What are the six most profitable words of all time? Answer: do you want fries with that? In a reverse fashion, every entrepreneur should know the four best money saving words: what’s your best price? Most items are negotiable and you won’t get a discount unless you ask.
Cash is one of the top three responsibilities of a CEO (along with setting vision and getting the right people on the bus). It’s in this regard that the CEO needs to set the tone that getting a competitive price from suppliers is a core requirement. Everyone in the startup should have “what’s your best price” on their lips when talking to vendors.
Now, when doing pricing for our products I’m a big proponent of fixed prices with no negotiating. This strategy ensures pricing integrity across customers, reduced sales cycles, and increased customer trust. It works particularly well with Software-as-a-Service products. But, most of the world works with negotiable pricing and “what’s your best price” should be asked in every engagement.
What else? What do you think of using “what’s your best price” when negotiating?
David Cummings on Startups 
Look to existing vendors for the most significant savings. With whom have you been doing business the longest? In whom do you invest the most each month? These companies know some things new vendors don’t: They know you pay on time; they know exactly what it takes to profitably serve you; and they know you’ll likely be with them for a long time unless they give you an excuse to look elsewhere. Those are things they didn’t know when the relationship started, and the extra intel likely makes their “best price” better than the best price of someone who doesn’t know you.
Hi David,
I’m glad you at least acknowledge the dichotomy of always pushing for a lower price from others and always avoiding negotiating with others when they ask for a lower price.
I think that is one of my struggles as an entrepreneur; I don’t know where I get it from (maybe my dad?) but I have a very strong sense of “fairness.” I often feel wrong about pushing for a better deal if I’m not willing to negotiate, and vice versa.
But I guess that’s why I’m not rich yet. 🙂
-Mike