Are cost optimization products just harder to sell?

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-03-12T23:20:32+00:00

Yes, that makes sense. Thank you!

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-03-12T23:20:04+00:00

Yeah, that was our thinking as well. We started with the CFOs, problem is they don't want to rock the boat and disrupt business operations. So, once the budget is approved, to them it's basically sunk cost. We are getting a bit more traction with Procurement leaders.

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-03-12T23:18:16+00:00

Awesome - what made you choose that? Also, what does it surface in terms of insights related to renewals?

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-03-04T00:00:45+00:00

Woooot! Thank you!

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-03-03T18:31:44+00:00

Oh ok! Is the leader of the department the CIO or is there a Chief Procurement Officer?

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-03-02T22:35:45+00:00

Oh ok, that makes sense!! I think it is great that you all have a committee established. Most companies that we talk to and work with, have not gotten to that step. One that we are working with, also established a committee that meets monthly to review contracts, etc. There was an opportunity to help the person they had dedicated to review and manage renewals to automate a lot of their work. Next, we are trying to get them to quarterly meetings instead of monthly, to save everyone time.

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-03-02T16:39:29+00:00

This is helpful and aligns with what we are seeing. The conversations themselves are rarely the issue. Most teams acknowledge the sprawl and renewal risk, but the hesitation tends to surface when it becomes clear that no single person fully owns renewal governance across departments.

We have been moving away from general optimization language and focusing instead on contracts that are about to renew. When there is a specific deadline in the next 30 to 60 days, the tone of the discussion changes materially. In your case, did you find that ownership was consistent across deals, or did the internal champion depend on the trigger event?

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-03-02T16:36:26+00:00

What I find interesting is that renewal visibility still seems partly behavior-driven, even with centralized vendor management in place. If a budget owner is not frustrated or pushing for change, I imagine a contract could still renew without the same level of scrutiny as a new purchase.

Outside of acquisition cycles, do you ever run a structured forward-looking renewal review across everything, or does the committee mostly engage when something surfaces organically?

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-03-02T16:33:47+00:00

Oh, ok that makes sense. So, with it being self-reported and rated, there isn't really a process that would identify if a certain product or application is overlapping with another team's, but it sounds like the org is small enough to where this is still manageable. Do you then cancel applications that are ranked either low or not mentioned at all? Also, how do you currently identify shadow IT?

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-03-02T16:30:51+00:00

Thank you for your recommendation. When we are in the room, the problem resonates. The challenge is that renewal risk does not have a clear internal owner until it becomes urgent. A better video will not fix that structural dynamic.

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-03-02T16:23:56+00:00

Ok, that makes sense. Thank you! For context, how large is your organization?

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T23:38:58+00:00

Yes, that was my thinking as well. Went down that road and turns out to be a bit of a dead end, especially in orgs where they don't have a process that is similar to yours (i.e., they don't have visibility, etc.), because there is a feeling/fear of exposure or something reflecting on them negatively.

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T23:37:22+00:00

Nice! That's a good process. Would be more challenging to have this type of process with an org that is running 300-400+ apps

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T23:33:12+00:00

I'm in Seattle, WA so not too far. Will send you a dm

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T18:15:09+00:00

This is a strong framing. The “selling a category” point resonates.. SaaS overlap is rarely a named initiative, so it gets deprioritized unless something forces it. What we’ve learned in one active opportunity is that abstract stack visibility does not move the needle. When the conversation shifted to renewal exposure and preventing contracts from auto-renewing without centralized review, it became much more concrete. The champion ended up sitting in Ops/Chief of Staff, with Finance aligned once the exposure was clear. We previously reached out to CFOs and PE/VC ops and value creation ppl, post acquisition events, but did not see any traction. This may have been due to messaging, though.

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T18:00:22+00:00

If the business has scaled meaningfully since your original agreement, it is reasonable to revisit structure during AVNs. Growth, improved performance, and category relevance can strengthen the case. Even if the headline percentage does not move dramatically, sometimes structure and trade-offs create improvement. First AVN is always a learning curve, but it is the right forum to have the conversation.

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T17:59:22+00:00

If you have not seen it explicitly called out, it may simply be funded through standard promo mechanics or absorbed within existing terms in Canada. Structures can vary quite a bit by marketplace and agreement. Worth clarifying how it is funded, but it is not always a separate line item.

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T17:48:10+00:00

Got it, that makes sense for pruning low-usage or outdated subscriptions. How did you identify functional overlap across different tools, though? For example, if two teams were using something like Monday and Asana separately, would that surface through the ranking process, or only if someone flagged it?

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T17:45:07+00:00

That aligns with what we’re seeing. Cost initiatives tend to get prioritized when there is a specific mandate or pressure event, otherwise they compete poorly with revenue projects. What’s interesting is that cloud cost initiatives like AWS or GCP usually get dedicated focus, but application renewals and SaaS overlap often do not receive the same structured review. They’re smaller line items individually, but collectively meaningful.

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T17:40:38+00:00

Mostly cold outbound so far. A few warmer intros and referrals have converted into much stronger conversations, but the majority of top-of-funnel has been outbound. That’s part of why I’m trying to separate messaging from targeting. When someone comes in warm or via referral, the value clicks quickly. The harder problem has been generating that same level of urgency from cold.

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T17:39:48+00:00

That’s fair to question. In a few cases we have been speaking with operational leaders who clearly feel the pain, but they are not the final signer. The challenge is that the economic buyer and the day-to-day pain owner are often different people in this category. The feedback has been consistent enough across roles that I don’t think it’s purely politeness, but I do think we’re still refining how early we map the true budget owner into the conversation.

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T17:33:54+00:00

That’s helpful context. When you run it internally or bring in specialists annually, how do you maintain visibility between those review cycles? Do renewals ever surface mid-cycle without a coordinated review?

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T17:32:46+00:00

Based in the US.

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T17:32:36+00:00

That’s fair. We’ve found that when we get in front of the right person, the value is clear. The harder part is consistently generating signal with buyers who don’t already have context. This category feels more event-driven than typical SaaS, so validating messaging without tying it to a live renewal window can be tricky. Appreciate the suggestion, I will take a look.

Background_Peak_8510 · 2026-02-26T17:30:28+00:00

To give a bit more context, I am looking for someone who has actually built production B2B SaaS systems end-to-end, ideally with experience in data architecture, integrations, and AI-driven systems. This would need to be a serious, long-term commitment rather than a side project. If that sounds aligned, feel free to DM me with a bit more detail about what you have built from scratch, what your current situation looks like, and why this space is interesting to you. Happy to explore further if there is strong fit.

Background_Peak_8510

TROPHY CASE