Salesforce announced today that it will be increasing pricing an average of 9% starting in August. The pricing affects Sales, Service, and Marketing Clouds as well as Industries (e.g., Financial Services Cloud) and Tableau. Much of their current (pre-increase) pricing can be found on their Web site (e.g., Sales Cloud pricing). The new pricing will apply — starting in August 2023 — to any new customer or any existing customer buying a new product.
This announcement is the latest in a slew of pricing increases we’ve seen from major enterprise software vendors coming out of the pandemic, as we discussed in our recent research on 2023 software pricing trends.
Salesforce customers and prospects should consider the following actions:
- If you have a deal in the works now, consider moving it up to lock in the old pricing. While you can’t know for sure how discounting might change after the increase, it is most likely to save you money versus waiting until August or later. That said, be careful not to buy things you’re not sure if you need — because unused SaaS ‘shelfware’ is generally a worse waste of money than losing out on a deal.
- Review existing contracts for any looming renewal dates. These should be evaluated early if possible — especially if it’s something you’re likely to be renewing in the next six months. Generally, we’ve seen renewals come with a price lift – such as 3%, 4%, 7%, or higher. With the new pricing, you’re at risk of a double-whammy if you don’t renew early.
- Take a good look at what you really use, what you really need, and ROI. Now is a great time to take a detailed look at what you’re paying for versus what you’re using. Pay careful attention to things that are unused or underused and anything that is redundant with other systems that could supplement. This will help you decide what to renew and how much cost is “worth it.” Typically there are some areas that are hard to decouple from — but there often are some products you can eliminate or at least consider possibly eliminating during negotiations.
