How we decided to go with 100% productized pricing
Pricing my agency services was a nightmare. (Like pricing is for it is for most founders, I've realized.)
I knew my stuff - but I wasn't sure to didn't know what the explicit value was in dollar amounts for different kinds of founders.
So I did (what else) customer research in-person!
Which looked like dozens of office hours with Indiehackers to make sure I could phrase the value prop and pricing in a way that worked for them (s/o @yagudaev for the idea!.
I started off by asking them about the marketing pain points and needs, then solving them on the spot or giving them advice and resources to have next steps.
Then I asked them their biggest gripes about marketing/marketers/hiring someone to help with their marketing.
There were 3 big ones:
- pricing frustration - how hidden it was. you had to talk to someone to know how much it cost and it could change wildly for no discernable reason
- lack of proof - lots of agencies had slick websites but no numbers or verifiable proof
- lack of clarity of what you're paying for - "marketing" can be a really fuzzy concept and founders wanted line items they could understand and trust
So I (fearfully) put all of my pricing and scopes on the homepage.
(This was before I'd seen DesignJoy do it or realized there were many places that were doing it) The only one I knew of was F'insweet with their pricing calculator.
I knew I'd still have to play around with the exact numbers so I used ones that were a bit higher than what I'd charged as a freelancer and waited for the blowback and questions. It never came.
People loved it!
I would get DM's from people randomly saying how much they appreciated my transparent pricing and clear pricing page. (Plus the name and the color purple!
That was a couple of months ago and I can honestly say that being productized and transparent - in more than just pricing, task boards are completely open for every campaign that we run! - has been one of the key factors in our growth.
Now that we have quite a few projects (and a lot of feedback on the specifics) under our belt I'm more confident in the pricing and just updated it this week as part of our 1yr birthday branding update.
Here’s what that pricing looks like on the site👇🏽
What do you think?
This post is awesome @sophia_oneal!
I've had all the feelings you mention in the beginning and I still haven't figured it out. I'm in the midst of switching my pricing. I really want to go productized, but hesitated because I'm not sure clients will understand the value.
Have you had success with clients since the switch?
I'd love to hear more.
@djay3 Thank you Daniel!
All of my clients are now productized! And the value to them is really clear - clear communication around the board on:
We have nearly zero client meetings now, and the team is much less stressed too because we're building recurring SOP's as we go so there's more to build upon and less to re-learn.
And if there are any questions it's a quick peek at the (very short!) scope to get them cleared up.
Do it! It's so worth it and 10x easier to scale.
Awesome to hear!
I think I'm going to do it. Very excited about the possible benefits!
Thanks for your insights.
@djay3 (I am so sorry, this comment never sent!)
You are so very welcome and please send over the site when it's done!
Excited for you man!