Transcript

Getting beyond price in vendor negotiations. · Medsolve Dynamics

Yoel Bakas: In most radiation oncology capital conversations, the price conversation happens and then the deal closes. What rarely happens is a conversation about the other things that really matter. A conversation about the service coverage tier. the software license terms. Training, uptime, response time. Installation speed. the delivery timeline and third party add-ons. For most of those, the vendor has flexibility. None of those surface if the whole conversation stays focused on price. The vendor has already modeled the price negotiation before walking in. They have a floor and they know where it is. When the conversation stays there, it stays within a model that they designed. The programs that recover margin in these negotiations ask a different set of questions before discussing pricing. Some things to think about are what does this equipment need to do for you for the next five years? What does a day of unplanned downtime cost you operationally? What is the minimum service tier that actually covers your clinical needs, not necessarily the one that's being recommended? Those answers can change what's on the table and how the negotiation unfolds. A price conversation does not.