Episode 142: How Product Marketers Can Own Pricing Strategy and Earn Their Seat at the Table

In this episode of #TheGTMPack podcast, we sit down with Meenal Relekar, Career Coach & PMM Consultant, based in San Francisco, CA.

In this conversation with Meenal, a seasoned product marketer with 16+ years of experience across CPG giants like Unilever and tech companies including Adobe, Dropbox, and DoorDash, we explore how product marketers can transform from tactical order-takers into strategic powerhouses.

Drawing from her unique background and real-world pricing overhauls that generated hundreds of thousands in additional monthly revenue, Meenal reveals why pricing is one of the most overlooked yet powerful levers for PMM strategic impact. Her perspective challenges the conventional wisdom about who should own pricing decisions and provides a roadmap for product marketers to earn their seat at the executive table through data-driven customer insights and strategic thinking.

A few key takeaways:

💡 Product Marketers Should Own Pricing Strategy: Most companies fail at pricing because no one truly owns it - it floats between PMs, finance, and executives without clear accountability. PMMs are uniquely positioned to lead pricing decisions because they understand the three critical elements: dollar amount, packaging/configuration, and perceived value. Success requires proper research methodologies (conjoint analysis for tiers, Van Westendorp for price ranges, MaxDiff for feature preferences) rather than just copying competitors or guessing.

💡 Elevate from Tactical to Strategic Impact: Too many product marketers get stuck creating launch checklists and sales decks instead of driving strategy. To earn a seat at the table, PMMs must: get involved early in product development (not just launches), own the company narrative about value and differentiation, and bring data-driven insights from customer research and competitive analysis. Real strategic impact comes from connecting customer pain points to business decisions and closing the loop on insights with end-to-end execution.

💡 AI Changes Pricing Expectations: AI features have evolved from nice-to-have to expected in SaaS products, but customers will only pay premium for AI that genuinely saves time and improves workflows. Pricing models are shifting from technical usage-based pricing (tokens/API calls) to bundled approaches - AI included in premium tiers or as add-ons. The key is focusing on the value AI delivers rather than promoting AI for its own sake, with successful examples like Notion and Canva bundling AI into higher subscription tiers..#productmarketing #pmm #sales #gtm #salesenablement #pricing #ai