A lot goes into product pricing. It’s a mixture of science and art, with a reasonable amount of math. And, if we’re being honest, a little bit of luck. It takes time and testing and adjusting before you get it “dialed in.” And even then it’s probably not perfect.
With all of this effort, not to mention the always-present customer concerns around overall costs, many companies operate as though pricing is a component of their IP and keep it locked away until a prospective customer shows purchase intent. While they’re not entirely wrong about the IP part, putting a firewall between a company’s public presence and its pricing models creates an unnecessary barrier between the company and those prospective customers that can have a net negative result on both parties.
As a buyer of enterprise software, that has always bothered me personally. As the CEO of an enterprise software company, I find myself uniquely positioned to do something about it. So, after much thought and deliberation, we did.
This article explains why.
We believe in our pricing model
First and foremost, we published our prices because we believe in our model.
One of the first stress tests pricing needs to pass is: “Is it fair?” Sure, that can be a loaded question. But for us, it’s pretty simple: “Is the value created through the use of our platform aligned with the purchase price?” Even more specifically, does the consumer have the opportunity to generate a greater return (revenue, savings, cost avoidance, improved reputation, strengthened brand, etc.) than what they’re paying to use our platform? If the answer is yes, you’re in the sweet spot.
We believe for ConnectSx, the answer is most definitely YES.
But Why?
Our pricing model considers the value of each resource using the platform. Whether those resources generate revenue directly or support and align with those who do, anyone consuming a license has a cost to your company (what you pay them + what it costs to enable them to do their work) as well as a value they generate on its behalf. If the difference between what they cost and the value they generate is in positive territory, you’re in good shape.
Because we charge per user based on their role, and because those roles determine the feature set each user can access, our model is grounded in user-driven ROI (“Does your company benefit more than what it pays for the license?”). An added benefit of this model is that it is flexible enough to meet the needs of organizations of all sizes and stages, from a few users to several hundred, or more.
To give a concrete example, our customers pay $150 per month (or $1,800 per year) for a sales rep to have access to our software. If, by using our software, that sales rep saves 2-3 hours per week by simplifying how they manage inventory requests, inventory locations, cases, billing documents, and usage forms, then every month that rep pockets 12 hours. Every year, 144 hours. What will they do with that time? Lots of things, probably, but most definitely they’re going to use it to sell and to build new relationships. If they get one extra case worth $2,500 over the course of the year, you’re already in the black. And that’s saying nothing about the reductions in waste and improvements in AR and cash flow that new efficiency can help realize.
That’s only one example with one use case. There are many, many more, focused on everything from sales to compliance to expiration management to waste mitigation. Some hit the top line, others hit the bottom line. Either way, I suspect you get the point. It has to be worth more than what you pay, and we believe it is.
We believe in our platform
The primary way a SaaS company drives value and delivers ROI greater than the investment itself is through that company’s platform. It has to solve a real problem, it has to deliver real results in a way that is not overly complex, convoluted, or contrived, and it has to continuously evolve to meet both the existing and emerging needs of its customers.
That sounds pretty basic, but even with large enterprise systems, those requirements aren’t always a given and they’re not always met.
We believe in the ConnectSx platform. We believe in the years we have put into defining the opportunities to create value. We believe in the thousands of hours invested and hundreds of features shipped every year. We believe in it so much we’ve opened our knowledge base and we’ve created generally available demo videos and public webinars.
Because we believe in what we’ve built and continue to evolve and expand, publishing our pricing was the logical next step. And so, we took it.
We believe in our future
Competition is a good thing. If you allow it, it can have the net effect of upping everyone’s game. Those who don’t want to play typically disappear. Ultimately, that’s good for the consumer.
Not only do we want to play, we welcome the challenge. We’re always striving to be the best solution in the market. We are focused on being better than we were yesterday and we envision a tomorrow that others just can’t see yet. And we don’t think it makes any sense to keep all of that a secret.
Are we perfect? Of course not. But that isn’t going to stop us from always reaching in that direction.
Our pricing model isn’t a way for us to maximize today’s revenue because we’re afraid of what tomorrow will bring. Customers see through that and companies optimized for the short term will fail in the long term.
We’re building for tomorrow’s reality today, and we’re baking that into our platform. We’re priced to be competitive in the market and to be aligned with the value we help our customers create. We are optimizing for the future because we want to build it together with our customers, and we believe our pricing is the clearest signal of our intent. Will our pricing change? At some point, yes, I am sure it will. But whatever that change might look like in the future, it will still be based on the principles described above, and it will still be published for you to see upfront.
We’re not trying to get one over on you. We’re working hard to partner with you so that we become an indispensable part of your business; one that you can’t live without, not one you wish you could get rid of every time a contract is up for renewal.
If you’re interested in our platform, want more information about our pricing model, or want to chat about how we drive value for companies like yours, please reach out any time.
Recent Comments