---
id: "action-time-limit-b2b-deals"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["§ Market to new customers"]
tags: ["b2b-sales", "urgency"]
related: ["framework-five-discounting-strategies"]
speakers: ["Rafi Mohammed"]
action: "Attach strict expiration dates to B2B discount proposals."
outcome: "Creates a call to action and prevents the discount from becoming a permanent price expectation."
sources: ["commercial"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-commercial"
originDay: 5
articleStem: "hbr-ext-22-art-of-discounting"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/05/the-art-of-discounting"
sourceTitle: "The Art of Discounting"
---
# Place time limits on B2B discounts

**Action:** When using a price break to elevate a proposal to the top of a purchaser's stack, always attach a **strict time limit** to the offer.

**Why:** An open-ended discount silently becomes the new baseline expectation and forfeits urgency. A hard expiration date both creates a call to action and preserves the discount's exceptional status — echoing the enrichment guidance to signal that a discount is *not the new normal*.

**Outcome:** Drives faster deal closure and prevents the discount from resetting the customer's reference price. Part of strategy 3 in [[framework-five-discounting-strategies]].


## Related across articles
- [[action-advance-notice]]
- [[concept-psychological-distance-pricing]]