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Comment by gnicholas | Hacker News Reader

Don’t dissemble. You should ask about what their concern is (you getting hit by a bus, you losing interest, etc.) so that you can find a solution that will work for them and other similar customers.

One of our licensees had a lawyer who asked us to put our source code in escrow, in case we got acquired or went under. It was a little embarrassing for her when I explained that they already had our source code, which was integrated into their platform during our pilot. Sometimes the concern is like this, just a box-checking exercise not based in reality.

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Side note on escrow - we get asked this from time to time. We respond, we're happy to provide it on certain plans and quote them for it. No one has ever taken us on it.

In b2b you never say no, always have an option for what they're asking and charge more for it.

This is the right way. Never say No but also don't just say Yes. A lot of times B2B customers are just doing a checklist and once they hear that it will cost more, they would drop it. I have been asked for escrow by customers paying $299/mo and I laugh internally first and then tell them "For escrow, you will need to be on our enterprise plan starting at $xx,000 per year with a minimum 3 year contract. let me know if this is something you would be open to". Usually crickets after that.

Out of curiosity, what reason would you give if they asked why escrow requires a more expensive plan?

Never try to justify your pricing. The moment you go down that rabbit hole, there is no coming back. You will give 1 reason and they will continue to challenge it.

Best way is to just say "It is company policy and I am afraid we cannot work around that. I am happy to discuss alternatives" and go from there.

I find that being a solopreneur (or just as CEO of a small startup), it's hard to invoke "company policy". You can say your board won't go for XYZ, but if your customer knows you own most of the company, that wouldn't fly either.

Tips?

Good point. You could replace company policy with "I do offer Escrow option with a customized/enterprise plan at $x/Year with a minimum contract to compensate for the additional overhead, cost and risks that comes with setting it all up"

Then, stick to it and don't try to justify it too much.

"Experience for previous clients shows that this is the best solution for everyone involved."

Risk, administrative burden.

Yep, even just having a process for offering escrow makes you seem like a more mature/reliable company, as opposed to one guy who had never encountered the question before.

same thing for any long 'security' checklist. Just send them whatever standard $X report you use for $Current Year. If they don't like your ASFSRADA Complaince Report Level 3, you can offer to bill hourly to complete theirs. 99% will then accept yours, and it shows you care, you have already done it!

> In b2b you never say no, always have an option for what they're asking and charge more for it.

This was a somewhat recent revelation for me, and it totally works.

"Well, we don't really want to work on this or agree with the approach, but pay us double our normal rate, and we'll do whatever you want."

Typically that will end the conversation, and in the rare case they do move forward, being paid handsomely is really nice

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