What are some best practices when implementing a price increase rollout?

1. Too many to count! I’ll give you a rundown of my top ones:
1. Keep the conversation focused on value not price: The more you focus on price, the more the customer will. The more you focus on value in your messaging, the more your customer will see your product as valuable
2. Get really clear internally about what this price change is supposed to do for you: Making sure everyone is on the same page of goals, non-goals, and expectations for this pricing/packaging change will give you the aircover you need to not spent too much of your time dealing with misalignment or internal concerns
3. Be clear that there is never perfect pricing: Messaging can’t fix everything. In almost every circumstance, there will be customers who are unhappy with the change, make sure your internal team is clear on that and doesn’t see customer complaint as only a messaging problem and get clear on what compalints are expected and okay versus cause for concern
4. Make sure your customer facing teams are well equipped: This means messaging and often a deck for sales, talking points for success, and macross for support but it also means making sure they understand the price change, they feel good about it, and they’re prepared for it. Just creating the materials is the start, but pricing is often made or broken by how customer facing teams feel and implement it
5. Focus on packaging more than pricing: The price may change, but the value comes from the features and functionality available to the plan. Make sure you’re really thoughtful about why each feature goes in each plan
6. Create messaging around each plan, not just the change: If you’re in a multi-plan pricing system (ex: Free. Premium, Enterprise) then your messaging work should focus on who each plan is for, what they should be able to do on that plan, why they would upgrade to the next plan, etc. The work is NOT just about making messaging for the change itself, it’s setting your pricing up for long term success
7. Capture and record learnings from each change: Future pricing and packaging changes are inevitable and they often happen every 18 months - 2 years in a company (sometimes more, sometimes less). Mistakes and missteps are inevitable and usually fine but you need to make sure you learn from them and put those learnings into a playbook for next time.

The first thing I do when considering a price increase rollout is research. Some of the key pieces of information you need to gather are:

• Past average selling price (for an existing product or similar product) - you can get this from your RevOps/Sales Ops team if you don't have access to it yourself.
• Past deals - so you can use them as before and after examples in your presentation to your pricing committee.
• Competitive prices - sometimes Sales may have this from competitor order forms they've been shown during sales cycles or ideally your competitors list their prices on their website (rarer) or you can also ask industry analysts in an inquiry. They won't tell you the exact price a competitor charges but you can ask them for average market price and average discount. Same for partners, implementation partners or reseller partners may have competitive or market price knowledge they would be willing to share at a high level at least.
• Last, if you can but it is sometimes more difficult than the above, try to gather what the market will bear by interviewing current customers or prospects and asking them what they would be willing to pay for a feature/product like what you are working on.

Once you have the research, you can start to test it out. If you have the luxury, try getting a few key sales reps to work with you on using the new proposed prices as they sell a few deals even before you roll it out officially. I find this to be an extremely helpful step as it goes a long way towards getting buy in. You may need to try out a few options before you settle in on a price proposal.

After you've decided on what price you want to propose, put together a good pricing proposal deck which should include the historical prices (quarterly and/or annual trends), before and after examples, results of the testing you performed, any market/industry data you've gathered, and your rollout plan (when and how you will roll it out, what will happen for existing customers etc). If you come prepared with the right research, this will go smoothly!

When implementing a price increase rollout, as a marketer, some best practices to keep in mind include:

1. Communicate early and often: Provide advanced notice of the price increase to customers, and communicate the reasons for the increase in a transparent and honest manner.
2. Highlight product value: Emphasize the value that the customer will receive from your product or service, including any new features, benefits, or services that come with the increased price.
3. Offer incentives: Consider offering incentives to customers who agree to the price increase, such as discounts, promotions, or added value.
4. Segment your customer base: Consider segmenting your customer base based on their willingness to pay and adjust your pricing strategies accordingly.
5. Monitor and adjust pricing regularly: Regularly monitor the market and your competitors to ensure that your prices are still competitive, and adjust your pricing strategies as needed.
6. Ensure a smooth implementation process: Plan and execute the price increase rollout in a manner that minimizes disruption to your customers, and ensure that all customer-facing teams are trained and prepared to handle any questions or objections.
7. Continuously measure and evaluate: Continuously measure and evaluate the results of the price increase, and adjust your strategies as needed to maximize its effectiveness and minimize any negative impacts on customer satisfaction and loyalty.