Now that you are attracting the right customers and monitoring for and driving engagement to lower your SaaS Churn Rate, you need to start monitoring and getting proactive on Churn Threats. SaaS churn threats aren’t just a signal that you have an at-risk customer; these are literally threats to your business, your revenue, your valuation […]
SaaS Churn Rate Improvement: Monitor and Drive Engagement
February 25, 2013 Article by Lincoln Murphy
In my last post I shared some actual ways to reduce your SaaS Churn Rate, including attracting the right customer and managing expectations. In this post, I’m going to go deeper, and share some awesome methods for improving customer retention by leveraging the power of the SaaS business model, specifically the ability of the provider […]
SaaS Churn Rate Reduction Starts with Attracting the Right Customers
February 19, 2013 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Customer churn can have a devastating effect across your entire SaaS company. From the negative impact on your company valuation because your SaaS churn rate is too high, to the drag on growth you feel when you have to replace lost customers or revenue before you can make forward progress… churn is bad news. Over the […]
SaaS Churn Rate: Go Negative with Expansion Revenue
February 11, 2013 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I mentioned, “Expansion Revenue” and “Negative Churn” in my post SaaS Churn Rate: What’s Acceptable? and I wanted to expand on those concepts a bit. But first… UPDATE 1 : Dollar Revenue Retention – DRR – is the latest SaaS churn rate metric you need to know about (after you read this post, of course). UPDATE 2: Actually, […]
SaaS Market Positioning: How to Compete in Crowded Markets
January 29, 2013 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Welcome to 2013 2014 2015 (still applies!)… it’s now time to figure out why your SaaS company even exists and what your market positioning is! If you’re a SaaS or Cloud provider in the Email Marketing, CRM, Project Management, File Sharing, Collaboration, Marketing Automation, Analytics,… or frankly most horizontal product categories… it’s time to do […]
Beta Testing & Pricing: Examples (Video)
December 16, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Before you watch this video, you should watch the 25-minute Beta Testing & Pricing: A Hazardous Combination video for better context. In 2011 I pulled together this ~35 minute presentation for a group of SaaS entrepreneurs – literally overnight – where I explore the marketing sites of around 25 SaaS & Web App startups in Beta.
Beta Testing & Pricing: A Hazardous Combination (Video)
December 14, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Learn to avoid the pitfalls of publishing your Pricing while in Beta in this video presentation Are you in Beta and getting ready to move to production? Did you already publish your prices on your website? Or are you thinking about running an extended Beta testing period for your new app? Well, you only get […]
How to Develop your SaaS Pricing Model
November 1, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Developing your SaaS Pricing Model isn’t Rocket Science, but even in the Rocket Science business, you need to price your work so you can sell it and make money! This post is awesome (IMHO), but there’s an even better, more recent one that’s specific to early-stage SaaS companies: Pricing Strategy Framework for SaaS Startups Just so […]
Pivot to Profit: Ditch Freemium and Start Making Money
October 17, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Let me be clear… I don’t hate Freemium. In fact, I don’t hate any marketing strategy, revenue model, or user acquisition method – including Freemium – I just think sometimes more thought needs to go into the selection – or subsequent ditching – of your business model. UPDATED FOR 2014! What I’ve seen in just […]
SaaS Pricing Model: How a 10x Price Increase lead to Happier Customers
August 22, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Stormpulse adjusted their SaaS pricing model by raising their prices 10x… and getting happier customers in the process. So I just had a Progress Check and Planning meeting with a retainer client, Matt from Stormpulse, who told me since they moved away from Freemium just 4 months ago to a Premium-only SaaS offering with a […]
SaaS Pricing Page Design: Highest Price on the Left?
May 20, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
SaaS pricing page design is always evolving, and when I created the Pricing Page Success Formula for SaaS and Web Apps in 2009, the jury (me) was still out on whether placing the high priced version of your product on the left and moving lower to the right really mattered.
SaaS Pricing Strategy: The 10x Rule
March 26, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
First thing to clearly understand when developing your SaaS pricing strategy; pricing is a function of Marketing. If you think creating your SaaS pricing strategy is a function of Finance, Accounting, Operations, or even Sales… you’re doing it wrong. That means anyone who comes up with a price for their app (or for your app) […]
SaaS Pricing Models Resource Guide
February 27, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
When developing your Value Pricing Strategy you can leverage a variety of SaaS Pricing Models. From transparent pricing on your pricing page to Enterprise pricing that’s quoted behind the scenes, you must know your options. I put together this list of my best resources to help you get your SaaS Pricing Models right and grow […]
SaaS Pricing: The Advanced Stuff
February 27, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Let’s Improve your SaaS Pricing For immediate consultation and advice on all things SaaS, schedule a 60-minute meeting with me via Clarity. If you feel a more involved engagement is required for me to help you, email me with the specifics of your situation (as much detail as you’re comfortable giving) and we’ll setup a meeting to work […]
SaaS Pricing: The Basics
February 27, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Let’s Improve your SaaS Pricing For immediate consultation and advice on all things SaaS, schedule a 60-minute meeting with me via Clarity. If you feel a more involved engagement is required for me to help you, email me with the specifics of your situation (as much detail as you’re comfortable giving) and we’ll setup a meeting to work […]
SaaS and Web Apps: Increase Your Free Trial Conversion Rate
February 20, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Introducing Lincoln Murphy’s Virtual Consulting program focused on Free Trial Optimization for your SaaS or Web App and 100% Guaranteed to help Increase your free-to-paid Conversion Rate! Do you ever wonder why, even though you offer an amazing SaaS or Web App that meets a real market need, you’re not reaching your sales and revenue goals? […]
What’s the biggest issue you’re dealing with right now?
January 26, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I do what I do for one reason… to help SaaS & Web App vendors be more successful. Period. If I’m not doing that, I’m not doing my job. Some I will help be more successful by working with them 1-on-1 or through programs like the Free Trial Dominator (which is awesome, IMHO). But others […]
How to Offer Both Freemium and Free Trials
January 9, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I got this question from a SaaS vendor about offering both Freemium and Free Trial options and I wanted to share my response to him with you. UPDATED FOR 2015! Our current app has two pricing tiers – free and paid. Simple pricing has its advantages! We’re coming out with a major redesign of the […]
SaaS Customer Retention: The Secret to Reducing your Churn Rate
January 4, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
When it comes to SaaS Customer Retention, I get questions like this frequently: Hi Lincoln, I’d like to hear your perspective on minimizing churn, especially in an industry with steadily declining prices, Adding more value with a better customer experience and more product functionality to mitigate price erosion and churn helps. Better segmentation. What else? Churn […]
What’s Your Biggest Challenge in 2012?
December 30, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I believe in moving forward, not looking back. So my question as we go into 2012 is this: What’s Your Biggest Challenge as a SaaS or Web App Vendor in 2012? Is it making your Free Trials more effective at creating customers? Coming up with the right Pricing? How to handle Competition? Whether to go […]
What’s the Ideal SaaS Free Trial Length?
December 27, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
So, what’s the ideal Free Trial period is for SaaS and Web Apps? As you can imagine, I get asked that a lot. Sure, the 30-day Free Trial is common among B2B SaaS & Web App vendors, but there aren’t any rules. And with everything from 14-day to 60-day (and longer) trials appearing frequently I […]
Focus on People, not Features, in 2012 (Happy Holidays!)
December 21, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
For a lot of us, the holidays are a time of reflection. Looking back on 2011, I’d say this has been one wild and crazy year! I’ve spent a ton of time working with the best SaaS & Web App companies on the planet to get them more customers. Save for the occasional social network […]
SaaS & Web Apps: Optimize Your Pricing Page for 2012
December 18, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Your Pricing Page is the most important marketing page on your site. Don’t believe me? Think about this… if 100% of your sales come from the Pricing Page, then you better believe that it’s the most important page on your site! And it better be designed to convert! There are some very specific things that […]
Web App Pricing: How To Avoid the Commodity Trap
October 10, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
SaaS vendors who know their customers know what they don’t value and avoid building a pricing strategy around those elements. A client of mine – an established SaaS company in the HR space – wanted to pass on the storage costs associated with the use of the system to their end-customer. I told them that […]
Competitor Pricing… Does It Matter?
September 19, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
“Wait… what about competitor pricing?” you ask. I recently published a post where I had the audacity to suggest that value pricing required only two inputs: The Customer’s Willingness to pay (value perception) The Customer’s Ability to pay (how, when, why, where, how) Since I got a number of emails with the same question – […]
Price Objections are Value Objections
September 14, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
It’s not your price that they object to… it’s the value they don’t like. There are times where the price – the number – is so out of whack with the reality of the market that no matter how valuable you make your offering seem, they simply cannot afford it. Like promoting the value of […]
The SECRET to $1M ARR in 6 Months is 9 Customers
August 30, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
It’s easier than you think to get to $1M in annual revenue with your SaaS app. To have a $1,000,000 per year run rate, you need to bring in $2740 per day… roughly. Pardon me if my math is off a bit… this is just one of those posts to get you thinking… your mileage […]
Why OfficeDrop Went Freemium… and how Mobile Apps forced their hand
August 19, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Was OfficeDrop forced into Freemium at phone-point? Healy Jones, VP Marketing at OfficeDrop, told me exactly how leveraging mobile apps made Freemium the right strategy for them. Do you prefer to listen on the go? Download the .mp3 audio file (33.7MB) here. Wistia has kindly donated business video hosting to me, which pretty much makes […]
Assistly Marketing VP Tells You Why They Dropped Tiered Pricing and Picked Up Freemium
August 11, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
UPDATE: Assistly was acquired by Salesforce.com shortly after we did this interview… they are now Desk.com. I sat down and chatted with Assistly’s SVP of Marketing Matt Trifiro via Video Skype and he spilled his guts for you about why Assistly changed their pricing, adopted Freemium, and set out to disrupt the market… all at […]
Web App Sales Funnel: 2 Questions You MUST Answer
February 17, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
SaaS and Web App companies must manage marketing metrics, but before diving in too deep, answer these two questions. What if I told you there are two questions that you probably don’t immediately know the answer to but if you did would absolutely change your view of your self-service “sales funnel?” Would you want to […]
SaaS Distribution and Promotion Resource Guide
December 18, 2010 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I put together this list of my BEST SaaS Distribution & Promotion posts just for you. I hope it helps! How to Get in Front of your Ideal Customers Traffic Hacking: 43 ways to get quality prospects to your site 100 Places to Promote Your SaaS or Web App (Part 1) 100 Places to Promote Your […]
SaaS Pricing Model: Value Metrics Are Key
December 7, 2010 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Your SaaS Pricing Model should be built around what the customer values, which probably means staying away from “commodity” metrics like storage. I find most articles about “SaaS Pricing Model” to be less-than-helpful because they almost always fail to take into consideration the WIIFT of the customer – the What’s In It For Them. Most […]
SaaS Marketing – Web App Pricing Page Review: Salesforce.com
November 15, 2010 Article by Lincoln Murphy
A look at Salesforce.com’s pricing page to see if the SaaS leader views it as a Marketing page. I asked – both on Twitter and this blog – for people to send in what they thought were well-designed SaaS Pricing Pages. Someone that follows me on Twitter asked what I thought of Salesforce.com’s Pricing Page. […]
37Signals Caught Treating SaaS Pricing Page like a Marketing Page
November 1, 2010 Article by Lincoln Murphy
The popular Web App company actively tests their pricing page layout. I was asked over the weekend if I saw the noise about 37Signals raising their prices. I had not so it was very nice to hear from colleagues looking for my opinion on the matter. So, here’s my opinion on the 37Signals price-raising uber-scandal; […]
SaaS Growth Hacking Experts Resource Guide
October 5, 2010 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Growth Hacking isn’t a set of tactics or just about getting cheap traffic to your website… Growth Hacking is a mindset. It’s not just about getting traffic on the cheap; it’s about understanding and exploiting customer behavior, technology, and distribution. Real Growth Hackers use their imagination to pull all of that together to drive growth, however growth […]
Does Goldilocks Pricing Work for SaaS?
September 15, 2010 Article by Lincoln Murphy
A Pricing Strategy for SaaS built for the sole purpose of nudging customers away from a decoy price to the middle version can work. I was asked for my thoughts on this question someone posted on Quora: “Based on your real-world experiences, does Hal Varian’s ‘Goldilocks pricing’ result in most buyers choosing the middle option?” […]
As SaaS Matures, so will SaaS Pricing
June 21, 2010 Article by Lincoln Murphy
The common SaaS per-user, per-month subscription revenue model is rapidly evolving. From time to time I feel I must remind everyone – buyers, sellers, pundits, commentators, & analysts – that SaaS is not a pricing model or pricing strategy. From the vendor side, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is a unique Software Business Architecture where service is the […]
5 SaaS Pricing Mistakes to Avoid
June 11, 2010 Article by Lincoln Murphy
For SaaS & Web App companies, Subscription Revenue is a no-brainer, but doing it right is not! There are many pitfalls Web App & SaaS companies need to look out for when it comes to pricing. If you keep the “Pricing is Marketing” mantra running through your head and “What’s In It For Them?” (them being your […]
SaaS Pricing: Please Learn From the Zendesk Fiasco
May 18, 2010 Article by Lincoln Murphy
It is time for SaaS & Web App startups to sit up and pay attention. SaaS Pricing is very important to your venture but not just to ensure you make a profit or cover expenses. It is so much more than that and you should seek to get it as right as possible out of […]
SaaS Distribution: Time to Change the Channel
May 12, 2010 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Do SaaS products require, or can they benefit from, distribution through a 3rd party? I’ve written in the past about SaaS channels and how most people are doing it wrong, and there seems to be renewed interest in this topic. Unfortunately, things haven’t changed much. Since this is “software” as-a-service, people cannot get away from […]
