Getting the Pricing Right
Of course, getting the pricing right on a cloud bundle is critical, which means understanding internal costs and profit margins. Thadani says you must also be aware of the competitive landscape and what others in the industry are offering at various price points. But rather than lowering pricing to beat competitors, experts say to stress the overall value to clients.
It’s also possible to offer tiers that deliver strong margins generally while providing price or feature incentives that entice clients to purchase higher-margin bundles. Let clients know that tiers make it easier for them to scale up or down as needed, potentially saving them money, since with cloud it’s often possible to make changes on the fly without any disruption or downtime. For instance, a client may start at a bronze tier and evolve to a silver, gold, or platinum package.
When you get cloud bundling right, the results can be impressive. Traditionally low-margin point products can become much higher-margin solutions. One-off sales to customers can evolve into long-standing, value-based relationships. Concludes Long: “It’s up to the channel pro to combine products effectively, ensure there’s value, and that clients benefit. When this happens, everyone wins.”
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About the Author
Samuel Greengard, a business and technology writer in West Linn, Ore., is the author of The Internet of Things (MIT Press, 2015) and Virtual Reality (MIT Press, 2019).
