Andreas Lorenz’s Post

Pricing pages fail when they are treated as transaction pages instead of decision pages. Most pricing pages are built to present an offer. Very few are built to resolve a decision. That distinction matters more than most teams realize. By the time someone reaches pricing, they’re rarely asking “How much is this?” They are asking: “Is this worth the internal justification I’ll have to make?” “What am I missing that will surprise me later?” “Why does this feel harder than it should?” When pricing pages underperform, teams often respond with price tests, discounting, or tier restructuring. Sometimes those help, but often they just mask uncertainty with incentives. What actually blocks conversion is usually invisible: > Unclear implementation effort > Ambiguity around edge cases > Fear of choosing the wrong option rather than the expensive one Price becomes the scapegoat because it is measurable. Doubt isn’t. High-performing pricing pages don’t just list features or tiers. They actively reduce perceived decision risk. They answer questions that the users are hesitant to ask out loud. Until pricing pages are treated as psychological choke points, not just monetization screens, teams will keep optimizing the wrong lever.

Cost-based pricing works well for physical products. It works much less well for expertise, speed, and confidence. In engineering-led businesses, a significant share of customer value is created before anything is manufactured - through design trade-offs, risk mitigation, and iteration efficiency. When pricing logic doesn’t reflect that reality, organizations often struggle to scale the very capabilities that differentiate them.

Your early-stage pricing model is wrong. It's supposed to be. In a recent strategy session, a founding team I'm advising had a moment of clarity. Their model was logical: a subscription fee plus a usage fee. It made sense on a spreadsheet. But in the real world, the subscription cost was a barrier. It was stopping smaller companies, the ones they needed for feedback and early logos, from even starting the conversation. So they made a bold call: Scrap the subscription fee for now. Focus on a higher usage fee. Make it a no-brainer for a company to sign the contract and get the system in place. This isn't about sacrificing revenue. It's about redefining the value of a customer at this stage. At the beginning, a customer isn't just an MRR number. They are: • A source of data. You need people in the system to find gaps, get feedback, and build confidence in your impact. • A signed contract. Legally, they are a customer. This is a powerful asset for building momentum and social proof. • A validation point. Getting a company through legal and procurement, even for a usage-based model, proves you're solving a real problem. Pricing isn't a static document. It's a dynamic tool for learning. Right now, the goal isn't to maximize profit. It's to remove friction and get people in the door. The revenue will become more predictable once you have enough customers to see what actually works. When is it right to prioritize customer acquisition over immediate revenue?

“We’ll look at pricing once the features are built.” 🚨 Major red flag. This mindset kills pricing projects before they begin. I hear this logic quite often: “Let’s finish building the new features first... then we’ll figure out pricing.” But that’s backward. Pricing and packaging aren’t product decisions. They’re commercial strategy. Don’t build features and then hope they fit into a sellable package. You start with: • What your ICP actually needs • What outcomes they’re willing to pay for • What problems you uniquely solve Then you build your offering architecture and pricing model around that insight. 💡 Pricing and packaging is the output of a good customer-centric strategy - not the end of a product roadmap.

The anatomy of a pricing page that converts. (Save this. You'll need it.) The 7 elements every pricing page needs Slide 2: Clear tier names ❌ "Basic, Pro, Enterprise" ✅ "Starter, Growth, Scale" Names should match the customer's journey. Anchor pricing Show the highest price first. Everything else looks reasonable by comparison. Visual hierarchy Highlight your preferred tier. "Most Popular" badges work because they remove decision fatigue. Social proof on the page "10,000+ teams use this plan" People want to pick what others pick. FAQ section below pricing Handle objections before they bounce. "What if I need to cancel?" "Is there a free trial?" One CTA per tier Not "Learn More" and "Start Trial" and "Contact Us." One button. One action. �� Save for your next pricing page redesign.

⚠️ 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬. After years of reviewing pricing decisions, one pattern is clearly visible 👇 Companies don’t lose margin because customers push back. They lose it because 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 📊 Pricing fails when it’s treated as a number, not a system. A system made of value metrics, discount logic, approval rights, and incentives. Break any one of those, and the price collapses. Here’s what winning in the market actually requires 👇 ⚖️𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡��� 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ✅ 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 — not internal cost logic Cost-based pricing caps upside and signals weak confidence. ✅ 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 More SKUs often mean more complexity, not more revenue. ✅ 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧, 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐢𝐭 Growth without contribution is just expensive activity. 📉 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔: 👉 Value is delivered in one way, but priced in another 👉 Discounts are easy to give and hard to see 👉 Sales is rewarded for volume, not quality of revenue 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆. 💪🏻 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐩-𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 ✅ They design price ladders, not discounts. ✅ They prune portfolios aggressively to protect focus and operating leverage. ✅ They link pricing decisions directly to contributive margin and cash conversion. 📊 Pricing studies consistently show pricing is the fastest lever for profit improvement — when done structurally, not tactically. ⚠️ 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 🔥 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 Fewer, clearer offers. Smarter pricing architecture. Relentless portfolio choices. That’s how companies win markets — not by being cheaper, but by being clearer. 📈 High-performing companies don’t “raise prices.” They 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒔 so better prices become the 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆.

Pricing can quietly limit growth, even when everything else looks right. We see strategies fail not because of cost, but because they’re outdated or unclear. 𝟑 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐱 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭:   ✅ 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 - Tie pricing to real customer outcomes, not legacy assumptions.   ✅ 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 - Clear, focused options speed up decisions and reduce friction.   ✅ 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 - Run scenarios to protect margins and demand.   Smart pricing isn’t about charging more, it’s about charging right. Need help getting it right? Utilities One Consulting can guide your pricing strategy and make it work for your business. #UtilitiesOneConsulting #PricingStrategy #BusinessConsulting #BusinessOptimization #StrategicPlanning #BusinessSuccess

After years of supporting product-based businesses, here’s what actually moves profitability: Not dashboards. Not more reporting. But three levers you can influence directly. 1) Pricing Pricing is one of the fastest profit levers — if you use it correctly. You don’t win by blindly raising prices. You win by: -Staying competitive within your category -Understanding which SKUs have pricing power -Knowing where elasticity exists vs where it doesn’t -Small pricing moves, applied selectively, often beat broad cost-cutting. 2) Cost of goods This is where most long-term margin is built. -Source closer to manufacturers vs distributors -Use scale to negotiate better unit costs -Secure quick-pay discounts or better payment terms -Be intentional about bulk buys vs cash tied in inventory Lowering COGS compounds quietly — every unit, every order. 3) Operations efficiency Profit often leaks here without anyone noticing. -Fulfillment and shipping rates -Packaging efficiency -Returns, damage, and rework -Inventory accuracy and handling Operational friction turns “profitable on paper” into cash drain in reality. The mistake I see most often: Teams obsess over revenue growth while ignoring where profit is actually created — or lost. The best operators don’t ask, “How do we grow?” They ask, “Which lever provide the most sustainable profit increase?” That question changes the conversation — and the outcome.

You want to improve your pricing… But where to start? You might think, let’s start with "value-based pricing" initiatives. Or, why don’t we purchase that fancy pricing optimization software. But you’re missing one thing, the price waterfall. Where are the discounts going? Which rebates are justified? Can anyone explain the exceptions? Usually no one knows. You can't optimize what you don't understand. And you can't build discipline on a foundation of leaks. Here's what you can do: 1️⃣ Visibility Map your price waterfall first. Understand where the money is actually going. Identify all discounts, rebates, exceptions. Quantify the leaks. Before you do anything else.. know your current state. I actually wrote in the previous post how powerful price waterfall is, despite is being underrated. 2️⃣ Discipline Stop the bleeding. Establish pricing guardrails. Create approval workflows for discounts. Eliminate unexplained exceptions. Most of the quick wins are actually here. 3️⃣ Capability Train your teams. Build basic segmentation. Create simple value metrics. People need to understand WHY before they can execute. And you need to ask, maybe your leaders don’t understand the concept of pricing. 4️⃣ Optimization Only now you're ready for the sophisticated stuff. Value-based pricing. Willingness-to-pay research. Segment-specific strategies. Walk before you run. 5️⃣ Technology This comes last. Pricing tools multiply what you already do. If your foundation is chaos, the tools just scale the chaos. If you have discipline, the tools scale that instead. Each step requires the previous one. People just want things instant, or flashy.. invested in the tools, the trainings, the consultants. Within months everything collapsed. Because there was no foundation. Fix the leaks before raising prices. Sequence beats sophistication. So, tell me... what are your steps? #pricing #growth #commercialexcellence #IndraOnPricing

This is game-changing to understand: Pricing should be anchored in value, not competitors. I often see founders approaching pricing from a surface-level perspective. Namely, starting from “how much” should we charge for the product considering specific financial objectives and competitors’ pricing. You definitely need to consider those but here is the catch. By starting with “how much”, you make pricing much more complex and ignore the core value of your product, which in turn gives you a hard time communicating it to customers. ♟️ 𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭: 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 (for a minute). → 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 💎: what is the tangible value that you create for your clients and what portion of that value are they willing to share with you? Spend time discussing value creation and willingness-to-pay with customers. → 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬’ 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 🧩: organize your features and plans to address 2-3 specific use cases/customer segments. Test with customers and iterate on your packages, this is the foundational level of your go-to-market strategy. → 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 💹: define the line between free/paid plans, assess pricing metrics (the unit based on which you charge), define frequency of payments. Your model should be scalable (for you) and fair & frictionless (to your customers). → 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 💲: based on defined plans and clarified value propositions, simulate different price levels considering customers’ willingness-to-pay, competitors and revenue/profitability targets. Make pricing strategy much closer to your product’s value than to your competitors.