Q:How do I price a new B2B SaaS product?

Start by getting the value metric and customer segments right, since the exact number matters less early on. Patrick Campbell argues that the number you charge is secondary at first, and that the value metric and ideal customer segments are the foundation⁷. Madhavan Ramanujam similarly frames price as a measure of value, which is why willingness-to-pay research should begin early, before building¹⁰.

01Choose the value metric first

• Get the value metric right before fine-tuning the exact price⁷.
• Prefer usage- or value-based pricing over flat fees, since revenue then grows with customers and churn tends to drop⁷.
• If true value is hard to measure, shortlist proxy metrics and test them with customers and prospects⁷.

02Validate segments and willingness to pay

• Turn persona guesses into quantified segments and validate the riskiest assumptions with research⁷.
• Frame questions relatively, benchmarking against a known product, since people answer relative value more meaningfully than absolute dollar figures¹⁰.
• Segment by needs and willingness to pay rather than demographics¹⁰.

03Keep iterating

• Experiment with pricing or packaging every quarter, starting with foundational decisions before optimizations⁷.
• Revisit pricing every six months, since early simple pricing is reasonable but should not be left unchanged⁵.