Impact Pricing

Why you have to check out today’s podcast:

• How to reach for your dream however hard it may be 
• The tips and tricks of running a subscription business 
• Revenue buckets you have to focus on to keep a steady stream of clients/customers  

Darren LaCroix is a world champion public speaker in 2001 at Toastmaster’s International. Since that victory, Darren has traveled the world demystifying the process of creating a powerful speech and teaching it to people through his speaker training program. Several years ago, he completely changed his business model from selling physical coaching products to a subscription-based model. 

 Don’t miss a chance to listen to this episode and hear Darren talks about his journey from being a stand-up comedian wannabe, a champion public speaker to owning a high-ticket subscription-based speaker training business. 

Topics Covered:

02:34 - What's behind Darren's public speaking's story and his purpose why he wanted to teach other’s the craft  

11:27 - A backstory of his business before venturing into a subscription business 

16:50 - Taking about his higher-end products before he going into a subscription business model 

19:19 - Value giving, nurturing,  and improved retention: reasons why customers stay subscribed and keep paying 

20:38 - What is customer acquisition cost? 

23:46 - How does he manage his subscription business and make things work 

24:19 - Mark taking about viability metric= a measure of profitability 

26:01 - Expansion ideas to keep clients coming in, talking about cross-selling and upselling 

29:03 - Darren asking a question to Mark: Should I increase my subscription rate and how much, if I should? 

33:17 - One good advice from Darren: "I would tell anyone about reaching any goal or dream is to find the people who have been there and done that." 

Key Takeaways: 

“I never thought pricing could be exciting and fun, but man, when it impacts your bottom line, you make it fun.“ - Darren Lacroix 

“... when you buy into a success system, actually follow it.” - Darren LaCroix 

“Be a sponge. Go to the people who have been there and done that and ask them for advice because they think differently than the average person.” - Darren LaCroix 

“You have to have your area of expertise. ...you need to understand how you help them solve problems. When you're the one on the stage, you don't have to network your butt off and hand out business cards and do follow-ups. You're the expert. You're onstage now. It's what you do with that privilege of the platform that gets people to come to you.”  - Darren LaCroix  

Resources: 

• Laugh and Get Rich: How to Profit From Humor In Any Business by Darren Lacroix 

Connect with Darren LaCroix 

• www.darrenlacroix.com 
• LinkedIn 
• Twitter 

• YouTube 

Connect with Mark Stiving

• Email:[email protected]
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

• Advantages of subscription pricing: why brands like Amazon and Uber chase the subscription model 
• Get an expert’s analysis on the subscription model of several companies 
• How the subscription business model impacts the growth of a company's revenue growth 

Mark S A Smith is an author, podcaster and a business growth strategist. He helps companies grow their business as fast as possible by teaching them how to sell their services at a higher margin through disruption marketing. He designs and implements leadership, sales, marketing, customer acquisition and client conversion systems that find and recruit willing buyers for products and services ranging from common every-day to high-end unique and disruptive.   

In this episode, Mark deeps dive into the ins and outs of subscription pricing.  He’ll share his insights on why for him subscription pricing is both wonderful and awful. Also, he gives a thorough explanation of how the subscription model is a driving force in generating revenues.   

Topics Covered:

02:34 – Reasons why subscription  is wonderful according to Mark: it is easier to sell and customers prefer the stability they get from a subscription model 

07:11 – Hitting its prime: Amazon’s subscription model, how this type of subscription model generates revenues 

11:34 –  Discussion around the 'bad aspects' of subscriptions 

15:14 – The difference between a leasing agreement and ‘true’ subscription 

17:46 – Uber’s subscription model: Is it a subscription or a by-demand model 

21:04 – Mark’s valuable pricing advice: “Never ask your customers what you should charge them.” 

Key Takeaways:

“If you're the CEO of the company, your job is to maximize shareholder value. So, every executive on the planet is looking for a way to pivot to subscription models if they expect to keep their job over the next 36 months.” - Mark S A Smith 

 “Our job as a sales professional is to match the needs of the customer. And a lot of times we have to help them figure out what those needs are and make us their safest choice, not the best choice. And a subscription model substantially improves the probability that they'll see us as safer versus a transaction-only purchase.” - Mark S A Smith 

“In the world of negotiation, keep in mind lowering the price to get a deal is not negotiation. It's stupidity.” - Mark S A Smith 

Resources:

• Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits
• Guerrilla Negotiating: Unconventional Weapons and Tactics to Get What You Want  

Connect with Mark S A Smith:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• sellingdisruptionshow.com
• bijaco.com
• Email: [email protected]

Connect with Mark Stiving

• Email:[email protected]
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Hey Pricing Practitioners, have the chance to get Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits

Just Answer the Question: Why do customers always push back on price?

(Post your answer at Mark’s LinkedIn designated Post)

• Advantages of subscription pricing: why brands like Amazon and Uber chase the subscription model 
• Get an expert’s analysis on the subscription model of several companies 
• How the subscription business model impacts the growth of a company's revenue growth 

Mark S A Smith is an author, podcaster and a business growth strategist. He helps companies grow their business as fast as possible by teaching them how to sell their services at a higher margin through disruption marketing. He designs and implements leadership, sales, marketing, customer acquisition and client conversion systems that find and recruit willing buyers for products and services ranging from common every-day to high-end unique and disruptive.   

In this episode, Mark deeps dive into the ins and outs of subscription pricing.  He’ll share his insights on why for him subscription pricing is both wonderful and awful. Also, he gives a thorough explanation of how the subscription model is a driving force in generating revenues.   

Topics Covered:

02:34 – Reasons why subscription  is wonderful according to Mark: it is easier to sell and customers prefer the stability they get from a subscription model 

07:11 – Hitting its prime: Amazon’s subscription model, how this type of subscription model generates revenues 

11:34 –  Discussion around the 'bad aspects' of subscriptions 

15:14 – The difference between a leasing agreement and ‘true’ subscription 

17:46 – Uber’s subscription model: Is it a subscription or a by-demand model 

21:04 – Mark’s valuable pricing advice: “Never ask your customers what you should charge them.” 

Key Takeaways:

“If you're the CEO of the company, your job is to maximize shareholder value. So, every executive on the planet is looking for a way to pivot to subscription models if they expect to keep their job over the next 36 months.” - Mark S A Smith 

 “Our job as a sales professional is to match the needs of the customer. And a lot of times we have to help them figure out what those needs are and make us their safest choice, not the best choice. And a subscription model substantially improves the probability that they'll see us as safer versus a transaction-only purchase.” - Mark S A Smith 

“In the world of negotiation, keep in mind lowering the price to get a deal is not negotiation. It's stupidity.” - Mark S A Smith 

Resources:

• Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits
• Guerrilla Negotiating: Unconventional Weapons and Tactics to Get What You Want  

Connect with Mark S A Smith:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• sellingdisruptionshow.com
• bijaco.com
• Email: [email protected]

Connect with Mark Stiving

• Email:[email protected]
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Hey Pricing Practitioners, have the chance to get Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits

Just Answer the Question: Why do customers always push back on price?

(Post your answer at Mark’s LinkedIn designated Post)

• Discover the importance of pricing strategy for subscription products 
• Learn about pricing and its effects on consumer behavior
• How to approach the stages of SaaS customer acquisition, in your customer acquisition, retention, and expansion 
   

Natalie Louie is the Director of Product Marketing at Hired a subscription-based business. Her experiences and specialties focus on improving operations, revenue, profits, integrations, partnerships, managing, SaaS pricing and packaging, product marketing, planning, and development.

In this episode, Natalie shares her pricing expertise, how the right subscription model makes your life easier and how scaling the pricing metric benefits her growing customer.

“The beauty of subscription is you don’t have to own or build anything yourself, but you have the ability to get what you want on demand.”

- Natalie Louie 

Stay updated on all thing pricing.

Subscribe to ‘The Pricing Perspective’ here

Topics Covered:

01:32 - Natalie’s SaaS pricing backstory, how it became her expertise

04:00 - Price-Quality Relationship: its effects on consumer behavior

05:19 - How she sees the beauty and uniqueness of subscription

06:30 - Mark’s insight on product owning versus subscribing for functionality

08:11 - The benefits of subscription on the sell side in terms of predictable revenue and what customers value

10:30 - What Hired, Inc. does and what it’s all about

12:05 - Between employer and employee who subscribes to Hired model

13:30 - Natalie’s definition of pricing, seeing it as a metric that scales

15:38 - Her common strategies of scaling the price and its effect on the customers

18:30 - The importance of the 3 Revenue Buckets to grow your business

20:55 - The story behind her title, being Hired, Inc’s Director of Product Marketing

23:15 - Different levers to use to improve the process of product and pricing to grow more customer

26:40 - The pricing treatment you can apply to your current and new customers

28:16 -  Natalie’s valuable advice on how to have a pricing impact

Key Takeaways:

“I am not saying everything in your life should be replaced by subscription but if you replace things in your life you see as chores with subscriptions, it makes it easier.”- Natalie Louie

“On the sell side, any business offering a subscription, the benefit is the consistent, predictable revenue that your company will get from your customer base year after year and that what’s people value.” - Natalie Louie

“There is a different metric that speaks to a different user.” - Natalie Louie

“Pricing has its own roadmap. It’s constantly being refined and we’re always evolving it.” - Natalie Louie

Resources:

Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits
 

Connect with Natalie Louie

• LinkedIn
• Hired Inc
   

Connect with Mark Stiving

• Email:[email protected]
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
   

Hey Pricing Practitioners, have the chance to get Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits 

Just Answer the Question: What is the most interesting recent example of price communication or value communication that you’ve seen? 

 (Post your answer at Mark’s LinkedIn designated Post) 

• Discover the importance of pricing strategy for subscription products 
• Learn about pricing and its effects on consumer behavior
• How to approach the stages of SaaS customer acquisition, in your customer acquisition, retention, and expansion 
   

Natalie Louie is the Director of Product Marketing at Hired a subscription-based business. Her experiences and specialties focus on improving operations, revenue, profits, integrations, partnerships, managing, SaaS pricing and packaging, product marketing, planning, and development.

In this episode, Natalie shares her pricing expertise, how the right subscription model makes your life easier and how scaling the pricing metric benefits her growing customer.

“The beauty of subscription is you don’t have to own or build anything yourself, but you have the ability to get what you want on demand.”

- Natalie Louie 

Stay updated on all thing pricing.

Subscribe to ‘The Pricing Perspective’ here

Topics Covered:

01:32 - Natalie’s SaaS pricing backstory, how it became her expertise

04:00 - Price-Quality Relationship: its effects on consumer behavior

05:19 - How she sees the beauty and uniqueness of subscription

06:30 - Mark’s insight on product owning versus subscribing for functionality

08:11 - The benefits of subscription on the sell side in terms of predictable revenue and what customers value

10:30 - What Hired, Inc. does and what it’s all about

12:05 - Between employer and employee who subscribes to Hired model

13:30 - Natalie’s definition of pricing, seeing it as a metric that scales

15:38 - Her common strategies of scaling the price and its effect on the customers

18:30 - The importance of the 3 Revenue Buckets to grow your business

20:55 - The story behind her title, being Hired, Inc’s Director of Product Marketing

23:15 - Different levers to use to improve the process of product and pricing to grow more customer

26:40 - The pricing treatment you can apply to your current and new customers

28:16 -  Natalie’s valuable advice on how to have a pricing impact

Key Takeaways:

“I am not saying everything in your life should be replaced by subscription but if you replace things in your life you see as chores with subscriptions, it makes it easier.”- Natalie Louie

“On the sell side, any business offering a subscription, the benefit is the consistent, predictable revenue that your company will get from your customer base year after year and that what’s people value.” - Natalie Louie

“There is a different metric that speaks to a different user.” - Natalie Louie

“Pricing has its own roadmap. It’s constantly being refined and we’re always evolving it.” - Natalie Louie

Resources:

Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits
 

Connect with Natalie Louie

• LinkedIn
• Hired Inc
   

Connect with Mark Stiving

• Email:[email protected]
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
   

Hey Pricing Practitioners, have the chance to get Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits 

Just Answer the Question: What is the most interesting recent example of price communication or value communication that you’ve seen? 

 (Post your answer at Mark’s LinkedIn designated Post) 

• Discover how ProfitWell gathers information and subscription analytics  to help businesses uncover and analyze the revenue growth
• Learn how Van Westendorp pricing model work
• Discover how to use the value matrix to optimize your product pricing

Peter Zotto is the General Manager of ProfitWell, a business intelligence solutions company which aims to improve retention and monetization automatically through unmatched subscription intelligence. He is one of the stars of the hit show, Pricing Page Teardown. He’s also a huge NBA junkie and he used to play at University of New Hampshire (UNH) in Durham, New Hampshire.

In today’s episode, Peter talks about an interesting relationship between value and willingness to pay and how these data help their pricing strategies with subscription companies. He also shares how he helps companies reduce churn, optimize pricing, and grow their subscription business end-to-end.

“Value is the intersection between willingness to pay and how much you value a particular product or service.”

- Peter Zotto

 Stay updated on all thing pricing.

Subscribe to 'The Pricing Perspective' here

Topics Covered:

02:07 – Mark talks about Price Intelligently's tearing down the pricing review of FarmersOnly.com and Match.com

03:51 – Peter shares how ProfitWell's helps companies reduce churn, optimize pricing, and grow their subscription business end-to-end

07:01 – How ProfitWell collects data as seen on their shows

10:40 – The reason why it’s not helpful to ask for somebody’s willing to pay

11:37 – Using Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter’s in identifying consumer price preferences and its limitations

16:47 – How value matrix works, and how to win on the value proposition and not just price

22:01 – Announcement of Winner for Ep6 question: What is value?

24:07 –The perception of value and willingness to pay: how customers perceive a price is as important as the price itself

Key Takeaways:

“It's not really helpful for me or for any of the listeners out there for you to say, 'Hey, when you want to identify pricing, just ask your market or your customers how much they're willing to pay.' Because they're going to give you numbers that are all over the place. And at the end of the day, they're all correct in the way that they think.” – Peter Zotto

“I think if we were thinking about value, it's really what are you willing to pay.” – Mark Stiving

Resources Mentioned:

• Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits
• Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter

Connect with Peter Zotto:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• profitwell.com 
• Email: [email protected]

Connect with Mark Stiving

• Email:[email protected]
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

• Discover how ProfitWell gathers information and subscription analytics  to help businesses uncover and analyze the revenue growth
• Learn how Van Westendorp pricing model work
• Discover how to use the value matrix to optimize your product pricing

Peter Zotto is the General Manager of ProfitWell, a business intelligence solutions company which aims to improve retention and monetization automatically through unmatched subscription intelligence. He is one of the stars of the hit show, Pricing Page Teardown. He’s also a huge NBA junkie and he used to play at University of New Hampshire (UNH) in Durham, New Hampshire.

In today’s episode, Peter talks about an interesting relationship between value and willingness to pay and how these data help their pricing strategies with subscription companies. He also shares how he helps companies reduce churn, optimize pricing, and grow their subscription business end-to-end.

“Value is the intersection between willingness to pay and how much you value a particular product or service.”

- Peter Zotto

 Stay updated on all thing pricing.

Subscribe to 'The Pricing Perspective' here

Topics Covered:

02:07 – Mark talks about Price Intelligently's tearing down the pricing review of FarmersOnly.com and Match.com

03:51 – Peter shares how ProfitWell's helps companies reduce churn, optimize pricing, and grow their subscription business end-to-end

07:01 – How ProfitWell collects data as seen on their shows

10:40 – The reason why it’s not helpful to ask for somebody’s willing to pay

11:37 – Using Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter’s in identifying consumer price preferences and its limitations

16:47 – How value matrix works, and how to win on the value proposition and not just price

22:01 – Announcement of Winner for Ep6 question: What is value?

24:07 –The perception of value and willingness to pay: how customers perceive a price is as important as the price itself

Key Takeaways:

“It's not really helpful for me or for any of the listeners out there for you to say, 'Hey, when you want to identify pricing, just ask your market or your customers how much they're willing to pay.' Because they're going to give you numbers that are all over the place. And at the end of the day, they're all correct in the way that they think.” – Peter Zotto

“I think if we were thinking about value, it's really what are you willing to pay.” – Mark Stiving

Resources Mentioned:

• Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits
• Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter

Connect with Peter Zotto:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• profitwell.com 
• Email: [email protected]

Connect with Mark Stiving

• Email:[email protected]
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

• Understand what subscription-based pricing is all about
• Discover how having a systematic pricing metric and model help justify the value
• How usage is connected to value and how to monetize those date to have a new source of value in subscription payments

Jim Geisman is founder and president of Software Pricing Partners. His firm is primarily focused on pricing strategies, processes, and tactics. Engagements also focus on the financial impact on the client company and the impact on the sales, marketing and development functions.

In this episode, Jim tackles what subscription pricing is all about, the structured process of product and service packaging to fully address customer segments and needs,  and the correlation of usage to value when it comes to subscription pricing.

“You have to be extremely careful not in what you charge but how you present the options to the customer.”

- Jim Geisman

 Stay updated on all thing pricing.

Subscribe to 'The Pricing Perspective' here

Topics Covered:

01:57 – Jim's backstory, getting an MBA in Harvard

03:09 – How Jim started in his pricing journey

05:45 – The pricing metric to be considered in a subscription model

09:45 – Jim dig deeper into Salesforce’s subscription pricing model

15:25 –  Correlation of usage to value, why subscription services are considered key to monetize customer relationships

17:45 – How usage is a metric in vertical markets

20:20 –Jim’s advice on how to create a pricing impact

Key Takeaways:

“The metric that makes the most sense is the customer.”- Jim Geisman

“Think about the way they make in purchasing decisions and incorporate some of their own personal buyer skepticism and objections.” - Jim Geisman

Resources:

• Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits

Connect with Jim Geisman:

• LinkedIn
• Email: [email protected]

Connect with Mark Stiving

• Email:[email protected]
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Hey Pricing Practitioners, have the chance to get Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits

Just Answer the Question: What is the most unique pricing model you’ve ever seen?

(Post your answer at Mark's LinkedIn designated Post)

• Understand what subscription-based pricing is all about
• Discover how having a systematic pricing metric and model help justify the value
• How usage is connected to value and how to monetize those date to have a new source of value in subscription payments

Jim Geisman is founder and president of Software Pricing Partners. His firm is primarily focused on pricing strategies, processes, and tactics. Engagements also focus on the financial impact on the client company and the impact on the sales, marketing and development functions.

In this episode, Jim tackles what subscription pricing is all about, the structured process of product and service packaging to fully address customer segments and needs,  and the correlation of usage to value when it comes to subscription pricing.

“You have to be extremely careful not in what you charge but how you present the options to the customer.”

- Jim Geisman

 Stay updated on all thing pricing.

Subscribe to 'The Pricing Perspective' here

Topics Covered:

01:57 – Jim's backstory, getting an MBA in Harvard

03:09 – How Jim started in his pricing journey

05:45 – The pricing metric to be considered in a subscription model

09:45 – Jim dig deeper into Salesforce’s subscription pricing model

15:25 –  Correlation of usage to value, why subscription services are considered key to monetize customer relationships

17:45 – How usage is a metric in vertical markets

20:20 –Jim’s advice on how to create a pricing impact

Key Takeaways:

“The metric that makes the most sense is the customer.”- Jim Geisman

“Think about the way they make in purchasing decisions and incorporate some of their own personal buyer skepticism and objections.” - Jim Geisman

Resources:

• Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits

Connect with Jim Geisman:

• LinkedIn
• Email: [email protected]

Connect with Mark Stiving

• Email:[email protected]
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Hey Pricing Practitioners, have the chance to get Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits

Just Answer the Question: What is the most unique pricing model you’ve ever seen?

(Post your answer at Mark's LinkedIn designated Post)

• Understand pricing in procurement
• How to lower procurement time in half, and cut costs like a pro
• How to price your product: what you need to know before you launch

Maree McMinn, known as the Pricing Rebel, is a pricing practitioner for about 12 years. Currently, she’s the Indirect Procurement Manager of Valvoline. 

Maree has experience across a wide variety of industries including consumer packaged goods, retail, distribution, manufacturing, and software.  She's built several disciplines from the ground up including, pricing, competitive intelligence, business intelligence, supplier diversity, and indirect procurement.  

In this episode, Maree shares her pricing experience, how this helps her the procurement process and how it benefits her to make the best pricing decisions.

“You have to understand what people's reference prices are. Quite frankly, do nothing as your competitor.”

- Maree McMinn

 Stay updated on all thing pricing. Subscribe to 'The Pricing Perspective' here

Topics Covered:

01:35 - Maree tells #pricingrebel's backstory, what it is all about and how it began 

02:26 - She shares how her pricing career started

04:36 - Her transition to procurement side

07:02- Mark perspective regarding value vs. pricing in terms of procurement

10:05 - The good side of procurement besides price negotiation

13:00 - The success story behind Maree’s pricing career

12:25 - Her experience implementing new or pricing business model

18:29 - Maree’s thought on the biggest problem of a company in terms of pricing

20:46 - Her piece of advice to companies to have an impact

Key Takeaways:

“We get to a better solution because I bring them innovation, not just the price.”- Maree McMinn

“Thinking about SKU rationalization. Trying to shoehorn what they did before and into a new solution, your breaking it apart and helping the organization think through.” - Maree McMinn

“One of the things company is doing very poorly is think about price before they think about the product.” - Maree McMinn

Resources:

• Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits

Connect with Maree McMinn:

• LinkedIn
• msquaredww.com
• Email: [email protected]

Connect with Mark Stiving

• Email:[email protected]
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Hey Pricing Practitioners, have the chance to get Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits

Just Answer the Question: What is Value?

(Post your answer at Mark's LinkedIn designated Post)