Why Pricing Is So Important to a SaaS Business?
7 Tips on Setting It Right
As a SaaS entrepreneur, you understand that pricing is one of the most important aspects of your SaaS business. It’s how you generate revenue, and it can make or break your business.
But pricing is more than just setting a price for your product – it’s about understanding what your target audience wants and needs, and finding the right price point to meet those needs.
In this blog post, we’ll explore why pricing is so important to a saas business and give you some tips on how to get it right.
The Importance of Pricing to a SaaS Business
SaaS businesses are built on recurring revenue, which means that pricing is a crucial part of the business model. According to Ibbaka, “pricing is the number one driver of customer lifetime value (LTV).” In other words, pricing directly impacts your SaaS company’s bottom line.
There are several reasons why competitive pricing is so important to a SaaS business, as follows:
If you don’t price your product correctly, you could miss out on a lot of potential revenue. On the other hand, if you price your SaaS solution too high, you could deter customers from using it.
In addition to generating revenue, pricing also affects other important aspects of your business, such as customer acquisition and churn.
For example, if you price your product too low, you may attract a lot of customers, but you could also end up with a high churn rate. On the other hand, if you price your product too high, you could have a lower churn rate, but you may also have difficulty acquiring new customers.
SaaS Pricing Models
There are a number of different pricing models that you can use for your SaaS business. The most common SaaS pricing models are as follows:
Pay As You Go (PAYG)
This is the most common pricing model for SaaS businesses. Under this model, customers are charged based on their use of the product. This could be a per-use fee, a monthly subscription fee, or a combination of both.
The main advantage of this SaaS pricing model is that it’s easy to understand and predict for customers. They know exactly how much they’re going to be charged, and there are no hidden fees.
The main disadvantage of this SaaS pricing model is that it can be difficult to scale. As your SaaS business grows, you may find it difficult to maintain a consistent price point. In addition, customers may be reluctant to pay for features that they don’t use frequently.
Usage-Based Pricing
Usage-based pricing is a SaaS pricing model that charges customers based on the specific features or services that they use. This model is similar to Pay As You Go, but customers are only charged for the specific features or services that they use.
The main advantage of this SaaS pricing model is that it’s flexible and can be tailored to the needs of each customer. In addition, it’s easy to understand and predict for customers.
For example, if a customer only uses a certain feature of a product once a month, they would only be charged for that feature once a month. This SaaS pricing model is becoming increasingly popular as companies move to subscription-based models.
The main disadvantage of this SaaS pricing model on the other hand is that it can be difficult to track and manage. As your SaaS business grows, you may find it difficult to keep track of which customers are using which features. In addition, customers may be confused by the different pricing options.
Freemium Pricing
Under this SaaS pricing model, a basic version of the product is offered for free, and customers can pay to upgrade to a premium version with more features.
The main advantage of this SaaS pricing model is that it’s easy to acquire new customers. The free version of the product acts as a lead generation tool, and customers can be upsold to the premium version.
The main disadvantage of this SaaS pricing model is that it can be difficult to generate revenue. In addition, customers may be reluctant to pay for the premium version if they’re already using the free version.
Tiered Pricing
Tiered pricing is a pricing model that offers different levels of service at different price points. This model is often used by companies that offer different levels of features or support. The most common tiered pricing models are as follows:
Subscription
In the subscription model, customers pay a recurring fee for access to the service. This tiered pricing model is often used by companies that offer an ongoing service, such as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform.
The main advantage of the subscription model is that it’s easy to predict and manage recurring revenue. In addition, customers are more likely to be loyal to a service that they’re paying for on a regular basis.
The main disadvantage of the subscription model is that it can be difficult to acquire new customers. In addition, customers may be reluctant to pay for a service that they don’t use frequently.
Usage
In the usage based pricing model, customers pay based on their level of use. This model is often used by companies that offer a service that isn’t necessarily used on a regular basis, such as cloud storage.
The main advantage of the usage model is that customers only pay for what they use. This makes it easy to understand and predict for customers. In addition, businesses can generate a lot of revenue from customers who use the service frequently.
The main disadvantage of the usage model is that it does not distinguish between different types of usage. For example, a company may use a product for sales, marketing, and customer service.
The usage model would treat all these activities as the same, when in fact they are quite different. As a result, the usage model can provide misleading information about how a product is actually being used.
Another drawback of the usage model is that it only captures data on how the product is used, and not why it is used. This limitation makes it difficult to identify potential improvements that could be made to the product.
Feature
In the feature pricing model, customers pay for additional features beyond the base level of service. This model is often used by companies that offer a basic service with optional extras, such as an ecommerce platform that offers different levels of shipping.
The main advantage of the feature model is that it allows businesses to upsell customers to higher levels of service. This model is often used by companies that offer a basic service with optional extras.
The main disadvantage of the feature model is that it does not take into account the order of implementation of features. This can lead to problems if the order in which features are implemented is important for the correct functioning of the system.
In addition, the feature model does not specify how features are to be implemented. This means that there is potential for misunderstanding or miscommunication between stakeholders about what is required.
Finally, the feature model does not provide any guidance on how to test features, which can make it difficult to ensure that all requirements have been met.
How to Set Your Pricing Right
Pricing is a complex issue, and there’s no easy answer to what the right price for your product should be. However, there are a few factors that you should keep in mind when setting your prices as follows.
1. Know your value
The first step to setting a price is to know your value as a SaaS company. As you’ve probably already guessed, this is not an easy task. But it can be accomplished by breaking down the components of your business and determining what’s essential to its success.
The second step to setting a price is understanding how much the market values your product or service in comparison with others that do similar things.
This will help you determine whether or not it makes sense for people to pay for your SaaS product at all; after all, if it doesn’t provide real value for them, then there’s no reason why they should pay anything at all (and if there’s no reason why someone should pay anything at all, then what are they paying?).
2. Use the data you already have
You already have the data you need to make pricing decisions. You just need to know how to use it.
The first step is understanding your customer lifetime value (LTV). This number tells you how much revenue a customer will generate for your business over the course of their relationship with you.
Once you know each customer’s LTV, you can start to think about what an acceptable customer acquisition cost (CAC) would be. CAC is the amount of money you’re willing to spend to acquire a new potential customer.
You can also use your LTV:CAC ratio to help you make pricing decisions. This ratio tells you how much revenue you can generate for each dollar you spend on acquiring new customers.
If your LTV:CAC ratio is greater than 1, then it’s probably worth it to spend more to acquire new customers because you’ll make that money back (and then some) in the long run.
On the other hand, if your LTV:CAC ratio is less than 1, then you’re probably spending too much to acquire new customers and you need to either find a way to reduce your CAC or increase your LTV.
You can also use your LTV to help you decide how much to charge for your product or service. If you’re selling a subscription product, for example, then you might want to charge a price that’s high enough to cover the cost of acquiring new customers but low enough to still be affordable for your target market.
The goal is to find a price that maximizes your LTV:CAC ratio. In other words, you want to find a price that allows you to make the most money from each customer while still acquiring new customers at a reasonable cost.
3. Get feedback from users and potential customers
You should also talk to customers about their needs and what they are willing to pay for your SaaS product. This will help you understand things like:
- How can we improve our pricing?
- What features do customers really need?
- What’s the best way to communicate pricing information to customers?
- What is the customer experience like, from signup through activation and ongoing engagement with your platform/business model?
4. Know what drives revenue
So what drives revenue? Let’s recall some important factors:
- Knowing what you need to make. As a SaaS business owner, this is probably the most important thing. Without knowing how much cash your SaaS business needs every month or year, you’re flying blind and will likely fail.
- Knowing how much money you need to break even. Every SaaS company has expenses that must be paid no matter what-rent, payroll and taxes come to mind immediately-so it’s important for you to know exactly how much money those fixed costs will cost each month and year so that your company stays profitable from day one.
- Knowing how much money you need to grow slowly but surely over time (instead of growing rapidly then crashing). It may seem like common sense but many entrepreneurs start out with only a vague idea of how much they need in order for their business plan to work out as planned: “I just want enough customers so I can pay my bills!”
This is totally fine if all you want is enough cash flow so that nothing gets cut off due to an inability to pay bills.
However, if there’s any chance at all for growth beyond this point (and there should be), then it’s critical that these numbers are known ahead of time rather than after several months into operations when things could already be too late.
5. Be aware of market trends
Pricing is an important part of your business and can have a huge impact on your success. By making sure you’re aware of SaaS market trends, you’ll be able to make informed decisions about the price of your product or service.
It’s important to take into account what other SaaS companies are doing with their pricing, but don’t try to compete on price alone. If you reduce your prices too much, this could lead people to think that the quality isn’t as good as it would be at higher prices. This might have a negative effect on sales due to reduced trust in the brand’s SaaS products!
6. Create a SaaS pricing strategy that matches how customers buy your solution
Before you can develop a SaaS pricing strategy, you need to do your research. You should…
- Know how your customers buy. What is the buying process like? Where and how do they interact with your product or service? What steps are involved before they purchase?
- Know how your competition prices their SaaS products. This will help you understand what other solutions are out there, what value customers perceive from them and whether or not these solutions overlap with yours.
- Know what your customers value in terms of pricing and why they choose one solution over another – including if price is an influencing factor for them at all (it often isn’t). Knowing this will help you set appropriate prices that reflect the value of what’s being offered instead of just finding whatever price point works best for acquisition purposes (which may result in low margins).
7. Expand your user base by using the right price to scale up
To expand your user base, you’ll need to use the right price to scale up.
The first step is determining what your target customer is willing to pay for your SaaS product, and then pricing accordingly.
The next step involves finding out how much it costs you to provide that service. Then you can decide if you should increase prices, decrease them, or keep them the same in order to maximize profits.
The Right Pricing Strategy for your SaaS Will Help you Thrive
When you’re launching a SaaS product, you need to know how to price your service.
You may think that the most important thing is to charge as much as possible for your SaaS product. But this isn’t always the case. If you set the right price, it will help keep your customers happy and prevent churn. You can also use pricing strategies to grow revenue by increasing sales with discounts and upgrades, or even by offering free trials before they buy anything at all!
If you want to learn more about how to price your product, check out this guide on how to do it.
Also, don’t forget to check out our other blog posts for more tips on growing your business.
