:

"I'm surprised you agreed to our conditions. We're paying half the price as other companies in this city."

On the drive back to the office, you get an email: Sage wants to continue discussions, not close them. What you said could have potentially damaged the deal.

Our words affect negotiations, even what we say before and after the main discussion. So be careful how you communicate.

Saying the wrong thing isn't just a newbie mistake; it's one we see all the time, even with executives at large companies that could or should know better. The problem is that cloud product managers think the negotiation starts and ends at the boardroom table. In reality, it involves all communication with the vendor, including what you say in emails and texts.

Working with a cloud procurement expert prevents this problem from happening. Cloud Negotiator knows the right thing to say and when to say it. We're never lost for words.

Before You Negotiate ...

We see heads of procurement and cloud product managers make the same mistakes over and over. They think they can negotiate a good contract, but they rarely do because service providers like Salesforce, Oracle, and NetSuite are powerful. And because their sales reps are incredible negotiators, some businesses don't stand a chance. Working with procurement specialists like Cloud Negotiator makes more sense. We negotiate for you, but we do so on your terms.

Most businesses prefer one of our global experts to negotiate on their behalf. But if you still want to enter discussions, we provide pre-negotiation consulting services that seriously boost your chances of success. Submit a quick estimate here, and we'll be in touch. Or contact us here for more information.