Most Salesforce value is already in your contract.
You're probably just not using it.
Find out how to maximise your value with no additional cost
Most companies I speak to don’t have a Salesforce problem. They have a usage problem.
They expand their stack before they fully understand what they already own, what’s actually being used, and which parts of the platform could already solve the problem in front of them.
Features are there. They’re just not adopted. Not embedded. Not operationalised.
And then renewal comes around.
That’s when teams start asking questions they should have asked much earlier. What are we actually using? Which SKUs are essential? Which users are inactive or on the wrong license type? What would we still buy today if we were starting from scratch?
By then it’s not impossible to fix, but it’s later, harder, and more expensive than it needed to be.
Do you actually know what Salesforce stack can do?
Where the hidden value usually sits
✅ Underused functionality
A lot of companies own more than they actively use. Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (formerly Pardot) is a good example. Most teams use it as an email canon, newsletters, a few nurture flows, basic forms. But they’re paying for a platform built for lead scoring, routing, account-based marketing, sales alignment, and segmentation.
The value is often already there. It’s just not being used.
✅ Adoption vs. licensing
A license being assigned doesn’t mean it’s creating value. Premium licenses sit with users who don’t need premium functionality. Others are inactive. Some teams are licensed for a future operating model that never materialised.
The fix is usually straightforward: a user audit surfaces inactive accounts, overprovisioned roles, and seats on the wrong edition. In many cases, even without Quote Special Terms adding formal swap rights, there’s room to restructure. Most organisations just never do it.
Ramping deals and Agentforce
This is where it gets slippery. A multi-year deal can make future expansion sound rational today. Maybe the contract was built for a growth plan that hasn’t materialised yet. Maybe Agentforce credits were packaged in early because it creates a better discount story over three years.
That can make sense on paper. But if adoption hasn’t caught up, you’re not buying value, you’re buying optimism. Securing future licenses before your team has fully adopted what it already owns is a more expensive delay, not a strategy.
The early renewal trap
Early renewal is often framed as proactive. Sometimes it is. But it can also lock in a bigger stack before the current one has been fully pressure-tested.
If you renew early without a clear view of usage and adoption, you’re not gaining control. You’re just moving the decision forward, and quietly losing value in the process.
✅ Make your AE work for you.
When I was a VP at Salesforce, if an AE came to me ninty days before renewal with a customer problem, my first question was: why hasn’t this been on the table earlier?
Your AE is your window into getting things done inside Salesforce. They can escalate, pull in resources, and move things, but only if the problem is visible early enough for them to actually do something about it. If something isn’t working, adoption gaps, integration issues, alternatives you’re genuinely evaluating, surface it now. A problem that’s been on the table for 12 months is real. A complaint raised 90 days before renewal is just a negotiation lever. Salesforce knows the difference.
Make them work for you. That’s not adversarial. That’s how the relationship is supposed to work.
✅ The best way to control your Salesforce negotiation isn't negotiation. It's usage.
Once you understand what’s actually being used, what’s underused, where functionality overlaps, and which users are on the wrong licenses, you stop negotiating from theory. You start negotiating from reality.
And reality is always more useful.
FOUR THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOUR NEXT RENEWAL
- Own your usage data before Salesforce does. Your AE is already building a picture of your account. Make sure yours is more accurate than theirs, licenses, active users, idle seats, what’s actually embedded in day-to-day work.
- Get your internal story straight. Salesforce talks to your CIO, your architects, your team leads, all at once. If your departments are pulling in different directions, that gets used commercially. One aligned internal narrative is worth more than any negotiation tactic.
- Plant friction early. If something isn’t working, surface it now — not at renewal.
Check your in-term add-ons. New products added mid-contract almost always carry lower discounts than your original deal. Nobody checks them. You should, before the quote arrives.