How to Run a Successful Pricing and Packaging Strategy Project for Unified Communications SaaS

July 18, 2025

Get Started with Pricing Strategy Consulting

Join companies like Zoom, DocuSign, and Twilio using our systematic pricing approach to increase revenue by 12-40% year-over-year.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

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.

Why Pricing Strategy Matters in UC SaaS

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:

  • Customer acquisition costs
  • Average revenue per user (ARPU)
  • Churn rates
  • Overall profitability
  • Market positioning

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.

Key Phases for a Successful UC Pricing Strategy Project

Phase 1: Market Assessment and Internal Alignment

Start with market analysis

Begin by thoroughly analyzing your competitive landscape. Document pricing models and packaging structures of key competitors across:

  • Base platform fees
  • Per-user pricing
  • Feature-based tiers
  • Add-on structures
  • Volume discounts
  • Contract term incentives

Align internal stakeholders

Before making pricing decisions, ensure executive alignment by:

  1. Identifying key stakeholders from product, sales, marketing, and finance
  2. Establishing shared goals and KPIs for the pricing project
  3. Understanding each team's concerns and priorities
  4. Creating a communication cadence for the project duration

According to McKinsey, projects with strong executive alignment are 3.5x more likely to achieve successful outcomes.

Phase 2: Customer Value Research

Conduct research on willingness-to-pay

Quantify your customers' perceived value through:

  • Structured surveys using Van Westendorp or Gabor-Granger methodologies
  • In-depth customer interviews across different segments
  • Analysis of win/loss data with pricing factors
  • Feature value ranking exercises

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 |

Phase 3: Model Development and Testing

Design pricing structure options

Based on your research, develop 2-3 potential pricing structures that might include:

  1. Tiered packaging - Basic/Business/Enterprise with increasing feature sets
  2. User-based models - Per-user pricing with role-specific add-ons
  3. Consumption-based elements - Such as API calls or storage usage
  4. Hybrid approaches - Combining fixed platform fees with variable components

Build financial models for each option

Create comprehensive financial models that project:

  • Revenue impact across customer segments
  • Effects on customer acquisition and retention
  • Operational implications for implementation
  • Transition paths for existing customers
  • Competitive positioning outcomes

Conduct limited market testing

Before full deployment, test your pricing hypotheses through:

  • A/B testing on your website with segmented traffic
  • Controlled sales experiments in specific territories
  • Customer feedback sessions with prototype packaging
  • Beta programs with early adopters

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.

Phase 4: Implementation Planning

Develop granular transition plan

A successful pricing change requires detailed implementation planning:

  1. Create messaging for existing and prospective customers
  2. Develop sales enablement materials and training
  3. Prepare billing systems for new structures
  4. Establish metrics to track success
  5. Design grandfathering policies for existing customers

Set up governance structure

Establish an ongoing pricing governance framework:

  • Regular review cadence (quarterly is common)
  • Clear ownership of pricing decisions
  • Data feedback loops to evaluate effectiveness
  • Process for handling exceptions

According to Bain & Company, companies with formal pricing governance see 25% higher returns on their pricing investments.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

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:

  • Free trials or freemium components for self-service discovery
  • Easy expansion paths as usage grows
  • Clear ROI demonstrations for procurement teams

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.

Measuring Success

Establish clear metrics to evaluate your pricing strategy's effectiveness:

  • Win rate changes by segment
  • Average contract value trends
  • Feature adoption across tiers
  • Customer acquisition cost
  • Expansion revenue
  • Churn rate by package

Conclusion

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.

Get Started with Pricing Strategy Consulting

Join companies like Zoom, DocuSign, and Twilio using our systematic pricing approach to increase revenue by 12-40% year-over-year.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.