Context: I work for a professional services firm. We sell, implement and customize enterprise software for large organizations, including public universities.<p>We NEVER provide pricing upfront. This is despite the fact that our software vendors have their prices listed clearly on their pricesheets. We know the price of a user license. But the first time our clients see the price is after we&#x27;ve performed our due diligence, learned the ins and outs of their business, and are sitting in front of their C-level people presenting the final proposal along with the Scope of Work document that outlines implementation details.<p>The reason we don&#x27;t provide prices upfront is because it commoditizes the software and therefore our skills and services. It encourages clients to do an extremely shallow feature-by-feature comparison of the competing products. Doing that makes sense when purchasing commodities such as toothpaste or laundry detergent. You can look at two products at the shelf, compare their features, and go with the one that you think is better based on the messaging on the package (&quot;25% more whitening power!&quot;). But enterprise software is not like that. It is very complex and the price of the software is often only a small part of the final price, which is frankly unknown at the start of the engagement. That&#x27;s why me giving you pricing information wouldn&#x27;t help you one bit (in fact it could make you look bad to your superiors when the final price is several times higher than what you gave them originally).<p>Here&#x27;s the thing: most of our clients LIKE the fact that we don&#x27;t discuss price upfront. They understand that software is a different beast, and its value is dependent upon how well it fits into and&#x2F;or can be molded into the needs of the business. Only very inexperienced purchasers push us for price, and over the years we&#x27;ve found ways of disarming or at least sidestepping them.<p>The bottom line is that companies who provide price upfront end up competing on price. And history has shown us that that&#x27;s a race to the bottom.