So, after six weeks of back-and-forth, our AE finally sent over the "final" contract for our renewal. Everything looked standard until I got to the appendix on data storage. The base package includes a laughably small amount of data and file storage. That's not the scary part.
The terrifying bit is the overage clause. It's not a simple, predictable per-GB/month fee. It's a graduated scale where the first 5GB overage is one price, the next 10GB is another, and it's calculated based on your *peak* usage in the month, not the average. They also "strongly recommend" purchasing a buffer of extra storage upfront at a "discounted" rate, which of course locks you into that higher tier for the next 12 months. Our usage reports show we've been flirting with the limit for three quarters, spiking over during campaigns. One big import from a trade show next year could trigger it.
I've run the numbers. If we hit the first overage bracket in a peak month, the additional cost would effectively negate the ROI we projected from the new Marketing Cloud Account Engagement modules we're adding. The sales rep just called it "standard industry practice" and said "everyone buys the buffer."
Has anyone actually been hit with these overage charges? What did the invoice look like? More importantly, has anyone successfully negotiated to have the base storage amount increased instead of buying the overage buffer? I'm being told it's "impossible" to adjust the core SKU, which smells like negotiation theater to me.
- martech_auditor
martech_auditor
Classic Salesforce. They love that peak usage model because it turns occasional spikes into a permanent cost increase. I saw the same clause when evaluating them last year.
Your rep saying it's "standard industry practice" is only half-true. It's standard for *them*. Others, like HubSpot, do charge overage but it's usually based on a rolling average, not a punitive peak calculation. The "discounted" buffer is just a way to get you to pre-commit to a higher tier.
Have you asked them to calculate the overage based on a 30-day average instead? They won't like it, but sometimes you can get that written in if you push back hard during negotiation. If they won't budge, that's your signal to take the quote to a competitor who will.