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MenuWhat are the best practices when converting an annual membership model to a per use transactional model?
Currently sell annual memberships for £89 which gives unlimited use to the platform. Considering moving to pushing consumers to transact on a per usage basis (price point tbc). Would doing this help meet our objectives to:
- Increase annual revenue p/member
- Increase conversion rate by reducing barrier to entry.
Answers
Probably not enough information to answer this question here, but...
1. the new pricing models sounds like the monthly charge will be variable and unknown. Some buyers won't like this (eg if you're B2B, they won't be able to budget for your costs)
2. Have customers asked for this? Therein, may lie the answer to your conversion rate question
3. There is no rule that says you have to have one pricing model. Launch a secondary model and let the customer choose. You could even consider framing one as a decoy?
Have to chat further if you're interested
Jon Manning
Hi,
interesting problem for sure. As Jon eluded to in his response, you probably want to ask yourself the following question: "How well do I really know our customers". I would recommend that you think about your ideal customers and answer the following questions:
- what value they're looking to gain
- what features they think are most important
- what they're most willing to pay
Without knowing what your ideal buyer needs and wants, it is difficult to set the right pricing strategy or understand their willingness to pay for your product. You may find different buyer segment by doing this research, and that's ok. This data will help you create a tiered approach to your pricing where you package the features that are the most important to our buyer personas (and that they would be willing to pay for)
Once you know this, one thing you may consider is doing a small user testing experiment on your new packaging, then A/B test it on your website.
This whole process is called 'value-based pricing' and this how you get to increase your average ARR per client.
Happy to talk to you more about this.
- Loic
Related Questions
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Pricing strategy question: How do you determine whether to offer subscription pricing, transaction pricing or both?
As someone who has worked in pricing for almost 30 years, I know that one of the biggest myths of pricing is that you should only offer one pricing model. Offer two - both subscription & transactional. Customers will self-select &/or the market will segment, and you will quickly find out what is their preferred pricing model. As an aside, another pricing myth is that you can low-ball your pricing and raise prices later. Its successful in ~10% of attempts. By default, the choice of pricing models also states the obvious. Its not about what you want. Its about what the customer wants. And yes, you should have three choices. One choice gives you a 50:50 chance of closing the sale. Two choices forces the customer to make a price-based decision. Three choices, and the customer says "which one do I buy?" not "do I buy from this outfit?" and secondly they are forced to make a value-based decision. Also think about creating a decoy product, and on the pricing page on your website, lay the packages out dearest on the left, cheapest on the right. Happy to chat further about any of the above...or more!JM
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Does odd pricing turn you off (e.g., $29 vs $30)?
For me personally, no. However, what you really need is a larger data set. Gumroad just did a post on prices ending in "9": http://blog.gumroad.com/post/64417917582/a-penny-saved-psychological-pricing 37signals started with prices that ended in 9: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1287-ask-37signals-how-did-you-come-up-with-pricing-for-your-products ... but they later did research and found it didn't matter (for them). The answer for YOU will likely be to test these things for yourself on your SaaS app.JJ
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How can I convince customers that we offer a fair price if we're providing a new service that does not yet exist?
What you are asking for has one simple answer: Marketing. I assume however that you would want a more specific how to guide for such marketing efforts. I won't venture in giving you a ton of possible irrelevant examples but I would like start our conversation by saying that if there is no market demand and you do have a clever useful product you need to market the emotional need and consider why it hasn't been served. When you find that this is what you leverage.HV
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Has anyone increased SaaS subscription pricing by 100% and lived to tell the tale?
Many well-known SaaS companies have doubled their prices. I've personally worked with a few that have gone through it. In most cases, your conversion rates stay the same and you see a huge jump in revenue. This is because people tend to under-price themselves. Also, your product improves over time so it provides more value and can support a higher price. But don't raise prices for old customers. Grandfather them in so their plans stay the same price. In the long run, it won't make a difference to your growth since most of them will churn out anyway. If you raise prices on current customers, you'll get a huge backlash. It gets nasty. I'm pretty sure that Zendesk tried it and had to reverse the price increase. I highly recommend raising your price by 100% for a month on new customers. Keep a close eye on your revenue and your conversion rates. If things don't go well, you can easily reverse it and discount everyone that paid for the more expensive plan. Either way, you'll know what your market will actually support.LL
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What's a reasonable profit margin on merchandise?
Are you the manufacturer or reseller? If you are the reseller, typically about 40-50% above cost. Use the MSRP as an indicator.ZR
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