Hudled Blog

As businesses increasingly rely on collaboration platforms like Slack to streamline communication and improve productivity, pricing becomes a crucial factor in deciding whether to adopt such a solution. In particular, Slack Enterprise Grid is a popular option for large organizations, but its cost can be a significant consideration. This blog will explore the appropriate pricing for Slack Enterprise Grid, the potential for negotiating discounts, and strategies to help secure approval from your company's Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

‍

Slack Enterprise Grid Pricing

Slack offers a range of plans to cater to different organizational needs. The platform features four plans: Free, Pro, Business+, and Enterprise Grid. The Free plan provides basic functionality with limited messaging history. The Pro plan starts at $87 per year or $8.75 per month for each active user and offers additional features. The Business+ plan, priced at $150 per year or $15 per month for each active user, includes even more advanced features.

The Enterprise Grid plan is designed for large organizations and starts at $384 per active user per year, equivalent to $32 per month. When purchasing Enterprise Grid you will need to liase directly with Slack's sales team and agree on a price. It's important to note that Slack only charges for active users, defined as users who have signed in over the past 30 days. This billing method ensures that companies pay only for the users who actively utilize the platform.

Slack Enterprise Grid Discount Paths

There are several discount paths available for organizations seeking to save on their Slack Enterprise Grid subscription. These discounts fall into four primary categories:

• Standard: A 17% discount on the Pro plan is available for those who commit annually.
• Negotiated: For Enterprise Grid plans, you can typically negotiate a 5-15% discount directly through your sales representative. Discounts of up to 50% might be possible for those purchasing hundreds of licenses or with sign-off from a high-level executive. For more information, request access to Hudled's Slack pricing benchmarks.
• Startup: Slack has run various startup offers where new users can get 50% off a paid plan in the first year. However, startups rarely purchase Enterprise Grid.
• Non-for-profit: Special discounts ranging from 20% to 50% are available for nonprofit organizations.

Tips for Negotiating a Discount with Slack Enterprise Grid

While procuring a Slack Enterprise Grid subscription, it's essential to be strategic in your approach to secure the best possible discount. Here are some tips to help you negotiate a favorable deal:

• Timing: Start negotiations at the end of the financial year, quarter, or month, as this can increase your chances of getting a higher discount. Utilize the urgency factor and aim to close the deal quickly to improve terms.
• Use benchmarking data: Leverage Hudled's Slack pricing benchmarks to demonstrate you have the best price for Slack. This will also help later on when you need to present your business case to your leadership team and CFO.
• Request for proposal (RFP): Conduct a thorough sales process, evaluating competitors like Microsoft Teams. This signals to the vendor that you're a serious buyer.
• Build a strong relationship with your sales rep: Developing a mutually beneficial partnership can lead to better pricing and ongoing support.
• Commit to increase volume: Give confidence to the sales rep that your account is high value. If you can commit to increasing your Annual Contract Value (ACV) by 5-20% in years 2 and 3, the likelihood of unlocking higher discounts increases materially.

Getting the CFO to Approve Slack in Your Company

Convincing your CFO to invest in Slack Enterprise Grid can be challenging, but with the right approach, you can demonstrate its value and potential impact on your business. Here are some strategies to help you gain approval:

• Present a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis: Outline the costs associated with Slack, such as the expected benefits and productivity gains by adopting Slack across the organization. Typically, Slack is already being used by teams, so you can show your own data.
• Demonstrate ROI and potential impact on business growth: Highlight Slack's role in improving operational efficiency and communication in the company. Provide concrete examples and case studies, if possible.
• Show benchmarking data: Leverage Hudled's Slack pricing benchmarks to show you have the best price for Slack and you've evaluated other competitors using strategies such as a Request for Proposal (RFP). Sharing this information will give your internal stakeholders confidence that you've done the research.

Reducing Your SaaS Costs with Hudled

Slack is just one of many tools that a company may use. Unfortunately, it's difficult to track who is using what, and SaaS management is often overlooked because calculating the return on investment is time-consuming. Hudled can help you overcome this challenge by offering a platform that manages SaaS subscriptions and reduces costs. With centralized subscription management, actionable insights, and SaaS optimization techniques, Hudled helps users save time and money.

Trusted by a range of companies, from startups with less than 10 employees to scale-ups with hundreds of employees, Hudled is easy to set up and offers various plans to suit different user needs. If you want to find out where you're overspending on your SaaS subscriptions, get started with Hudled for free and request a SaaS audit.