Impact Pricing

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on February 23, 2026, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.

Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/why-ai-is-making-saas-metrics-grow-up/

If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected].

Now, go make an impact.

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Bobby Moesta is the President & CEO of The Re-Wired Group, where he helps companies understand why customers buy.He is the co-creator of Jobs to Be Done alongside Clayton Christensen, and has spent decades studying the demand side of innovation—what actually drives people to change, choose, and pay.

In this episode, Bobby joins Mark Stiving to challenge some of the most common assumptions behind pricing and decision-making—starting with how buyers really think (and why it's not what most companies expect).

They explore what's actually happening beneath the surface of a purchase decision—and why understanding that can completely shift how you approach pricing.

If you've ever felt like your pricing "should work" but doesn't—this conversation will make you rethink what's really going on.

Why You Have to Listen:

• Understand why context + outcome determines willingness to pay (not features).
• Learn why buyers don't "choose" instead they eliminate options and build confidence.
• Discover why most companies underprice by targeting the average instead of high-value contexts.

"Pricing is contextual. It's based on the context they're in and the outcome they want."

— Bobby Moesta

Topics Covered:

02:21 – Why buyers don't change (until something breaks). The hidden trigger that forces people out of the status quo

04:41 – What buyers actually expect when they pay. Why value isn't what you think—and where expectations really come from

06:30 – The invisible forces behind every purchase. Push, pull, anxiety, and habit—and how they quietly control decisions

12:13 – How buyers really decide (it's not what you think). Why people don't "choose"—and what they actually do instead

18:17 – Why confused buyers walk away. The simple reason deals stall (and how to fix it)

20:06 – What creates buyer confidence. How people convince themselves to finally say yes

23:20 – What "I need to think about it" really means. The hidden signals behind hesitation—and how to uncover them

27:41 – Why one price doesn't fit all. How context changes what customers are willing to pay

29:37 –Every decision is a purchase decision. Why pricing thinking applies far beyond products and sales

Key Takeaways:

"We can't convince them of anything. They have to convince themselves." — Bobby Moesta

"Most of the time we end up pricing at the bottom of the market… and we're giving away the high end." — Bobby Moesta

Resources Mentioned:

• Jobs to Be Done – Framework for understanding customer decisions
• The Re-Wired Group – Bobby's firm focused on demand-side insight
• Demand-Side Sales – Bobby's book on how customers actually buy

Connect with Bobby Moesta:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobmoesta/
• Website: https://therewiredgroup.com/

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: [email protected]

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on February 16, 2026, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.

Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/credits-are-both-billing-and-currency-and-thats-the-problem/

If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected].

Now, go make an impact.

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Felix Hoffmann is the co-founder of 7Learnings, where he helps companies move from intuition-based pricing to predictive, data-driven pricing systems.

He previously led pricing optimization at Zalando, managing pricing across millions of products and markets—giving him a front-row seat to how pricing actually behaves in the real world.

In this episode, instead of relying on gut feel or delayed results, Felix introduces predictive pricing—a system that forecasts the impact of price changes before you make them. They break down why most pricing decisions today are still reactive, how companies are leaving profit on the table by not simulating outcomes, and why testing alone isn't enough anymore.

If you've ever changed prices and hoped for the best—this episode will challenge that approach.

Why You Have to Listen:

• If you're changing prices without knowing what will happen—this episode shows you a better way.
• Understand why testing pricing isn't enough—and what comes after testing.
• Discover how companies are using simulations to make faster, smarter pricing decisions.

"You shouldn't decide based on gut feeling—you should decide based on what you predict will happen."

— Felix Hoffmann

Topics Covered:

01:30 – What Is Predictive Pricing? How to forecast the impact of price changes before making them

04:00 – Why "Should We Change Price?" Is the Wrong Question The real question: what happens if you change it

07:00 – What You Need to Predict (Beyond Sales) Profit, costs, returns, and long-term effects of pricing decisions

13:30 – Why Testing Alone Isn't Enough You can't test everything—so you need simulations

17:00 – Competitor Pricing: Guessing vs Predicting Why most companies match competitors blindly—and how to avoid it

20:30 – The Role of External Signals (Weather, Seasonality, Trends) How real-world factors shape pricing decisions

23:30 – B2B vs B2C Pricing Reality Why predictive pricing is easier in high-volume environments

29:00 – Final Advice: Predict First, Decide Second Why simulation is the missing layer in pricing strategy

Key Takeaways:

"The question is not: should I change my price? The question is: what happens if I change it?" — Felix Hoffmann

"Nobody is doing perfect decisions today… perfect decisions would require mathematical optimization." — Felix Hoffmann

Resources Mentioned:

• 7Learnings – Platform for predictive pricing and revenue optimization
• Zalando – Example of large-scale pricing optimization

Connect with Felix Hoffmann:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felix-hoffmann-7learnings/
• Website: https://7learnings.com/

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: [email protected]

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on February 9, 2026, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.

Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/pricing-theory-vs-buying-reality-why-usage-based-pricing-still-wins-in-enterprise-ai/

If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected].

Now, go make an impact.

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Mark Walker, CEO at Nue.io, helps companies design pricing models that align with how customers actually experience value—across usage, subscriptions, and hybrid approaches.

In this episode, he joins Mark Stiving to unpack a growing tension: companies are pushing more flexible pricing models—but customers don't always want them. At the center is a simple question that changes everything: "How would you like to buy?"

They explore why pricing isn't about finding one perfect model, but about giving customers the right options—while avoiding the complexity that slows decisions.

If you're trying to evolve your pricing so customers can decide faster (without overwhelm), this is a conversation you'll want to hear.

Why You Have to Check Out Today's Podcast:

• Understand why the future of pricing isn't choosing the "right" model—but giving customers the right options.
• See why customers don't want to decode your pricing—and how simplifying it builds trust faster.
• Learn how to experiment with pricing without breaking your business—or your customer relationships.

"You need to introduce your customers to what you're going to be changing about your product set and ask them to tell you how they would relate that to value."

— Mark Walker

Topics Covered:

02:26 – What is a revenue architecture system? Why pricing, billing, and quoting can't live in silos anymore—and how unifying them enables pricing flexibility

05:11 – Aligning pricing models to customer value Why the same product needs different pricing models depending on how customers experience value

08:11 – What "hybrid pricing" really means Breaking down how companies combine subscription and usage to better reflect real-world value

19:29 – Why changing pricing is so hard The hidden risk: once a pricing model is live, you're locked into it longer than you think

21:39 – Optionality as a pricing strategy Why giving customers multiple ways to buy may outperform forcing a single pricing model

25:42 – Outcome-based pricing: what it actually means Why outcome-based pricing isn't new—and really comes down to who takes the risk

29:36 – Don't guess pricing—ask your customers Why involving customers early can prevent costly pricing mistakes

30:44 – How to talk to customers about pricing changes The role of communication in introducing new pricing without creating resistance

Platforms & Pricing Model Examples:

• Amazon Web Services – Example of committed spend and consumption-based pricing at scale
• Snowflake – Known for credit-based pricing, highlighting the tradeoff between flexibility and pricing clarity
• DocuSign – Example of outcome-based pricing where customers pay per completed transaction
• ZoomInfo – Combines seat-based pricing with credits, illustrating hybrid pricing in practice

Key Takeaways:

"The more abstract you make the relationship between what the person is doing and what that costs, the harder it is to get the customer to budget for it." — Mark Walker

"Outcome-based pricing is not a real thing. It is just a subset of usage-based pricing." — Mark Walker

"You need to introduce your customers to what you're going to be changing… and ask them to tell you how they would relate that to value." — Mark Walker

"Align your pricing to how your customer measures value." — Mark Walker

People Mentioned:

• Steven Forth – Pricing thought leader referenced in discussions about credit-based pricing and abstraction
• Ray Tetlow – Mark Walker's mentor; known for simplifying business models and influencing his perspective on pricing structures

Connect with Mark Walker:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markwalker/
• Website: https://www.nue.io/

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: [email protected]

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on February 2, 2026, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.

Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/the-three-value-disciplines-why-price-takes-the-blame-when-buying-gets-hard/

If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected].

Now, go make an impact.

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Keenan is the founder and CEO of A Sales Growth Company, where he helps organizations move beyond product-driven selling and into problem-centric sales strategies. He's also the author of Gap Selling, a framework built around one powerful idea: understanding the gap between where a buyer is today and where they need to be.

In this episode, Keenan and Mark Stiving unpack a truth most teams say they believe—but rarely execute: buyers don't pay for products, they pay based on the size of the problem and the cost of not solving it.

If you've ever wondered why deals stall, why buyers default to "no decision," or why price suddenly becomes the issue—this conversation will challenge how you think about selling, pricing, and what actually drives someone to act.

Why You Have to Check Out Today's Podcast:

• Understand why buyers don't change unless the problem feels urgent enough and how to surface the real cost of inaction.
• Learn how gap selling uncovers the true drivers behind buying decisions by connecting root causes, problems, and impact.
• Discover why pricing power comes from problem size not product features and how that changes the way you sell and price.

"Value is delivered by the size of the problem—and the cost of not solving it." — Keenan

Topics Covered:

01:07 – What Gap Selling Really Means. How shifting from product pitching to problem diagnosis changes win rates, deal size, and sales outcomes

05:05 – Why Everything Starts with a Problem. The hidden truth: every buying decision is driven by a problem—whether the buyer realizes it or not

09:47 – The Different Levels of Problems in Sales. How surface-level needs hide deeper drivers—and why most salespeople stop too early

10:37 – Root Cause vs. Problem vs. Impact. A powerful framework to uncover what's really driving the need to change

13:56 – What Actually Motivates Buyers to Act. Why root causes don't trigger action—but impact does

19:30 – How Deep Should You Go in Problem Discovery? Knowing when to keep digging—and when you've found what truly matters

20:26 – A Real Example: Breaking Down Root Causes (Obesity Case). How complex problems reveal multiple layers—and why that matters in selling

25:04 – How Trust Is Built Through Problem Clarity. Why buyers trust you more when you understand their problem better than they do

27:33 – Pricing Based on the Cost of Inaction. Why price isn't about your product—it's about how painful it is not to solve the problem

Key Takeaways:

"People don't change unless their current state is untenable." – Keenan

"Gap Selling is a selling methodology that helps salespeople improve their win rate, shorten sales cycles, improve their average contract value and close more deals faster." – Keenan

"Understanding the size of the problem of not solving it is crucial for pricing." – Keenan

People / Resources Mentioned:

• A Sales Growth Company – Keenan's company; focused on modern sales strategy
• Gap Selling – Framework for understanding buyer problems and driving sales
• Gap Prospecting – Keenan's extension of gap selling into outbound and pipeline generation
• Status Quo Bias – Why buyers avoid change unless impact is high

Connect with Keenan:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimkeenan/
• Website: https://salesgrowth.com/

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: [email protected]

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on January 26, 2026, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.

Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/free-ai-is-a-strategy-not-a-pricing-model/

If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected].

Now, go make an impact.

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

AI pricing is changing fast—and suddenly, everyone is selling credits. But here's the uncomfortable question: Are credits actually helping you scale… or quietly pulling you back into cost-plus pricing?

Steven Forth, co-founder of ValueIQ, joins Mark Stiving to unpack what's really going on behind the rise of credit-based pricing—and why so many companies are adopting it despite its obvious flaws.

This isn't a polite discussion. Mark challenges the very foundation of credits, arguing they break the connection between price and value. Steven pushes back, revealing why credits may be the only viable system in a world where AI usage is unpredictable, costs are real, and value is still being discovered in real time.

What emerges is a deeper truth most companies are missing about credit-based pricing. If you're navigating AI pricing—or even just rethinking your current model—this episode will force you to rethink not just how you price… but what you're really charging for.

Why You Have to Check Out Today's Podcast:

• Discover when credit-based pricing actually works—and when it quietly pulls you back into cost-plus thinking, weakening your ability to communicate real value.
• Learn how AI companies balance cost, value, and scale using the "two dials" of pricing—credit price vs. credit consumption—and why this changes how you design pricing systems.
• Avoid the hidden design traps that break credit models—including overages, rollovers, and pooling decisions that frustrate buyers and limit growth.

"AI is still early. Value is not preordained. Credits give you flexibility while you figure it out."

– Steven Forth

Topics Covered:

01:43 – Why Credits Break Value-Based Pricing (And Create Buyer Confusion). Mark explains why credits add a layer of abstraction between price and value—making it harder for buyers to connect what they pay to the outcomes they get.

05:47 – The Hidden Shift to Cost-Plus Pricing in AI. Why tokens = cost-plus pricing, and how rising compute costs are quietly pushing SaaS companies away from value-based pricing without realizing it.

10:11 – The "Two Dials" Strategy: How Credits Unlock Pricing Flexibility. Discover how adjusting price per credit vs. credits per action creates a more adaptable system—without constantly changing your pricing model.

12:05 – The Hardest Problem Nobody Solves: Mapping Credits to Value. Why most companies fail at credit pricing—not because of the model itself, but because they skip the deep work of aligning credits with real customer value.

15:22 – The 3 Critical Design Decisions That Make or Break Credits. A breakdown of pooling, rollovers, and overages—and how each one impacts buyer trust, revenue predictability, and product usage.

21:57 – Overage Mistakes That Kill Adoption (And What to Do Instead). Why hard stops frustrate users and reduce usage, plus smarter alternatives like soft limits, borrowing, and on-demand credit purchases.

25:34 – The Emerging Best Practice: Hybrid Credit + Subscription Models. How leading companies combine base subscriptions with flexible credit top-ups to balance predictability with scalability.

27:00 – The Only Rule That Matters: Understand How You Create Value. Steven's closing insight: pricing models don't matter if you don't deeply understand how your value is created—and how it's changing over time.

Key Takeaways:

"Credits add a layer of abstraction between price and value—and that's what makes them dangerous." – Mark Stiving

"Tokens are cost-plus pricing. Credits give you a way to reconnect pricing back to value." – Steven Forth

"Buyers are much more flexible with credits than with price increases." – Steven Forth

"Credits feel easier to allocate internally—because they've already been 'spent." – Mark Stiving

"Hard stops on usage are bad design—they hurt both the buyer and the seller." – Steven Forth

"Well-designed credit systems are actually buyer-centric—they give flexibility across different use cases." – Steven Forth

Resources and People Mentioned:

• Lovable (AI platform) – Referenced for its approach to on-demand credit purchasing and overage design, including A/B testing credit top-ups to improve revenue and user experience
• Box (company) – Example of a company implementing restricted credit pooling rules (e.g., limited sharing of AI credits), highlighting tension between buyer flexibility and revenue protection
• AI Token Pricing Models – Discussed as a contrast to credits; tokens represent cost-plus pricing tied to compute usage, while credits can be designed to reflect value instead of just cost
• Cell Phone Industry (Rollover & Subscription Models) – Referenced as the origin of many modern SaaS pricing mechanics like rollovers, ARR, and customer lifetime value thinking, influencing today's credit-based systems

Connect with Steven Forth:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenforth/
• Email: [email protected]
• Subscribe to Steven's Substack: Synthetic data in pricing: https://pricinginnovation.substack.com/p/synthetic-data-in-pricing

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: [email protected]