Salesforce Slack and Quip Negotiation Strategies

Negotiating Salesforce Collaboration Tools (Slack & Quip)

Why Slack & Quip Matter in Salesforce Deals

Salesforce’s recent strategy has been to push the adoption of Slack and Quip as part of its larger enterprise agreements.

After acquiring Slack (in 2021) and Quip (in 2016), Salesforce is eager to bundle these collaboration tools with its core CRM deals.

For CIOs and procurement leaders, this means that collaboration tools are often on the table during Salesforce negotiations – often pitched as value-added to “transform how your teams work.”

However, blindly accepting Slack and Quip together can backfire. Risks of bundling without scrutiny include license creep and “shelfware” – paying for far more licenses than end-users adopt. Slack and Quip can significantly inflate your Salesforce costs if left unchecked.

To illustrate the impact, adding Slack Enterprise or Quip Advanced to a Salesforce Enterprise Agreement can significantly increase your spend.

The table below shows an example of how Slack or Quip can increase the total contract cost for a large company:

Typical cost impact of adding Slack or Quip at full deployment. In practice, negotiated discounts may reduce these numbers; however, the potential cost increase remains clear.

As shown above, Quip Advanced, at list price, could rival the cost of your core CRM for all employees.

Slack Enterprise, although cheaper per user, still represents a substantial additional expense when rolled out to a broad audience.

This is why Slack and Quip deserve careful attention in Salesforce deals.

You need to validate that their business value justifies their cost and negotiate terms to keep their licensing under control.

Slack Licensing Models Explained

Slack’s collaboration service is offered in several tiers. Free is the entry-level (with only 90 days of message history and very limited features), suitable just for trial use.

Pro and Business+ are the standard paid plans for companies. Pro provides unlimited message history and basic video calls, while Business+ adds enterprise-grade features, including SSO login, enhanced support, and a 99.99% uptime SLA.

At the top end, Enterprise Grid is Slack’s offering for very large organizations – it allows multiple interconnected workspaces, granular security controls, and custom pricing.

Enterprise Grid is the plan most global enterprises will negotiate, and it comes with the highest list price (often quoted around $25–$30 per user/month, before any discounts).

Quip Licensing & Use Cases

Salesforce Quip is a collaborative document and spreadsheet platform. In practice, Salesforce primarily promotes Quip Advanced, which costs about $100 per user/month and includes deep Salesforce CRM integration (live Salesforce data in spreadsheets, documents embedded in Salesforce records, etc.).

There is also a basic Quip version (at a much lower cost, more akin to Google Docs), but large enterprises are usually pitched the Advanced edition as part of Salesforce deals.

Common use cases: Quip Advanced is designed for scenarios such as sales account plans, project notes, or live data dashboards shared within teams – all of which are directly tied to Salesforce. The idea is to keep work “in context” rather than scattered across emails and files.

Watch out for shelfware: Despite its promise, Quip often overlaps with tools you already have (Office 365, Google Workspace). Many companies find employees stick to familiar Office/Google tools, turning Quip’s pricey licenses into shelfware.

This risk makes it crucial to thoroughly scrutinize Quip’s value and negotiate terms that allow you to pilot or pull back if adoption falters.

Bundling Slack and Quip into Salesforce Contracts

Salesforce often tries to bundle Slack and Quip into your broader Salesforce contract – especially during big renewals or Enterprise Agreement (EA) negotiations.

The appeal from their side is obvious: bundling drives up the total contract value and further entwines your collaboration tools with the Salesforce ecosystem. As the customer, you need to approach such bundles strategically.

“Package pricing” tactics:

Salesforce reps may offer Slack and Quip at a “special” combined price if you add them alongside core products. Salesforce might offer a combined Slack and Quip package with enticing discounts (e.g., “30% off Slack and 50% off Quip”). It may sound like a great deal, but don’t accept it without careful consideration.

Always break out the components and evaluate if you truly need both Slack and Quip, whether the “discount” is genuine or just shifts costs, and how the bundle compares to buying these tools separately.

It’s common for Salesforce to initially propose a high quantity of Slack/Quip licenses in a bundle – sometimes covering your entire employee base – which can lead to over-licensing. Push back on any assumption that every single employee needs these tools on day one.

Co-terming and contract alignment:

If you already have a separate Slack contract (perhaps you were a Slack customer before the acquisition), Salesforce will work to co-term Slack with your Salesforce EA. Co-terming simply means aligning Slack/Quip’s renewal dates with your Salesforce CRM. Convenient, yes, but it also means you can only renegotiate or drop Slack/Quip at the same time as your core CRM, not independently mid-term.

Impact on renewal leverage:

Bundling can reduce your leverage at renewal. Salesforce knows that if Slack and Quip are embedded, it’s harder for you to remove them. They might remind you that removing Slack would forfeit a bundle discount or disrupt users.

On the other hand, if Slack or Quip isn’t delivering value, you can use it as leverage (“We’ll drop Quip if we don’t get a better overall price”).

The best approach is to keep Slack and Quip as clearly priced add-ons, rather than blending them into an all-or-nothing deal.

This preserves your option to scale back or not renew those pieces if needed. If possible, negotiate trial periods or shorter terms for Slack/Quip within your larger contract, so you have natural off-ramps.

Slack Negotiation Strategies

When negotiating Slack as part of your Salesforce deal, leverage the fact that Slack is a “nice-to-have” compared to alternatives:

• Push for a steep discount: Slack’s list prices are high, but Salesforce knows it must heavily discount to compete with Microsoft Teams (which you likely already have at no extra cost). Don’t settle for a token 10% off. Aim for 30%–50% off Slack’s Enterprise Grid rate, because otherwise it’s hard to justify paying for Slack when Teams is essentially free. Come armed with benchmarks – for example, what other companies pay for Slack or how Slack’s cost per user compares to your cost per user for Teams. Make it clear that without a deep discount, you’re prepared to rely on existing tools.
• Negotiate usage-based flexibility: Avoid committing to more Slack licenses than you truly need. Structure the deal to start with a smaller number of users and scale up only when you see adoption. Push for terms that charge based on active users (Slack’s policy is to credit unused accounts) or that allow you to adjust quantities at renewal without penalty. The goal is not to pay for thousands of Slack seats that sit idle. If Salesforce wants you to deploy Slack company-wide, insist on a phased rollout or the ability to reduce the investment if engagement isn’t as high as expected.

Quip Negotiation Strategies

Quip, especially Quip Advanced, should be approached with a healthy dose of skepticism.

The focus is on proving its value before you commit and minimizing your risk:

• Challenge the ROI and insist on proof of value: Salesforce will pitch Quip Advanced as transformative, but you should be skeptical. Point out overlaps with your existing tools (e.g., “Why pay $100/user for Quip when we already use SharePoint or Google Docs?”). Demonstrate Salesforce’s value through a pilot program. Instead of buying Quip for everyone on faith, negotiate a small deployment (for one department or a few hundred users) as a trial run. Only expand (and pay for more licenses) if that pilot demonstrates ROI and user adoption.
• Negotiate flexible terms for low adoption: If Salesforce pushes for an enterprise-wide Quip commitment, build in safety nets. For example, insist on the right to reduce the Quip license count or get a price adjustment if usage is low after the first year. You want a contractual escape hatch so you’re not stuck paying for Quip seats that no one is using. Salesforce might resist refunds, but they may agree to let you scale down at renewal or provide credits for under-utilization – get those provisions in writing.

Using Alternatives as Leverage

One of your strongest negotiation levers is reminding Salesforce that viable alternatives exist and are often already in place and paid for.

If Salesforce believes you’re willing to stick with Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, or other collaboration tools instead of buying Slack and Quip, they will sharpen their pencil. Simply put: make it clear that Slack/Quip are optional, nice-to-have features, not essentials.

This stance encourages Salesforce to significantly drop prices or improve terms to win your business.

In summary, always remind Salesforce that you have alternatives available.

Even if you intend to go with Slack or Quip, a credible threat of “we might just expand our use of Teams/Google/Notion instead” can be the difference between paying list price and getting a highly discounted deal.

Common Mistakes Enterprises Make

When negotiating (or managing) Slack and Quip in the Salesforce ecosystem, enterprises often stumble into a few classic mistakes.

Avoid these pitfalls:

• Accepting Salesforce’s bundle price at face value: Salesforce might present a combined CRM + Slack + Quip deal that looks like a great bargain (“40% off the whole package!”). Too often, companies accept this without thoroughly examining it. Always itemize the deal. Understand each component’s cost: perhaps Salesforce offered a significant discount on Sales Cloud but a minimal one on Slack, making the bundle appear more attractive. Negotiate Slack and Quip on their own merits, not as hidden line items.
• Over-buying upfront: Don’t let a rep convince you to license Slack or Quip for everyone on day one if you’re not certain of adoption. Many companies find that only a fraction of users end up being active, resulting in a lot of wasted spend. It’s smarter to start with a phased rollout or smaller commitment and expand later if needed.
• Failing to monitor actual usage: Don’t assume value is being realized just because you bought the tool. Track metrics (logins, active users, content created) for Slack and Quip. If only 60% of your Slack licenses are being used, you want to know this well before renewal so you can make adjustments. Establish a governance process to regularly review adoption and reclaim or reassign unused licenses.
• Ignoring extra overhead costs: Consider integration work (setting up SSO, connecting Slack to other apps, embedding Quip in Salesforce, etc.), user training, and compliance requirements (such as archiving messages or backing up documents). These can add significant cost and effort. Ideally, bring them up during negotiation – you might secure some support or resources – but at the very least, plan and budget for them.
• Having no exit strategy: Don’t get locked into multi-year commitments for Slack/Quip with no way out. Avoid strict auto-renewal clauses and seek the right to reduce or terminate these licenses at renewal if they’re not providing value. Keeping that door open ensures you maintain leverage and cost control down the line.

5 Recommendations for Enterprises

To successfully manage Salesforce collaboration tools, here are five key recommendations:

1. Benchmark Slack & Quip vs. standalone options: Before finalizing any deal, compare the costs of using Slack or Quip on their own or through other vendors. Check market pricing and ask peers what they’re paying. This arms you with leverage when you ask Salesforce for a better rate. For example, if standalone Slack Enterprise deals are going for $10/user/month at scale, you’ll know to demand something in that range (or better) in your contract.
2. Demand adoption-linked licensing structures: Structure your licensing to ensure the cost aligns with actual usage. This could mean starting with a smaller number of Slack users and an option to expand at the same discount, or a clause that allows you to adjust Quip seats after a year based on usage. The goal is to avoid paying for shelfware. Salesforce may not volunteer such terms, but if you make it a condition (“We’ll only include Slack if we can do a ramp-up model”), you have a good chance of getting it.
3. Include sandbox and integration support upfront: When negotiating, remember that deploying Slack or Quip enterprise-wide often requires integration work (e.g., connecting Slack with Salesforce, or setting up Quip templates and security settings). Ask Salesforce to include some of these needs in the deal – e.g., free advisory services, admin training, or a sandbox environment to test integrations. Obtaining these concessions upfront reduces your total cost of ownership and demonstrates to Salesforce that you’re savvy about the real effort required to make the tools successful.
4. Analyze overlap with existing tools: Conduct a thorough audit of internal collaboration tools to identify areas of overlap. Identify where Slack or Quip would duplicate existing capabilities if your teams are already heavily invested in Microsoft Teams or Google Docs; factor that into your negotiation – it justifies why you shouldn’t pay a premium. Internally, this analysis also helps you plan if adopting Slack or Quip means you can eliminate another tool (rare, but if so, that savings can offset the cost). At a minimum, it prevents spending on Quip only to find that most users stick with Google Drive or SharePoint anyway.
5. Negotiate bundle discounts with exit options: If you opt for a bundle that includes Slack or Quip, negotiate a strong discount while also including clear exit clauses. For example, ensure you can drop or reduce Slack/Quip licenses at renewal if they’re underused, without a penalty. You can capture the savings of bundling and preserve flexibility. In other words, treat the bundle as an introductory offer – great if it works out, but not a permanent commitment if the value isn’t there.

Related articles

• Slack Enterprise Grid Pricing Tactics in Salesforce Deals
• Salesforce Quip Advanced: Cost, ROI, and Negotiation Insights
• Slack vs Microsoft Teams
• Salesforce Slack AI Pricing and Negotiation Strategy

FAQ

Is Slack more affordable when purchased through Salesforce?
No, not by default. Slack’s pricing is essentially the same whether you buy it through Salesforce or directly; it only becomes cheaper if you negotiate a better deal as part of your Salesforce contract.

Can Quip be removed from a Salesforce EA bundle later?
Yes – but it’s easiest if Quip is itemized in your contract. At renewal, you can drop a separate Quip subscription outright. If Quip were heavily bundled with other licenses, it would be harder (Salesforce may push back or adjust pricing elsewhere). That’s why it’s best to negotiate upfront the ability to remove Quip without penalty.

How do Slack Enterprise Grid discounts work?
They are highly negotiable. Generally, the more users and the more strategic your account, the bigger the discount. Small deals might only receive around 10% off, while large enterprise-wide deals often see discounts of 30–50% or more off the list price.

What are common pitfalls in Slack & Quip negotiations?
A few examples include over-committing licenses, failing to negotiate flexible terms (such as the ability to reduce unused licenses), not securing business buy-in (purchasing Quip but no one ends up using it), and overlooking contract details. In short: don’t buy more than you need, ensure adoption will happen, and nail down the fine print.

How can we push Salesforce to match competitor collaboration pricing?
By being very direct. Tell Salesforce what alternatives you have (e.g., “Teams is already included in our Office 365”), and set a clear target price or discount you expect them to meet. Make it known you’re willing to walk away to those alternatives if they don’t come close. That pressure typically forces Salesforce to either match the price or add enough value to bridge the gap.

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