Every company has SaaS tools that they use every day, and negotiating the best price for each one can be a huge undertaking. With so many SaaS vendors to negotiate with, it’s helpful to get an inside look at how each one operates so you can get a great deal.

That’s what this blog series is all about. The Sastrify team is excited to share our best tips for SaaS buyers to optimize their contract terms during the subscription renewal negotiation process. All our advice is based on our experts’ years of experience in negotiating and procurement.

(Would you prefer to hand the negotiating over to a team of experts so you can focus on what matters in your business? Sastrify is ready to help.)

In the coming weeks, we’ll continue to bring you exclusive subscription management and renewal tips for tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, Twilio Segment, Datadog, Zendesk, Docusign, Mixpanel, and much more.

Now, let’s talk about Tableau.

What is Tableau?

Tableau is an interactive platform for data visualization, reporting, and analytics. The company was acquired by Salesforce in August 2019 and has more than 100,000 business customers and over a million active users of Tableau Public.

Alternatives to Tableau include Looker, Microsoft Power BI, and Sisense.

Top tips for Tableau subscription renewals

Whether you’re preparing to negotiate a Tableau renewal contract or you’re just starting out with the tool for the first time, these are our top 7 tips to get the best deal terms.

1. Negotiate bundled Tableau licenses

It pays to think long-term. Rather than adding licenses one by one as needed, negotiate each bundled upgrade of five to ten licenses. Doing this can get you a special “growth-license” discount from Tableau. This will also cover you for Tableau desktop licenses with mobile views for optimal viewing.

2. Get offers from Tableau competitors

One way to push down prices when negotiating with Tableau is to use offers you’ve received from alternative solutions (like the ones listed above: Looker, Microsoft Power BI, Sisense, etc). Get those quotes first and leverage them to win better offers from Tableau.

3. Ask for extra discounts for longer Tableau license commitments

We recommend that people start by negotiating the best price based on a one-year Tableau plan. Use all the tips in this list to get that number as optimized as possible. Then, if you’ve reached the bottom limit of how low they will go, ask for another discount of 5% or more for a two-year plan. 

4. Ask for a “site-license” with your Tableau product key

Getting tons of individual licenses can get expensive and be harder to keep track of. If you want access for most of your employees anyway, you can ask for a “site-license” – that way, all employees at your “site” (i.e. place of business) can be covered under one umbrella license. 

5. Combine your Salesforce and Tableau contract negotiations

As mentioned previously, Tableau belongs to Salesforce. This provides a great opportunity to get more discounts.

If you are using both tools, try to pool the total volumes in one negotiation. Getting those usage commitments higher – even if they’re spread across multiple products like Salesforce plus Tableau – can give you more leverage.

6. Adding Salesforce for the first time? Ask a reseller for discounts on Tableau and other products

If you are introducing Salesforce/Tableau as a new product, consider approaching one of the official resellers rather than Salesforce themselves. Resellers usually sell a variety of products, so you might be able to benefit from possible cross-selling opportunities (i.e. higher discounts on different products).

7. Get the best discounts at Salesforce’s fiscal year end or end of quarter

Many companies give more discounts as they near the end of the quarter or of their fiscal year. Tableau’s parent company, Salesforce, is becoming more and more quarter driven – knowledge you can use to your advantage.

Salesforce’s fiscal year ends at the end of January, meaning their quarters end on April 30th, July 31st, October 31st, and January 31st. You’re more likely to get the best discounts on contracts signed close to these dates.

Get the best Tableau contract price with Sastrify

All the advice in this renewal negotiation series – including these tips on Tableau – are curated by the SaaS procurement and negotiation experts at Sastrify. Our team is constantly negotiating with Tableau on behalf of our customers, so no one is more qualified to get you the best contract terms available on the market.

Winning the best SaaS deal involves a combination of the tips above with the right timing and preparation. Sastrify’s experts know exactly how and when to approach Tableau in negotiations so you end up with your ideal contract.

Find out how much you can save with our free SaaS savings calculator, and be sure to check back for the rest of our series on things you didn’t know about renewals for popular tools.

More renewal management guides:

• Hubspot
• Salesforce
• Auth0
• Zendesk
• Docusign
• Datadog
• Segment