Further SaaS Cost Pricing Strategies to Counteract Stagflation

May 26, 2023

     earlier presented earlier previously presented earlier SaaS costs pricing and packaging in order to fight the stagflation threat by 2022. The article was based upon the presentation, which was revised in March 2023 from David Vogelpohl. For additional information or to view the prior presentation look over the extra details in the final paragraph of this blog post.

The cost of pricing your application as a service (SaaS) can be a challenge enough, even in the most favorable of times. However, figuring out the best way to set prices that will generate greater revenue when there is Stagflation can be a challenge.

This article offers tips for improving the pricing and packaging of your SaaS items in a subpar economy:

What exactly is Stagflation?

In simple terms, stagflation is the economic state that is affected by three key factors:

  • Slowing down the economy..
  • High inflation.
  • High unemployment.

More pressure is on than ever

  • The pockets of people who you would like to draw.
  • Customers' wallets that would be upgraded.

This is why taking an in-depth look at SaaS pricing model is crucial for you to keep building your business in a competitive financial environment.

Using Your SaaS Pricing Model to Fight Stagflation

This is the most straightforward method of raising your rates, and you won't be the only person to try this.

More than a third of SaaS software, software, or digital goods customers raised prices during the past year.

Graphs showing that over a third of  companies raised prices recently.

It is interesting to note that SaaS firms tend to hike rates which are greater than inflation rates.

The pull of this lever will not be a surprise, as it helps to increase revenue, however, it's not an easy decision to make when many people have less cash to spending in a stagflation economy.

But, changing the pricing of packages and prices is one of the weakest tools of SaaS.

What's the motivation behind raising prices? Are you actually required to do something different?

There are a myriad of options you can pull in an attempt to boost revenue in market conditions that are depressed in addition to increasing the cost.

Increased acquisition, increasing conversion rates, and reducing churn are all possible possibilities.

Yet, all the options will require a considerable amount of of cross-functional time and energy for putting the ideas into practice.

Take into account the effort and resources required to the process of increasing sales or reducing customer churn with strategies like PLG or products-led development (PLG) or increased initiatives to improve customer satisfaction, this could become a lengthy and sometimes overwhelming task such as the example of large or medium-sized T-shirts.

Table with headers Strategy, Acquisition, and Churn, then rows labeled PLG, Customer Success, and Pricing and Packaging. Each cell includes a t-shirt of Small, Medium, or Large.

The t-shirts of medium and large size symbolizes how much effort, time and funds. necessary for implementing PLG and customer success strategies with the intention to boost customer acquisition while reducing the rate of churn.

The process of changing the price of an item requires only a little effort, and it can be done quickly, as apparent by the tiny T-shirt that is that is shown above.

As Patrick McKenzie points out, it can be as simple as replacing a number lower with a higher:

A screenshot of a tweet quoting Patrick McKenzie.

If you are thinking about it, changing your pricing might be the most simple, most straightforward option to make when your business requires to boost its profits rapidly.

Enhancing Your SaaS Pricing Strategy for New MRR and. Net Revenue Retention The Needle for Growth

If you're considering the implementation of new pricing methods, an important thing to bear in mind is whether you wish to maximize for an entirely new MRR as well as net revenue retention or both.

Enter"the "growth mustache."

A graphic of a sideways bracket with Growth at the top and New MRR and NRR at the bottom.

The mustache of growth is a bracket with an upside-down slant, which my previous CFO was known to use to describe. (I also added the "mustache" designation, as it does look as if it's a mustache.)

The growth is fueled by an increase in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) as well as new customers coming in as well as Net Revenue Retention (NRR) which is the proportion of your existing customers' MRR and ARR you're retaining or increasing.

If your NRR is over 100%, that's the basis for a multiplier in your earnings However, the same applies to your worth.

The majority of businesses have benefit to your operations when you change pricing and packaging however, you must also recognize that you're operating in a marketplace where consumers might have less money coming into the system, and more spent. How you change your pricing could affect the ability of you to generate new customers and keep and grow the amount of customers you already have take this into the back of your mind when you are making changes.

Look into a brand new pricing system to be used for SaaS. Combinations to Increase the Revenue

If you've decided that changing pricing options is the way to go, however there are a variety of ways to test. Per-feature pricing, pay-as-you go plans, freemium pricing models and fixed-rate pricing versus per-user and usage-based pricing plans -- which one best suits your SaaS company?

Below are a few options you can think about For starters:

  • SKUs:
  • Platform tiered plans
  • Product(s) tiered plans
  • Persona tiered plans
  • The add-ons are one
  • Bundles of Add-Ons
  • Entitlements:
  • Features
  • Utilization
  • Assistance
  • Pricing:
  • Price
  • Recurrence
  • Geography
  • Method of payment
  • Discounts
  • Free trials for trial

Find these suggestions to determine ways to boost your leverage to leverage your company.

In some cases the formula may require calculating the price of a purchase based on an individual who is at a slightly higher average revenue per user (ARPU).

In the case of others, this involves adding a feature that allows them to raise the cost.

There is also it is possible to switch from a flat-rate model or a model based on user toward a more flexible price structure based on usage or features.

Keep track of the impact of any Modifications to Your SaaS Pricing Strategies

For example, if the amount of customers are reduced by a small amount because of rising prices, yet the remaining active users pay a greater amount and making more money generally, some companies might feel ecstatic about the change.

Keep track of changes that can be beneficial to your company organisational structure. A well-established SaaS firm may have distinct goals than a startup has.

The word "success" can be written using three S's

If we consider the pricing and packaging it is possible to combine the potential to make more money and the ability to create new ideas.

Take a look at the the curve of innovation The innovation curve is: we create something; it grows in popularity; then it stalls. It's very easy to be caught up in the belief that the only method to create a completely fresh source of revenue is to design a completely unique product.

We can then break the thought process and consider how fresh revenues S curves can be derived by modifying plans, packages, add-ons, and more all by giving customers an opportunity to shop your company and make use of the site.

In addition, if we consider a use measurement based on a value measure with the overages, added plans, as well as the add-ons will increase ARPU as time passes.

SaaS Pricing and Packaging Accessories

Add-ons offer an easier path for increasing the average amount of revenue per user for current and new customers on a budget, because they are able to pick and choose what products they want to purchase from you, as opposed to spending in a fixed price for a bigger package that includes a set of functions they don't need or do not need.

For example, are there already existing entitlements that can be used to sell as add-ons without creating any additional engineering work? Can one of these functions be divided to make the new SKU and without the necessity to create an entirely new product?

Add-ons can be found in all sorts. So you'll be able to include a wide range of additional add-ons and make bundles out of these.

They carry a substantial chance of lowering the upgrade MRR when fewer users are upgrading to a larger package, but the addition of add-ons is a powerful driver for NRR.

In order to avoid that risk, you must carefully evaluate the rate of your downgrade and upgrade prior to making adjustments to your packages or add-on products.

However, you can put off pitching additional features up to when clients have opted in to the main service. When they're already using your service and are enjoying the experience -- and the additional purchases they make are considered as upsells, which improves increase your retention rate of sales You can pitch them additional features to enhance the user experience the product.

Customers are able to purchase the SaaS product at a lower price, and it will help build your MRR and ARPU by offering the sale.

And a lower initial cost can give you an edge when it comes to gaining market share especially if you're in a position to beat the pricing of your competitors.

Set up a new Pricing Tier to determine the average price per User (ARPU)

It is possible that the level of ARPU you require exists in conjunction to your current plans?

As an example, if you're using a tiered pricing model that offers $25, $150, and $300 alternatives, the most appropriate pricing tier to generate more profits could be located between 3 and 75 dollars.

Segmenting SaaS plans to clarify the advantages of Your Product and boost ARPU

Another alternative is to divide your packaging according to individual requirements of the customer.

For instance, WP Engine is a managed WordPress platform which manages a variety of different websites but they saw the potential to market their the customers of WooCommerce specifically so they created a product specifically targeted at the WooCommerce customers.

A screenshot of the WP Engine pricing page for a segmented pricing plan for WooCommerce users.

It allowed them to focus on the needs of customers in this particular segment, allowing them to attract their attention and get more customers to sign up. Over time, WP Engine was able to enhance the worth of their service to the users they serve and also increase the revenues for WP Engine.

The Payment Frequency increases the leverage

An annualized pricing program annually based gives the customer the benefit savings by signing up for a year up front as well as an opportunity to reduce the rate of churn while increasing the lifetime value of your customer which is also known as LTV.

For further leverage of this method You can offer greater discounts for annual subscriptions to new subscribers or customers who wish to change from monthly fees to annual charges.

Pricing for the first period could make the process easier for the users.

Tips: If you're offering the Enterprise plan and the cost begins to appear a bit more expensive when paid for annually make sure to limit the cost to $5000. Many procurement departments adhere to the policy of asking team members to get approval before making purchases that are more than this, so when you are able to limit the price to the threshold, it will permit customers to easily make that purchase using a credit card, and not have to deal with internal hurdles within their own organizations. The rules can be different and they aren't necessarily a norm and it's still a good idea to try it out.

The Inflation Rate isn't Even You: Make a Change to Your Strategy

When you think about altering the manner in which you handle your SaaS business' pricing policies, you must take into consideration the customer's potential willingness to pay for the service isn't only most important factor to take into account. The rate of inflation could fluctuate dramatically over a brief period of time and the fluctuation could differ across the globe or in each region.

An inflation graph of the annual percent change in consumer price index in Brazil, US, India, Germany, and China from 2008 to 2022.

Headwinds to financial performance in relation to different geographical areas may suggest that localization could be important in the event you're offering your Saas products internationally.

Remove Unnecessary Purchasing Friction With the Localization

The process of localization usually includes a variety of elements, which include but not restricted to:

  • Accepting the preferred payments that are accepted in the market you're selling into.
  • Localizing pricing.
  • The currency is localized.

Each one of them has their own benefits that are and not just for consumers, and also for profits margins too.

The conversion rate used for the localizing of prices is twice for B2C SaaS businesses. It is important to offer a good justification for various rates across various locations or nations, in the event that an interested customer be able to view multiple prices.

Local currencies are easier to obtain approval for and also easier for customers in your target market to comprehend. For customers who aren't used to the idea of your SaaS charge in the local currency, and are able to understand it the local currency, it's easier to make purchases without the hassle of calculations for conversion before they make an investment.

What Can You Help?

The data contained in this article was delivered by David Vogelpohl in a webinar that was hosted by Cumul.io. You can view the presentation's original on the YouTube channel.

David Vogelpohl For more than 25 years, David Vogelpohl has led teams that have built powerful engines of development as well as technology for top brands like WP Engine, Genesis, AWS, Cloudflare, and many more. David is a presenter with practical insights that focuses on the practical aspects which can be utilized for development.

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