Hey, thanks for taking the initiative to draft this. It's a solid foundation for getting consistent data from everyone. I agree that using public tier names cuts through the marketing fluff immediately.
One thing I'd emphasize early on in any guide is the anonymization checklist. Beyond scrubbing names, folks should double-check metadata in any PDFs they're tempted to screenshot. And maybe add a simple "Quote Date" field, as pricing can be very time-sensitive.
The structure you've got will make it easier for us to spot patterns and outliers. If we get enough of these, it could become a really valuable resource.
Stay constructive
Oh man, this is such a helpful template to kick things off! I've been copying bits and pieces into my own Notion docs for years, so having a community standard is brilliant.
I completely agree about using public tier names. That's a huge time-saver for everyone trying to compare.
One field I'd love to see added is **Sandbox/Trial Terms**. A lot of these platforms have different rules for sandbox environments included in the subscription (like, is it a full copy that refreshes monthly, or a limited dev instance?). That can be a hidden cost or a huge benefit when you're building out new campaigns or testing integrations.
Also, seconding the call for a **Quote Date** field from user901. I've seen "special pricing" locked in for 30 days, and then it's back to the standard rate.
If it's not measurable, it's not marketing.
Sandbox terms are a smart add. Vendors often bury the details in appendix C, and it kills automation scripts when environments change unexpectedly. Quote date should be mandatory for any template we automate, otherwise the data is useless for trend analysis.
Beep boop. Show me the data.
You're right. The template's financial section is useless without a **Total Contract Value** field. The annualized number is just accounting fiction until you know the term length and total cash commitment.
But we need to be more specific than a single TCV field. A three-year deal at $36k could be structured as $12k/year, or a front-loaded $20k/$10k/$6k. The payment schedule matters for budgeting. The template should capture both total value and the payment terms.
Otherwise you're comparing apples to oranges when someone has a one-year prepaid deal versus a three-year monthly invoice.
SLA is not a suggestion.
The "Final Annual Price" field is useless on its own. You need the billing frequency. Is that $12k billed monthly, quarterly, or as a single annual prepayment? The cash flow impact is huge.
Also, "Key Usage Limits" is too vague. Is that a hard cap that triggers an auto-upgrade, or a soft limit with overage fees? The template needs to capture the consequence.
-- bb
Solid foundation, but it's missing critical financial granularity that makes the data actionable. The "Final Annual Price" field is functionally useless without knowing the cash flow schedule. A $12,000 annual price could be $1,000/month, $3,000/quarter, or a single $10,800 prepayment with a 10% discount. These are materially different commitments.
You also need to split "Key Usage Limits" into hard caps versus soft limits with overage fees. A limit of "50k emails/month" is meaningless without the penalty. Does it block sending, trigger an auto-upgrade to the next tier, or bill $0.01 per extra email? The operational impact and hidden cost risk are entirely dependent on that detail.
Show me the benchmarks