As negotiation frequency rises and rebate costs soar, businesses must rethink strategies to stay competitive
Simon-Kucher’s 2024 Global B2B Sales Negotiations and Rebate Study highlights how industrial companies must adjust for more frequent negotiations and increasing rebate quotas. The study, which surveyed 600 B2B firms across the globe, emphasizes that ambitious, well-prepared companies achieve significantly better outcomes.
“Today’s market brings new challenges for companies in sales negotiations and rebate management. Despite more frequent negotiations and conflicting positions between buyers and sellers, there is still untapped potential to improve in these areas,” said Dr. Markus Mayer, Partner at Simon-Kucher. “Contrary to expectations, companies that set ambitious negotiation targets are more likely to achieve them.”
Key Findings:
Negotiation frequency is rising with 75 percent of companies moving from annual to monthly or quarterly negotiations, demanding streamlined procedures.
Ambition breeds success: Companies that set ambitious price targets saw a 25 percent higher success rate in achieving their negotiation goals.
Prepared teams win: 81 percent of companies that rated their negotiations as successful had a systematic approach to preparing their sales teams, using tools such as ROI calculators and negotiation strategy guides.
Price dominates: 72 percent of respondents cite price as the top priority in negotiations, leaving sellers struggling to balance price with value.
Buyer-seller disconnect: In negotiations, 68 percent of companies aimed to raise prices, while 55 percent of customers sought cuts due to lower material costs. This scenario highlights a growing expectation gap.
Rebates are rising, but growth lags — 76 percent of companies report higher quotas, yet sellers hesitate to seek reductions, even with poor performance.
Complexity kills efficiency: Companies managing more than four rebate types per customer face significant administrative burdens. In fact, 65 percent of surveyed companies report handling four or more rebate types, leading to reduced efficiency.
Lack of performance orientation in rebates: 60 percent of firms do not tie rebates to customer performance.
Proactive inflation management: 52 percent of companies fail to regularly adjust rebate thresholds for inflation, resulting in financial strain.
“The study demonstrates that with the right adjustments, rebates can fulfill their original purpose to foster growth. But too many companies fail to use them correctly and end up with an administrative monster,” said Wolfgang Geiger, Director at Simon-Kucher. “By preparing more thoroughly for negotiations and simplifying rebate systems, companies are well-positioned to enhance both their customer relationships and their bottom line.”
Complete study findings are available upon request.
*About the Study: The 2024 Global B2B Sales Negotiations and Rebate Study was conducted in June 2024 by Simon-Kucher. The study surveyed 600 B2B firms across Europe and the U.S.
About Simon-Kucher
Simon-Kucher is a global consultancy with more than 2,000 employees in 31 countries. Our sole focus is on unlocking better growth that drives measurable revenue and profit for our clients. We achieve
this by optimizing every lever of their commercial strategy – product, price, innovation, marketing, and sales – based on deep insights into what customers want and value. With nearly 40 years of experience in monetization topics of all kinds, we are regarded as the world’s leading pricing and growth specialist.