SaaS companies are only as valuable as their potential to grow. But, what many businesses don’t realise is that they can increase their revenue by as much as 10%-20% by following a structured pricing strategy.

At Monterro, we’ve seen it first hand. SaaS companies in the scale-up phase reap the rewards of a killer pricing strategy almost immediately. Even more established ones see ROI within as little as a year.

But here’s the thing: the exercise of establishing a pricing strategy isn’t the one-off project many think it is. Being able to adapt your company’s pricing strategy — to the economic conditions, consumer demand, and your competitors’ offerings — will help you remain competitive in a changing market. It can even help you retain the customers you worked so hard to win.

So how can you sow the seeds for pricing strategy success?

Start with a SaaS pricing roadmap. A SaaS pricing roadmap is a long-term vision that structures, prioritises, and identifies immediate wins — whilst building towards your long-term objectives.

In this blog, we outline practical steps to effective pricing and explore top insights and best practices from our portfolio companies to help you avoid the pitfalls on the way.
Ready? Let’s get started.

Drawing up a SaaS pricing roadmap

Simply put, a pricing roadmap pulls every element of your pricing strategy together. But they can very easily veer off course if you don't get the fundamentals right.

The steps below will set you up for success:

Set a realistic timeline

A year may be too short to see the full impact of pricing changes, and a longer cycle may introduce too much uncertainty. Three years is the sweet spot. A three-year roadmap will allow you to adapt to market changes and fluctuations, without getting too swept up by them.

Involve the right people

Pricing is at the heart of your entire organisation. With buy-in from your CEO, CFO, and a cross-functional team, you can avoid any blindspots. Getting these basics right from the start will make your life a lot easier in the long run.

Consider bundling for customer satisfaction

Pricing is not one size fits all. Here’s where knowing your customer really matters. Get to know their wants and needs well. It’ll allow you to bundle your products based on the value they see from your product, their priorities, and their willingness to pay different prices.

CEO Urban Bucht deployed this to great effect at Hypergene:

“We interviewed a sample of our current customers to understand our pricing strategy. This included non-customers and lost customers and gave us a really valuable understanding of what people were willing to pay for the different modules, functions and areas so we could set the price curve in a good way.”

Get specific about payment terms

Should you sell everything to the customer at once? Or should you start with a small package and offer add-on services? What about discounting? Clarifying the details of how and when you get paid isn’t just about keeping your business afloat. It could determine whether your business grows.

Here’s what Leif Bohlin, CEO at Maintmaster, said:

“It’s one thing to have a price list, but have you decided what you’ll get out of your customer when they sign a contract? You need to have a good view and understanding of your overall strategy so you don’t just land contracts, but expand them.”

Test and expand

A key part of growing your customer base is a land and expand strategy, which your pricing can support. To ensure you're staying up to date with the needs of this wider customer base - keep iterating. Continuously refine and improve your solution, based on lessons learned from implementation.

Pricing as a catalyst for business growth

A SaaS pricing roadmap is a dynamic business activity — one that should include everyone from marketing to the CEO and be updated often. But like all dynamic business activities, it comes with pitfalls and setbacks.

At Monterro, we help Nordic software drive profitability and avoid the pricing pitfalls we’ve seen time and again.

Want to know how we do it? Download The B2B SaaS Guide to Pricing eBook to learn more.