Dan Balcauski was a program leader for Northwestern University, where he also went to school seven years prior. He is the founder and Chief Pricing Officer of Product Tranquility, a company that helps high volume B2B SaaS CEOs define pricing and packaging for new and existing products.
In this episode, Dan talks about pricing and packaging and how he applies its principles in helping B2B SaaS companies.
Why you have to check out today's podcast:
- Learn about the similarities and differences of pricing model and pricing metrics
- Discover the fundamental principles of how to decide which features to put on which packages
- Understand why there is no such thing as absolute and optimal pricing
"You don't really have a choice of whether you will have a pricing conversation with your customer. The only decision you get to make is when you're going to have that conversation. So I recommend having it as soon as possible." – Dan Balcauski
Topics Covered:
01:13 – How Dan got the title "Chief Pricing Officer" 02:04 – The work that Product Tranquility does 02:16 – Dan's thoughts on packaging 04:31 – How Dan defines pricing metrics and pricing model 10:24 – How Dan decides which features go to which packages 16:50 – Dan's thoughts on good, better, best packaging 18:51 – How to decide if a specific feature shall go to good, better, or best packages 21:21 – How you should name your packages if you want to call them other than "good, better, and best" packages 23:24 – Dan's favorite thing to share people about pricing and packaging 26:08 – Do product managers use the word "value" the same way that pricing people do? 28:27 – Dan's pricing advice 29:58 – Connect with Dan Balcauski
Key Takeaways:
"When it comes to, especially SaaS pricing, most executives think that what you charge determines your success. In fact, who and how you charge determines your success. And the packaging is a huge element of how you charge. It really helps tell and align your value story so your sales and go-to market teams can really get your message across of the differentiated value that you bring." – Dan Balcauski
"In general, the principle by which I look at this through, is that your bundles, offer configurations, and packages, in Mark's terms, should align to a particular customer segment." – Dan Balcauski
"If we understand at a deep level what our customer segments need, what their constraints are, what they value, then we can make that decision much easier for them, which increases our sales velocity, reduces our customer acquisition costs, et cetera." – Dan Balcauski
"If we don't understand the customer we're going after, the problems they have, the outcomes they want, the constraints that they face upfront, the rest of the conversation gets very muddled." – Dan Balcauski
"There's the right price for the right moment in time for your stage of company, for the life cycle of your industry, for your competitive environment. But you're going to learn, you're going to get better." – Dan Balcauski
Connect with Dan Balcauski:
Connect with Mark Stiving:
Impact Pricing