Docusign

Docusign is an electronic signature and digital transaction management platform that allows businesses and individuals to securely sign, send, and manage documents online. It streamlines the agreement process by enabling electronic signatures on contracts, forms, and other documents from anywhere, using any device. DocuSign eliminates the need for physical paperwork and in-person signatures.

Docusign offers various tiers starting at the Standard level up to the Enterprise tier. However, more importantly with Docusign, their contracts can be based on User counts or total Envelope counts.

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The user based plan will come with a set number of envelopes per user, but not exclusive for usage by one user, while the envelope plan allows for unlimited users with a set number of envelopes. On top of that, many customers purchased the DocuSign package with a Salesforce integration to deploy in their sales organizations.

Per User Based

• This plan is best for teams with a smaller group of employees who require access to Docusign and don’t need it deployed across the company.
• The costs for the per user plan are typically lower than the envelope model, controlling for envelope volume, given the extra cost associated with an unlimited user plan.

Per Envelope Based

• This is best for teams that have a wide range of users that need Docusign envelopes, this can offer savings from the user plan as you can more accurately tailor envelope allotments to fit expected usage. Rather than being stuck at a preset ratio of users to envelopes.

Once you’ve run a price benchmark on your contract, you need to know the levers to pull to get to the best price with your supplier. Tropic has consolidated customized negotiation playbooks for hundreds of suppliers so you know exactly how to get the best price and terms on your Docusign contract. Here are some highlights:

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Leverage Long-Term Agreements and Growth

• Long-Term Commitments: Docusign offers solid discounts for multi-year agreements. Consider extending the term length beyond a single year to secure better pricing.
• Growth as a Lever: Docusign values growth significantly. Highlight any potential for increased usage or user count to negotiate better rates. Even slight growth can yield savings between 5%-8%.
• Early Renewals and Timing: Pulling renewals early and signing before year-end or at the end of a quarter can provide additional discounts.

Optimize Usage and Right-Size Agreements

• Evaluate Usage: Regularly review your envelope and user usage to ensure you are not overpaying. Rightsizing your volume based on accurate forecasts can lead to significant savings.
• Remove Inactive Members: Identify and remove any inactive users to reduce costs, as users are often sold in buckets.
• Switch Plans: Consider switching from user-based to envelope-based plans (or vice versa) to better fit your team's needs and potentially save costs.

Utilize Budget Constraints and Pressure

• Anchor with Low Budget: Use budget constraints as a negotiation tactic to keep pricing in place or reduce costs, especially when reducing volumes.

Explore Additional Features and Plan Types - Add Features for Free:

• Negotiate for additional features like SMS add-ons or SSO at no extra cost by leveraging your current relationship and extending the term length.
• Unlimited Plans: Switching to unlimited document/user plans can offer significant savings. DocuSign may provide strong deals to encourage customers to move to these new SKUs.

Address Product Issues and Support Levels - Highlight Issues:

• Lean into any product issues or frustrations with supplier response times to negotiate better terms or pricing.
• Adjust Support Levels: Evaluate your support needs and consider downgrading from Premier to Plus Support if underutilized, which can reduce overall costs. However, be cautious if you rely on critical integrations like Salesforce or Greenhouse.