
Frameworks, core principles and top case studies for SaaS pricing, learnt and refined over 28+ years of SaaS-monetization experience.
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Join companies like Zoom, DocuSign, and Twilio using our systematic pricing approach to increase revenue by 12-40% year-over-year.
In today's competitive SaaS landscape, having the right pricing and packaging strategy for your Unified Communications (UC) solution can be the difference between exceptional growth and stagnation. With the UC market projected to reach $167.1 billion by 2025, according to Grand View Research, getting your pricing right isn't just important—it's critical to capturing your fair share of this expanding opportunity.
Unified Communications platforms integrate multiple communication services—from voice and video to messaging and collaboration tools—into a single solution. This complexity creates unique pricing challenges. A well-executed pricing strategy directly impacts:
Research from Price Intelligently suggests that a mere 1% improvement in pricing strategy can yield an 11% increase in profits—far more impact than similar improvements in acquisition or retention alone.
Start with market analysis
Begin by thoroughly analyzing your competitive landscape. Document pricing models and packaging structures of key competitors across:
Align internal stakeholders
Before making pricing decisions, ensure executive alignment by:
According to McKinsey, projects with strong executive alignment are 3.5x more likely to achieve successful outcomes.
Conduct research on willingness-to-pay
Quantify your customers' perceived value through:
One UC provider discovered through customer research that their enterprise segment valued integration capabilities at nearly 3x what they were charging, while SMB customers placed higher value on simplified deployment.
Understand value drivers by segment
Different customer segments perceive value differently. Map how each segment values specific UC capabilities:
| Segment | Top Value Drivers |
|---------|------------------|
| Enterprise | Reliability, security, integration depth |
| Mid-market | Scalability, admin controls, support SLAs |
| SMB | Ease of use, simple pricing, quick deployment |
| Industry-specific | Compliance features, specialized integrations |
Design pricing structure options
Based on your research, develop 2-3 potential pricing structures that might include:
Build financial models for each option
Create comprehensive financial models that project:
Conduct limited market testing
Before full deployment, test your pricing hypotheses through:
Zoom famously tested multiple pricing models before landing on their highly successful freemium approach, which helped them acquire millions of users rapidly while maintaining a clear upgrade path to paid tiers.
Develop granular transition plan
A successful pricing change requires detailed implementation planning:
Set up governance structure
Establish an ongoing pricing governance framework:
According to Bain & Company, companies with formal pricing governance see 25% higher returns on their pricing investments.
Complexity overload
While UC platforms offer many features, overly complex pricing creates friction. Slack's initial success came partly from their remarkably simple per-user pricing model, making purchasing decisions straightforward.
Ignoring customer acquisition journey
Your pricing structure should align with how customers adopt UC solutions. Consider:
Undervaluing differentiators
Many UC providers price their most valuable differentiating features too low. Microsoft Teams gained significant advantage by bundling their UC solution within existing Microsoft 365 subscriptions—creating perceived value while protecting their core business.
Neglecting implementation planning
Even the best pricing strategy fails with poor implementation. Allocate at least 30% of your project resources to implementation planning, communication, and training.
Establish clear metrics to evaluate your pricing strategy's effectiveness:
Developing a pricing and packaging strategy for UC SaaS requires balancing market positioning, financial objectives, and customer value perception. By following a structured approach—from market assessment through implementation—you can create a pricing strategy that accelerates growth while delivering clear value to customers.
The most successful UC providers view pricing as an ongoing strategic capability rather than a one-time project. They establish feedback mechanisms, regularly assess pricing effectiveness, and make incremental adjustments as market conditions evolve.
Remember that pricing is both art and science. While data should drive your decisions, understanding the psychological aspects of how customers perceive and respond to pricing is equally important to your success in the competitive UC marketplace.
Join companies like Zoom, DocuSign, and Twilio using our systematic pricing approach to increase revenue by 12-40% year-over-year.