Articles & Publications

Here are some articles that may help you think about pricing. They cover a broad range of pricing related topics:

In addition to Articles & Publications, we also have Presentations and Case Histories which can be viewed at no charge. Additional materials are available for purchase at the Online Store.

Assessing Value

A Software Pricing Primer. Summarizes pricing strategies and relationship between pricing and business performance. High level article.

Strategic Software Pricing. Succinct article summarizing elements of strategic software pricing.

Licensing Options

Seven Steps to Overcome Pricing Uncertainty with Flexible Licensing. How to decrease financial risk when using license management to do per-user licensing. Describes impact on traditional business models.

OEM Software Licensing Guide. How do you know if your company has an opportunity to do OEM software deals. What can you expect.

Software Product Licensing - Advice for Software Counsel re: Client Protection, Enhanced Revenues, and Enforcement. Software licenses can get in the way when license agreements do not properly balance the need for revenues with the need for protection. This article was written for attorneys who may not understand the software business.

Subscription Pricing

License Management: Controlling Software Licensing. License managers are a requirement for subscription licensing. A description is provided here.

Software Licensing Problems, Opportunities and a Winning Formula. How vendors can improve licensing processes to keep pace with technology and business requirements. Success requires commitment and proper business practices.

How to Price Subscription Software - and How Salesforce.com Does It. This article, reprinted with permission from www.softwareCEO.com, goes into considerable depth about subscription pricing. It is based on an interview with a leading software pricing consultant and the head of marketing at salesforce.com, a vendor whose business is based solely on the subscription pricing model.

Price Structures

Why Pricing Is Hard to Do. Confirms what we already know. Describes how to avoid unnecessary aggravation.

Avoiding the Perils of Pricing. A look at ten tips that to help you develop your pricing and discounting policies so you can do a better job of pricing.

Setting Price Levels

Think Twice Before You Re-Price. Improved cashflow is the measure of pricing success. Consider several alternatives before changing prices.

Eight Ways to Raise Prices. How and when to raise prices. Originally appeared in Soft•Letter.

How to Improve Pricing and Make Pricing Decisions Less Painful. This webinar was sponsored by FeaturePlan and was targeted at prouct managers.

Tips Booklets. In our Online Store we have available for purchase two booklets that are pithy (and useful). They are described here.

Negotiating Deals

How to Shorten Sales Cycles. Shorter sales cycles can be achieved in ways other than dropping price. This article is reprinted from Soft•letter.

How to Beat the Discounting Heat is a description of some of the negotiation (and pricing) tactics used by one of the leading consultants in this field. The interview describes 17 tactics and how an end-user software company used many of these tactics. This interview is reprinted with permission from www.softwareCEO.com.

Managing Discounts

The Revenue Opportunity in Managing Negotiated Discounts briefly describes a means for uncovering the revenues and profits hidden in negotiated discounts. Think of how carefully companies review thier capital investment decisions. Do they do the same with discounts that represent an investment in their customer relationships?

The financial impact of Discount Containment is especially significant for public companies as described in the white paper "Manage Negotiated Discounts to Control and Increase Revenues and Profits."

Discount/Revenue Containment White Paper. Marketing proposes, sales disposes is one way to describe the impact of negotiated discounts on pricing policies. Here is a way to increase profits and revenues.

Don't forget to look at Presentations and Case Histories, and visit the Online Store.