Leverage the competitive landscape to negotiate better terms. Mention that other vendors have quoted lower pricing for similar functionality, causing pressure to meet budget constraints. This can incentivize your current supplier to offer a more attractive deal.

If expecting to increase user count significantly, emphasize this growth during negotiations. Highlight that increasing user numbers should yield lower per-user pricing, and ensure the agreement reflects economies of scale.

Challenge the proposed uplift by stating the budgeted increase does not align with the planned usage. Highlight that your company traditionally experiences flat pricing upon renewal, especially with existing contracts demonstrating underutilization.

Request the removal of auto-renewal clauses to maintain flexibility in future negotiations. Make it clear that your finance team now requires no automatic renewals as a new policy, which should encourage the vendor to meet your needs more readily.

Offer to participate as a reference or in case studies, contingent on favorable price adjustments. This can be leveraged as a marketing advantage for the vendor while giving you room to negotiate better pricing or terms.