Introduce competition as leverage in your negotiations by presenting offers from other SaaS providers. Highlight how their pricing and value proposition differ from CompeteIQ, emphasizing any lower quotes you've received. This tactic can motivate CompeteIQ to provide a more competitive offer as it's a common industry practice to negotiate based on alternatives.

If you think you may face overage fees based on your usage projections, address this in your conversation with CompeteIQ. Request that they waive any overage charges, especially if these fees could rise due to expanding your use case or increasing the number of users. This strategy ties into your overall negotiation for better pricing terms.

Emphasize the importance of removing auto-renewal clauses during your negotiations. Explain that your company requires all subscriptions to be reviewed annually, allowing for a re-evaluation of services and ensuring competitiveness each year. This can safeguard against unanticipated contract renewals and associated risks.

If your user base is set to grow significantly, use this as leverage in negotiating pricing. Discuss how adding users should reflect economies of scale, resulting in lower per-user rates to accommodate your projected growth. This tactic serves to frame your increase not just as a cost, but as an opportunity for CompeteIQ to enhance long-term partnership profitability.

Discuss your anticipated security requirements frankly while evaluating your options for CompeteIQ. If features that are added for security reasons are being charged at a premium, negotiate to have these additional security features either discounted or included, arguing that many competitors do not charge these as extras. This can also help mitigate total costs while ensuring compliance.