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Estd 4.22.2023
Based on our saas pricing book, Price to Scale, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer, but here are some common approaches to volume pricing for large enterprise customers:
• Direct Volume Discounts: As noted in the book, enterprise deals naturally drive unit prices down (with examples showing enterprise customers paying around $0.60 per unit compared to $2.10 for smaller deals). This approach means that as the volume increases, you offer deeper discounts—sometimes reaching up to an 80% discount compared to smaller deals.
• Modular or Custom Tiered Pricing: Many companies develop a more structured approach by setting up multiple pricing tiers (often through a “good–better–best” framework) or a modular pricing model. This way, you align different packages or features with the needs of various customer segments. With enterprise customers, this model helps you tailor your offerings and discounting based on the scale and specific requirements of each customer.
• Fully Custom Quotes: Given that large enterprise deals often come with unique requirements (for example, Enterprise License Agreements or specific feature sets), it’s not uncommon to move towards fully custom quotes. This enables you to accommodate the detailed needs of the customer while ensuring that the pricing aligns with the overall value proposition.
In practice, many SaaS companies start with a baseline volume discount structure that is later adjusted with modular or custom options for enterprise clients. In essence, smaller deals might be handled via more standardized volume discounting, whereas large enterprise deployments are more effectively addressed with a bespoke or tiered quoting process.
In summary, our book suggests that while standard volume discounts are common, for large enterprise customers you’re often better off creating flexible, modular pricing frameworks or even fully custom quotes that reflect the significant scale and unique demands of their deals.