The problem with freemium pricing - Dan Balcauski (Chief Pricing Officer)
Oct 25, 2023
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Dan Balcauski, pricing strategy expert, shares his thoughts on measuring uncertainty in pricing, using tools like Fermi decomposition. He discusses managing existing customers during pricing tweaks and the reasoning behind 'contact us for a quote' approach. The podcast explores the dislike for freemium pricing, ownership of pricing in B2B SaaS companies, case studies from product leaders, and strategies for handling pricing changes for existing customers.
Offering a free trial rather than a freemium model can provide more reliable revenue and profitability data in pricing strategy.
Product marketing should take ownership of pricing decisions and establish a pricing council with stakeholders from sales, customer success, and finance.
Deep dives
The Importance of Pricing Strategy
Dan Belkowski, founder and chief pricing officer at Product Tranquility, returns to delve deeper into pricing strategy. He discusses the limitations of a freemium approach and highlights the value of offering a free trial instead. Dan explains that the success stories surrounding freemium models often lack significant revenue or profitability data. He recommends a precise definition of freemium, distinguishing it from multi-sided networks and ad-supported free models. Moreover, he emphasizes the need for a pricing council within organizations and suggests that product marketing should take ownership of pricing decisions.
The Role of a Pricing Council
In the discussion of pricing strategy, the podcast considers the involvement of different stakeholders in defining pricing and packaging options. While the degree of involvement varies among companies, Dan suggests that product marketing should ultimately own the pricing function. He explains that product marketing is well-suited for this role, as it deals with positioning, messaging, and understanding competitive alternatives. Additionally, Dan recommends establishing a pricing council, consisting of stakeholders from sales, customer success, and finance, to ensure strategic and long-term decision-making.
Modeling the Impact of Pricing Changes
To address the impact of pricing changes, Dan suggests using structured approaches like Fermi decomposition. He highlights the importance of reducing uncertainty rather than seeking absolute certainty in pricing decisions. Indirect research methods, such as discrete choice modeling, can also provide quantitative willingness to pay and preference data from the market. By considering various factors, including customer feedback and market dynamics, businesses can create models to simulate the impact of pricing changes and make informed decisions.
Managing Existing Customers during Pricing Changes
During pricing changes, Dan recommends treating existing customers' pricing as a separate project. This allows businesses to optimize for the ideal long-term future before determining how to handle existing customers. Options include gradual price increases, loyalty discounts, and providing a migration path to new pricing plans. Dan advises focusing on the value added and investments being made rather than discussing costs. He also suggests structuring conversations around loyalty and emphasizing the benefits that customers receive from the product.
In this week's podcast, Dan Balcauski shares his thoughts on the challenge of measuring uncertainty in pricing strategy and how tools like Fermi decomposition can be game-changers. Additionally, if you've ever wondered how to manage existing customers when you decide to tweak pricing and packaging, we've got you covered. Tune in for some pragmatic advice on pricing strategy, indicative pricing, and the reasoning behind 'contact us for a quote' approach.
Featured Links: Follow Dan on LinkedIn | Product Tranquility | Buy 'How to Measure Anything Workbook: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business'book by Douglas Hubbard | Fermi Estimate examples | 'Decoding the mysteries of pricing strategies' - Part 1 of Dan Balcauski on The Product Experience
Our Hosts Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.
Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.
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