There is one question I often ask sales leaders when I review their commercial performance:
"How often are your teams discounting to win business?"
The answer is usually delivered with a shrug.
"Only when we have to."
"The market is competitive."
"Procurement always asks."
"It's just the way business is done now."
But here's the uncomfortable truth.
In most B2B sales environments, discounting isn't the problem. It's the symptom.
By the time a buyer asks for a discount, the sale has often been lost long before pricing enters the conversation.
Not lost to a competitor.
Lost because the salesperson failed to establish sufficient value, understand the commercial impact of the customer's problem, or gain commitment throughout the buying journey.
That's why I often say:
If you're discounting, you've already lost the deal.
Not because every discount is wrong.
But because the conversation has shifted away from value and towards price.
And once that happens, you're negotiating from a position of weakness.
Buyers Rarely Buy the Cheapest Option
Think about your own purchasing decisions.
Do you always buy the cheapest car?
The cheapest accountant?
The cheapest solicitor?
The cheapest software?
Probably not.
You buy the solution that gives you the greatest confidence in achieving the outcome you want.
Business buyers are no different.
Despite what many salespeople believe, procurement isn't trying to buy cheaply.
They're trying to buy wisely.
They are balancing commercial risk, operational performance, implementation confidence and long-term return.
Price is simply one factor.
Yet too many salespeople make it the centrepiece of the conversation.
Why?
Because they haven't built enough value elsewhere.
Price Is Only High in the Absence of Value
One of the core principles within the Sandler Selling System is that buyers make decisions emotionally before they justify them logically.
If a prospect genuinely believes the cost of doing nothing is greater than the cost of investing, price becomes far less significant.
But reaching that point requires discipline.
It requires asking difficult questions.
It requires genuine curiosity.
Most importantly, it requires understanding the prospect's pain.
Pain is one of the cornerstones of Sandler methodology.
Not superficial pain.
Not "our system is a bit old."
Real business pain.
Revenue leakage.
Declining profitability.
Poor customer retention.
Operational inefficiency.
Lost market share.
Missed growth opportunities.
Until those consequences are fully explored, quantified and owned by the buyer, any proposal simply becomes another quote to compare.
And quotes are compared on price.
Stop Selling Features. Start Quantifying Cost
Many salespeople spend hours preparing presentations explaining what their solution does.
Far fewer spend the same amount of time understanding what the customer's current situation is actually costing them.
That's a significant difference.
Imagine two conversations.
The first salesperson says:
"Our software improves reporting by 30%."
The second asks:
"What happens financially if your reporting continues to delay operational decisions by three days every month?"
One is discussing features.
The other is discussing commercial impact.
Which conversation is likely to command a premium price?
The best salespeople don't justify their fee.
They quantify the cost of inaction.
Procurement Isn't Your Enemy
One of the biggest myths in B2B selling is that procurement exists to force suppliers into discounting.
In reality, procurement professionals are doing exactly what they're employed to do.
Manage commercial risk.
Secure value.
Protect organisational interests.
The problem arises when salespeople arrive at procurement without having established value with the wider buying committee.
At that point, procurement only has one meaningful variable left to negotiate.
Price.
By contrast, when operational leaders, finance stakeholders and executive sponsors all recognise the commercial value being created, procurement discussions become significantly more balanced.
The negotiation shifts from:
"How much can you reduce your price?"
to
"How do we make this investment work for both organisations?"
That's a very different conversation.
The Sandler Principle Most Salespeople Ignore
One of the most powerful concepts in Sandler is the idea that no-one should become emotionally involved in the outcome of the sale.
That sounds counterintuitive.
Surely we should want the business?
Of course.
But wanting the deal too much changes behaviour.
You become eager.
You stop asking difficult questions.
You accept vague answers.
You overlook warning signs.
You begin negotiating against yourself.
Eventually, you start offering discounts before the customer has even asked.
Buyers notice desperation.
They sense when a salesperson needs the deal.
And the moment they detect that imbalance, negotiating leverage shifts dramatically.
The strongest salespeople remain professionally detached.
Curious.
Objective.
Comfortable hearing "no."
Ironically, this makes buyers trust them more.
Earn the Right to Discuss Investment
One of my favourite Sandler principles is simple:
Never present before the prospect is ready to buy.
Yet countless salespeople rush to produce proposals after a single meeting.
They prepare demonstrations.
Detailed quotations.
Commercial offers.
All before understanding whether the prospect actually has the motivation to change.
This creates unnecessary price discussions.
The buyer hasn't yet attached sufficient value to solving the problem.
So naturally they compare suppliers based on cost.
Instead, slow the process down.
Understand the pain.
Confirm the budget.
Identify the decision-making process.
Agree the consequences of doing nothing.
Gain incremental commitments.
Only then should pricing become part of the conversation.
By that stage, investment feels logical rather than expensive.
Confidence Is Your Greatest Commercial Asset
There is another reason salespeople discount.
Confidence.
Or more accurately, the lack of it.
If you don't believe your solution delivers superior value, you will struggle to defend its price.
You'll apologise for the investment.
You'll soften your recommendations.
You'll compromise too early.
The highest-performing commercial professionals do the opposite.
They are completely comfortable discussing money.
Not because they enjoy difficult conversations.
But because they know the value they create.
Confidence isn't arrogance.
It's clarity.
Clarity around outcomes.
Clarity around commercial impact.
Clarity around return on investment.
That confidence transfers directly to the buyer.
When Should You Discount?
Does this mean discounting should never happen?
No.
There are perfectly valid commercial reasons to negotiate.
Strategic accounts.
Long-term partnerships.
Volume commitments.
Multi-year agreements.
Expanded scope.
Reduced implementation costs.
Mutual concessions.
The key word is mutual.
A discount should never be given in isolation.
Every concession should receive something in return.
Earlier payment.
Longer contract terms.
A customer reference.
Additional users.
Broader rollout.
As David Sandler famously taught:
Never give without getting.
That's not hard-nosed selling.
It's commercial discipline.
Leadership Starts the Pricing Culture
Sales leaders often complain that their teams discount too readily.
But pricing culture starts at the top.
If managers celebrate winning at any cost, discounts become normal.
If compensation rewards revenue rather than profitability, discounts increase.
If forecast pressure intensifies towards quarter end, prices inevitably fall.
Leaders must reinforce a different message.
Winning profitably is better than winning cheaply.
Sometimes the right commercial decision is to walk away.
That can be difficult.
Especially when quarterly targets loom.
But bad business won at poor margins often creates more problems than good business lost.
Final Thoughts
The next time one of your salespeople says,
"The customer wants a discount."
Pause before asking how much.
Instead ask three better questions.
- Have we fully understood the commercial impact of their problem?
- Does the customer genuinely recognise the value we're creating?
- Have we earned the right to discuss investment?
Because if the answer to any of those questions is "no", reducing the price won't solve the real issue.
It will simply mask it.
The strongest commercial organisations don't compete by being the cheapest.
They compete by becoming the most valuable.
And when value is understood, defended and quantified, price becomes exactly what it should be.
A commercial discussion.
Not a desperate negotiation.
Because in professional selling, the goal isn't to win on price.
It's to make price the least important part of the buying decision.
