Overview
Tropic’s Price Benchmarks help you quickly evaluate supplier pricing so you can negotiate smarter, prepare for renewals, and prioritize where to focus your efforts. This guide walks you through where to generate a benchmark in Tropic, what happens next, and how to use the insights effectively.
📌 Data Transparency: Tropic receives no kickbacks or incentives from suppliers. All benchmarks are derived from anonymized contract data to ensure accuracy and objectivity.
💡 For an overview of benchmark types and statuses, see Understanding Price Benchmarks in Tropic.
Step-by-Step Demo
This walkthrough shows you where to click, how to generate a benchmark, and how to interpret what you see.
Tip: You can navigate back and forth between steps by positioning your mouse at the bottom of the demo screen. A progress bar will appear, allowing you to jump to different steps as needed.
When to Generate a Benchmark
Price benchmarks are most useful in these situations:
- Getting ready for negotiations or renewals? Generate a benchmark first. If you see a "High savings opportunity," you'll know to prioritize this negotiation for maximum savings potential.
- Explaining pricing internally? A benchmark helps make the case. If pricing looks high, sharing a benchmark can clarify why you’re pushing for better terms or justifying the spend.
- Want to prioritize which suppliers to focus on? Use your Benchmarks Index in Supplier Intelligence to focus your time. Suppliers with “High” savings opportunities may warrant deeper negotiations, while those marked “Typical” or “Low” suggest you’re already in a good place
- Double-checking your deal? Benchmarks offer peace of mind. Whether you’re reviewing a quote, exploring a new vendor, or sanity-checking a renewal, they help you gauge how your pricing stacks up.
Where to Initiate a Price Benchmark
Important: Tropic receives no kickbacks or incentives from suppliers
From a Request
❗Note: This option is only available for Customer-Managed workflows. For Tropic-Managed workflows, contact your Commercial Executive.
- Navigate to the Requests page.
- Open the relevant request.
- Click Create a Benchmark.
- In some cases, results may appear instantly
If more context is required, you will be prompted to complete a short form.
From Supplier Intelligence
- Go to the Supplier Intelligence page and search for your supplier.
- You can also select a supplier from the Upcoming Renewals section or Most Popular Suppliers list.
- Click Get a Price Benchmark.
- When sufficient data is available, results appear right away.
- When more context is needed, you’ll be asked to complete a short form. Tropic will build the benchmark based on the details you provide.
Proactive Benchmarks
For eligible suppliers, benchmarks may appear automatically based on contract data.
For details, see Proactive Price Benchmarks in Tropic.
Completing the Benchmark Form
When prompted to submit a custom benchmark request, you’ll choose how to share your pricing details:
- New contract or proposal (preferred): Upload the most recent supplier quote. This gives the clearest view of pricing.
- Written description: Use this if you don’t have a document. Be sure to include product names, pricing, units, and terms.
- Prior contract in Tropic: Select this if there’s already a contract record that reflects your current pricing.
It is optional, but you can use the Additional Details field to add any context that might help - such as usage assumptions, expected changes, or budget constraints. The more information you provide, the less follow-up is typically needed.
If a price benchmark has already been generated for the supplier, you’ll see an alert. This helps avoid duplicate requests.
Tropic will follow up via the Activity Feed attached to the benchmark. You can ask questions, respond to clarifications, or add context, all without leaving Tropic.
You may also be tagged by a member of our team for more information in the Activity Feed to help us complete your custom benchmark.
Each benchmark includes key pricing details and may also include Tropic Notes, which highlight your most important takeaways, such as strong pricing or areas for improvement.
📌 Monthly Unit Costs
If your contract or proposal lists pricing in monthly terms, Tropic will preserve that format and also show an annualized view for easy comparison.
Viewing and Managing Benchmarks in the Benchmark Index
The Recent Price Benchmarks section gives you a quick snapshot of the latest benchmarks your team has generated from requests, supplier searches, or surfaced proactively from contract data.
To access your full list of benchmarks, go to the Supplier Intelligence page and click View All in the Benchmark Index. You'll see every benchmark created in Tropic, including who requested it, its status, type, and savings opportunity.
You can take a few simple actions to manage your benchmarks more easily:
Share a Benchmark
If you want to loop in someone from your team, like Finance or Legal, you can click the share icon to copy a link to the benchmark. Paste it into Slack or email so they can view it directly in Tropic.
View the Source Request or Contract
Sometimes it helps to revisit the original request or contract that generated the benchmark. If one is linked, you'll see a small icon in the Connected Items column, just click it to go straight to that record.
Archive a Benchmark
If you've already negotiated the deal and no longer need to reference the benchmark, or if it was created by mistake, you can click the archive icon to remove it from your main view.
Re-activate a Benchmark
If you change your mind later, just head to the Archived tab. You can bring any benchmark back by clicking Activate.
When a Benchmark is Processing
If a benchmark is still in progress, you can open it from the Benchmark Index to see its status. Click View Activity to track updates or respond to any notes from Tropic.
📌 Note: Benchmarks are static and do not update automatically. Each one includes a timestamp so you can reference it consistently. If pricing details change or you need a fresh analysis, generate a new price benchmark.
What Not to Do with Price Benchmarks
- Don’t say Tropic told you a specific price: vendors push back hard on that, and it weakens your position.
- Don’t send benchmark screenshots to suppliers: keep the data internal. Screenshots are meant to inform your strategy, not be used as hard proof or negotiation leverage.
- Don’t treat benchmarks as exact targets: they’re directional insights, not hard limits.
Best Practices
- Use benchmarks to shape your strategy, not dictate terms. Treat benchmarks as a starting point. They help you prepare, ask better questions, and build a smarter negotiation plan, not set hard rules.
- Let the insights guide your tone and approach. A "High" savings opportunity might signal a chance to push harder. "Typical" or "Low" means your pricing is likely in line with the market, so you may not need to negotiate as aggressively.
- Look at the full picture before reacting to a benchmark. A higher price isn’t always a bad thing. It might reflect more value - like premium support, additional seats, or better service levels. Always consider the full context.
- Use benchmarks to tell a story internally: If you’re making a case for more budget or explaining why you’re pushing back on a vendor quote, benchmarks can help you frame the conversation clearly with finance or leadership.
FAQ
Q: Can I do a Price Benchmark even for non-software requests?
A: It is currently available only for software requests.
Q: What is the difference between a Price Benchmark on Request versus on the Discover or Supplier Intelligence page?
A: Price Benchmark on Request allows you to attach it directly to your procurement requests within the workflow, making it easier to access pricing information during negotiations. On the Supplier Intelligence page, you request a price benchmark separately, not directly linked to a specific request workflow.