When scaling B2B products, one of the revenue growth limiters is discounts.

If the financial result at the end of the month (quarter, year) is okay for founders, rarely does anyone manage the discount process.

People usually get involved only when "revenue is crazy, but profit is unheard of."

But when diving into such analysis, nuances arise.

Although the total amount of discounts given is generally easy to calculate, the problem is that it's very difficult to retrospectively analyze the reasons why we gave them.

(we forgot, sales managers changed, etc.)

And if we don't understand the "why," we are unlikely to improve anything.


To keep the team from living in a fog, it's useful to set up discount reason codes even at the start of sales.

These are short standard notes in the CRM explaining why the price in a specific deal is lower than the list price.

Reason codes help identify where the problem is truly in the product and where it's in negotiation skills. From there, you can systematically build rules (who gets a discount, how much, who approves).

Codes should be short, clear, and non-overlapping. Usually, 8-12 discount reason codes are enough.

For example:

- Competitive offer
- Budget limit
- Prepayment
- Long-term contract (2-3 years)
- Volume expansion (users/usage)
- Strategic project (important brand/market)
- Error compensation (we messed up)
- Churn risk (client wanted to leave)
- Product gap (missing feature)


Important!

If "Product gap" is selected, it's better to add another field - "Which gap." Write a short comment about what exactly is missing in the functionality.

Once you implement such a thing in the CRM...

At least once a quarter, you should analyze these codes.

Take deals and look for patterns:

- Which codes are most common?
- Who gives the most discounts?
- When are they given (end of month/quarter)?
- For which types of clients?
- Does the discount actually help win (win rate increases) or did they not buy anyway?


If done thoughtfully, insights are guaranteed.

Further decisions could be:

- Change rules: discount only for clear value (prepayment, long-term)
- Tighten control over discount distribution at the end of the quarter
- Train certain salespeople on objection handling and price defense
- Adjust sales plans / motivation (to avoid discounts for personal bonuses)

In short... the tool is simple but extremely useful.

(because often, the issue is not about price at all)

Take action! If you haven't already.

PS: Share this post with colleagues / acquaintances who might find it useful.

#discounts