Free SaaS Renewal Negotiation Prompt

## StackSwap execution contract

You are running a StackSwap operator workflow. Your job is to turn the user's real context into a decision-ready GTM artifact, not a generic explanation.

1. Start by extracting the objective, audience, motion, constraints, available evidence, decision, and definition of success.
2. If a missing fact would materially change the answer, ask up to 3 precise questions. Otherwise state reasonable assumptions and proceed.
3. Separate supplied facts, assumptions, unknowns, and recommendations. Never invent customer evidence, performance claims, market data, or proof.
4. Use the workflow below as the default operating method, adapting it to the user's context. Explain important trade-offs briefly.
5. Produce the promised artifact first. Make it copy-ready, specific enough to run, and structured for the user's actual team or buyer.
6. Include the evidence used, the verification or inspection loop, the main failure modes, and what would change the recommendation.
7. End with: Assumptions; Risks or failure modes; First 3 actions with owner and timing; and a short quality check showing what would make this artifact trustworthy.

### Output contract

Every workflow must make its output observable. Name the artifact, its required fields, the evidence or inputs behind each important claim, and the acceptance check that determines whether it is usable. If the workflow is a decision, show the viable alternatives, criteria, recommendation, runner-up, reversibility, and stop/continue rule. If the workflow is a copy-ready asset, include the final asset before commentary.

### Evidence and verification

Use the user's evidence first. Label sourced facts, assumptions, estimates, and recommendations. Prefer a small test, review, calculation, or comparison that can falsify the recommendation. Never treat an AI assertion as verification.

### Follow-on behavior

Name the next useful workflow only when it follows from the current artifact. Link the handoff to a concrete decision, missing evidence, or unresolved risk; do not recommend a generic tour of the library.

### Cross-platform behavior

This prompt is designed to work in ordinary chat, Claude, and Codex. Do not depend on hidden system instructions, a specific model, slash commands, or unavailable tools. If tools or files are available, use them only when they improve evidence quality; otherwise complete the workflow from the provided context.

---

---
name: saas-renewal-negotiation
description: "Run a B2B SaaS renewal as a negotiation instead of an auto-renew formality. Produces a vendor-specific renewal plan: leverage inventory, price anchors, target/walkaway with a BATNA, an ask ladder, a concession map, and a timed script, so you stop leaving 10-30% on the table. MANDATORY TRIGGERS: '[tool] renewal is coming up', 'negotiate our [vendor] renewal', 'they raised our price', 'how do I get a discount on [tool]', 'renewal negotiation', 'our contract is up for renewal', 'vendor wants to increase our price'. STRONG TRIGGERS: 'reduce our SaaS spend', 'they auto-renewed us', 'how to negotiate with [vendor]', 'renewal leverage', 'should I threaten to churn'. Do NOT trigger on: choosing a new tool (use tool-selection-and-build-vs-buy), the pre-purchase question list (use vendor-due-diligence-questions), or a full stack audit (use gtm-stack-audit, which produces the BATNA this skill uses). DO trigger when an operator is facing or preparing for a specific renewal."
allowed-tools: Read Write WebSearch WebFetch
metadata:
  author: Nick French / StackSwap
  version: '1.0'
  product: Operator Playbook
  website: stackswap.ai/playbook
---

# SaaS Renewal Negotiation

Most SaaS renewals auto-renew at list price plus an increase, because nobody prepared. The vendor sends the renewal quote 30 days out, the operator is busy, the auto-renew clause fires, and the company just paid 10-30% more than it had to, for the same software. Renewal isn't a formality. It's the one moment a year the vendor needs *you* more than you need them, and most teams sleepwalk through it.

> **Every renewal is a negotiation you're either running or losing by default. Your leverage is highest 90 days out and exactly zero the day after auto-renew. The operator who shows up with a BATNA and a usage report doesn't pay list.**

This skill builds the vendor-specific renewal plan: what leverage you actually hold, what to anchor price against, your target and walkaway, the ask ladder, what you'll trade, and the timed script.

---

## When to use this skill

Trigger on:

- "[Vendor] renewal is coming up"
- "They raised our price / auto-renewed us"
- "How do I get a discount on [tool]?"
- "Reduce our SaaS spend at renewal"

Don't run for:

- Buying a new tool (use `tool-selection-and-build-vs-buy`)
- Pre-purchase questions (use `vendor-due-diligence-questions`)
- The stack-wide audit that *produces* your BATNA (use `gtm-stack-audit`)

---

## The framework

### 1. The leverage inventory

Before you ask for anything, list what you actually hold:

- **Switching-cost reality**, high switching cost favors them; low favors you. Know it honestly (the audit tells you).
- **Usage data**, under-utilization is leverage ("we use 60% of seats, let's right-size"). Over-utilization is theirs.
- **Competitive alternatives**, a real quote from a credible alternative is the strongest leverage there is.
- **Timing**, their fiscal quarter/year-end; your auto-renew clock.
- **Expansion/multi-year carrots**, what you can offer to trade for a cut.
- **Relationship + reference value**, a public case study or referenceability has real dollar value to them.

If your only leverage is "please," you've already lost. Build at least two real sources before the call.

### 2. Price anchors

Anchor low and justify it:

- Your **last price** (and what's changed in usage)
- **Public / list pricing** vs. what you pay
- A **competitor quote** (the new-logo discount they give others is often 20-40%)
- The **new-customer rate** for your same configuration, "why am I paying more than a brand-new logo?"

Open below your target. The first number sets the field.

### 3. The BATNA + walkaway

You are not negotiating unless you're willing to walk. Your BATNA, the credible alternative from your `gtm-stack-audit` and `tool-selection` work, is what makes the walkaway real. Set a **walkaway price** before the call and hold it. A walkaway you won't execute is a bluff they'll call.

### 4. The timing play

- Start **90 days out**. Inside 30 days you've lost the clock.
- Never negotiate inside the **auto-renew notice window**, cancel-notice first (in writing) to reset leverage, *then* negotiate.
- Use **their quarter/year-end**, reps discount hardest against a closing number.

### 5. The ask ladder

Climb in order; don't open at the top:

1. **Price hold** (no increase), the floor ask, often free
2. **Discount** off current (anchor with the competitor/new-logo rate)
3. **More for the same**, added seats, features, or tier free
4. **Multi-year for a bigger cut**, trade commitment for rate (only if the tool's a confident KEEP)
5. **Right-size / downgrade**, drop unused seats or tier if usage data supports it

### 6. The concession map

Never give a concession free, trade it:

| You want | You trade |
| --- | --- |
| Lower price | Multi-year term, faster signature, case study/reference |
| Price hold | Quarter-end close on their timeline |
| Added features | Expansion commitment or logo rights |

Every concession is a chip. Trade chips for chips.

### 7. The choreography

- **Silence is a tool.** After they quote, don't fill the gap. Let them negotiate against themselves.
- **"Best and final" is rarely either.** Treat the first "best and final" as an opening.
- **Bring procurement in late** as the "bad cop" / budget authority when you need to escalate.
- **Stay unattached.** The moment they sense you can't leave the tool, your leverage evaporates.

---

## The process when triggered

### Step 1: Map the contract + clock
Current price, terms, **auto-renew date and notice window** (calendar it now), usage data, what you actually use.

### Step 2: Build the BATNA
Pull the credible alternative + switching cost from `gtm-stack-audit` / `tool-selection`. Get a competitor quote if you can, even a ballpark.

### Step 3: Set target + walkaway
Target price (ambitious, anchored) and walkaway price (the line you'll actually leave over).

### Step 4: Assemble leverage + anchors
At least two real leverage sources; the anchor numbers.

### Step 5: Sequence the ask ladder + concession map
Decide your opening ask, your trades, and the order.

### Step 6: Write the script + timeline
The opening message (90 days out), the negotiation talk track, the walkaway line, the close.

---

## The artifact (template)

```markdown
# Renewal Negotiation Plan, [Vendor], renewal [date]

## Clock
- Renewal date: ___ | Auto-renew: Y/N | Notice window closes: ___ (CALENDAR IT)

## Leverage inventory
- Switching cost: low/med/high (why)
- Usage: __% of seats/capacity used
- BATNA: [alternative], switching cost [..], est. saving [..]
- Competitor quote: $___ (or "in progress")
- Carrots to trade: [multi-year / reference / expansion]

## Anchors
- Current: $___ | List: $___ | New-logo rate: $___ | Competitor: $___

## Target / walkaway
- Target: $___ | Walkaway: $___ (will execute: Y)

## Ask ladder
1. Price hold → 2. Discount to $___ → 3. + seats/features → 4. Multi-year at $___ → 5. Right-size

## Concession map
| Want | Trade |
| --- | --- |
| ... | ... |

## Script
- 90-day opener: "..."
- When they quote: [silence; then anchor]
- Walkaway line: "..."
- Close: "..."
```

---

## Common mistakes

- **Starting too late.** Inside 30 days the clock is theirs. 90 days out.
- **No BATNA.** Without a real alternative you're begging, not negotiating.
- **Missing the auto-renew window.** Find the notice date, calendar it, send notice before it closes to reset leverage.
- **Negotiating without usage data.** Under-utilization is your best right-sizing lever.
- **Giving concessions free.** Every chip trades for a chip.
- **Accepting the first "best and final."** It almost never is.
- **Emotional attachment.** Love the tool privately; negotiate like you'll leave it.
- **Forgetting their fiscal clock.** Time the close to their quarter-end.

---

## How to use the artifact downstream

1. **Fed by the audit**, `gtm-stack-audit` gives you the BATNA, switching cost, and the renewal calendar that makes this plan real.
2. **Armed by due diligence**, the gotchas from `vendor-due-diligence-questions` (overages, caps) become negotiation points.
3. **Realized in metrics**, renewal savings flow to `saas-metrics-and-unit-economics` (tooling cost is a real line in gross margin).
4. **Sequenced with consolidation**, if the verdict is leave, `stack-consolidation` runs the exit on the right timeline.

---

**Renewal is the one day a year the vendor needs you more than you need them. Show up 90 days early with a BATNA, a usage report, and a walkaway you'll execute, and trade every concession for a chip. Teams that treat renewal as paperwork pay list. Operators treat it as the negotiation it is.**

---

_Part of the StackSwap Operator Playbook. → stackswap.ai/playbook_

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