💰 Pricing
🌐 Website
This playbook requires the following signals:
Monitored Signals
1. Why should I care about added pricing complexity?
Here’s why it’s a big deal:
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2. Examples of added pricing complexity
A common example of this is a competitor scrapping their traditional static tiers in favor of a dynamic calculator.
For instance, a competitor that previously had three fixed-price tiers—"Basic," "Pro," and "Business"—might redesign their pricing page to include a slider. Now, prospects must adjust the slider for the number of users or contacts to get a custom quote. While this offers flexibility, it also requires more effort from the buyer to understand the final cost and compare it to other solutions.
3. How to monitor competitors for pricing complexity changes
A shift to a more complex pricing structure is a clear visual and structural change on a competitor's website. You need a system to detect the introduction of these new elements.
Zimt is the go-to competitor monitoring tool for B2B SaaS companies. We have over 35 competitor playbooks you can launch on autopilot, including one designed specifically for this scenario. Activating the playbook allows you to:
Monitor Website Structure & Wording: Automatically track pricing pages for structural changes, wording adjustments, and the addition of new sections or interactive elements like pricing sliders and calculators.
Get Intelligent Alerts: Receive real-time notifications with before-and-after screenshots when a competitor overhauls their pricing page, so you can immediately analyze their new model.
Access This Playbook: Put this playbook, and many more, to work. Automated.
If you're not using Zimt, you must manually check competitor pricing pages frequently to catch these critical GTM changes.
4. Playbook Response Options
4.1 Double Down on Simplicity and Predictability
ⓘ Best for: When you have a simple, flat-rate pricing structure that is easy to understand and the competitor's new model is confusing. | ||
Goal: Capitalize on the competitor's new complexity by positioning your straightforward pricing as a key differentiator and a sign of transparency. | ||
Strategic Rationale: This leverages the "less is more" principle. Many buyers, especially those with fixed budgets, prefer predictability over granular flexibility. This makes your simple pricing a safe harbor in a newly complex market. |
Launch a "simple, predictable pricing" campaign.
Develop a marketing campaign with messaging like "No Calculators, No Surprises" or "Predictable Pricing for Better Budgeting" to contrast with the competitor's new model.
Create a comparison asset showing the "true cost".
Develop a simple datasheet that models a few common scenarios to show how the competitor's slider-based pricing can quickly become more expensive than your all-inclusive plan.
Update sales battle cards to highlight ease of budgeting.
Arm the sales team with talking points that frame your simple pricing as a strategic advantage, allowing customers to budget predictably without worrying about overage fees.
Gather testimonials praising your pricing simplicity.
Launch a campaign to source and promote quotes from customers who specifically chose you because your pricing was easy to understand and predictable.
4.2 Expose the Hidden Costs with a TCO Calculator
ⓘ Best for: When the competitor's new complex model can lead to unexpectedly high costs for certain user profiles. | ||
Goal: Expose the potential hidden or high costs of the competitor's new flexible pricing and frame your own pricing as having a better Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). | ||
Strategic Rationale: This is a sophisticated attack that uses data to create FUD around the competitor's new model. It appeals to financial decision-makers by shifting the conversation from the initial price to the long-term cost. |
Build an interactive TCO calculator.
Create a tool on your website that allows prospects to input their usage data and see a realistic TCO comparison between your solution and the competitor's new model.
Create a whitepaper on "the true cost of complex pricing".
Publish a detailed whitepaper that educates the market on the potential pitfalls and variable costs associated with complex, usage-based pricing models.
Train sales to lead with a TCO analysis.
Equip the sales team to proactively introduce a TCO comparison early in competitive sales cycles, framing the conversation around long-term value.
Run ads targeting their pricing keywords.
Launch paid ad campaigns targeting keywords related to "[Competitor] pricing" and drive traffic to your TCO calculator and whitepaper.
4.3 Adopt a Simpler, Better Flexible Model
ⓘ Best for: When you believe the competitor has correctly responded to a market demand for more flexible, usage-based pricing, but their execution is too complex or confusing. | ||
Goal: Meet the market's need for pricing flexibility without overwhelming buyers, positioning your solution as the "best of both worlds." | ||
Strategic Rationale: This allows you to modernize your pricing to compete directly with the competitor's new model but with a superior user experience. By offering a simpler version of a usage-based or slider-driven model, you can capture customers who want flexibility without the headache. |
Research customer demand for flexible pricing.
Conduct customer interviews and market research to validate the demand for usage-based or per-seat pricing in your target segments.
Design a simplified flexible model.
Work with Product and Finance to design a model that offers flexibility but is still easy to understand, for example, by using pre-defined blocks of users or a single, clear usage metric instead of multiple complex sliders.
Update your pricing page with the new model.
Build and launch a new section on your pricing page that features the new flexible option, ensuring the user experience is superior to the competitor's, with clear explanations and examples.
Launch a "flexible, not complex" campaign.
Run a marketing campaign that highlights your new pricing model, with messaging that emphasizes getting the "best of both worlds: the flexibility you need with the simplicity you love."