Case Study: Salesforce Contract Negotiation for a Finnish Energy Company
Challenge
A leading Finnish energy company with operations across Europe and over 20,000 employees engaged Redress Compliance to renegotiate its Salesforce agreement. The company utilized Salesforce to manage customer engagement, energy efficiency programs, and tracking renewable energy projects. However, its existing contract posed several challenges:
- Increasing costs are driven by expanded usage across multiple business units.
- Misalignment between purchased features and actual operational needs.
- Limited scalability to accommodate future growth in renewable energy initiatives.
- Lack of transparency in license utilization, leading to potential overspending.
The energy company needed a strategic approach to optimize its Salesforce investment, align licensing with its sustainability goals, and ensure cost-effectiveness.
The Process
- Comprehensive Usage Audit: • Reviewed Salesforce deployments across customer service, project management, and sustainability initiatives. • Identified underutilized licenses and redundant add-ons. • Analyzed feature usage to determine their relevance to the company’s strategic priorities.
- Needs Assessment and Prioritization: • Collaborated with business unit leaders to understand critical requirements for Salesforce features. • Mapped future needs aligned with growth in renewable energy and customer engagement initiatives. • Highlighted non-essential subscriptions for potential elimination.
- Benchmarking and Negotiation Preparation: • Benchmarked the company’s Salesforce costs and terms against other energy sector organizations. • Identified opportunities for discounts and feature optimization based on industry best practices. • Developed a negotiation strategy centered on scalability, cost reduction, and alignment with sustainability goals.
- Negotiation and Contract Realignment: • Engaged Salesforce with a detailed proposal highlighting inefficiencies and optimization opportunities. • Secured significant discounts on enterprise licenses and analytics tools. • Negotiated flexible terms for scalable licensing aligned with renewable energy project timelines.
- Implementation and Governance: • Implemented a license management framework to monitor Salesforce usage in real-time. • Delivered training sessions for internal teams to optimize Salesforce utilization. • Established regular reviews to ensure continued alignment with operational goals.
Results
- Cost Savings: • Achieved a 30% reduction in annual Salesforce costs, saving €3.8 million over three years. • Eliminated €1 million in spending on redundant premium features.
- Contract Flexibility: • Secured scalable licensing terms to support the company’s renewable energy expansion. • Negotiated price caps for future growth, ensuring predictable cost structures.
- Operational Efficiency: • Optimized license allocation across all business units, ensuring alignment with user needs. • Improved governance and transparency in Salesforce usage, reducing inefficiencies.
Quote from the CFO:
“Redress Compliance provided us with the expertise to optimize our Salesforce agreement. Their strategic approach delivered significant cost savings and ensured our licensing aligned with our sustainability and growth objectives. Their support has been invaluable.”
Key Results:
- Savings Achieved: €3.8 million over three years.
- Flexibility Secured: Scalable licensing for renewable energy projects.
- Operational Efficiency: Streamlined usage and enhanced governance.
This case demonstrates Redress Compliance’s ability to deliver tailored negotiation strategies for energy companies, ensuring cost optimization, scalability, and alignment with sustainability goals in Salesforce agreements.
