Topline Strategy and Echo Cove Consulting Partner to Bring Advanced Pricing Optimization to Growing B2B Technology Businesses.

Of all of the different levers a company can pull to accelerate growth and increase profitability, changing pricing and packaging is often the easiest and fastest. Aligning pricing and packaging with customers’ needs can add millions to the top and bottom lines and it doesn’t require launching new products, entering new markets, revamping sales and marketing or other expensive, time consuming implementation plans.

Major consumer businesses have long used sophisticated quantitative research and modeling to optimize pricing and packaging. However, it is only recently that the analytical models, computing power and data acquisition tools have reached the point where these techniques are accessible to growing B2B IT vendors. Topline Strategy, with its partnership with Echo Cove Consulting, is leading the way.

With over 25 years of quantitative pricing research experience, Echo Cove has worked with leading brands such as Nike and was excited to partner with Topline Strategy to bring its capabilities to the B2B IT market. “Getting the design right is vital for pricing and packaging optimization studies. Otherwise, it’s garbage in-garbage out. It takes a partner like Topline Strategy, with their deep B2B IT experience, to make the studies work” said Richard Schreuer, Founder of Echo Cove Consulting.

For its part, Topline had previously experimented with a wide range of AI and advanced analytics in its practice, but had largely found them to be of minimal value. Discrete Choice Conjoint Analysis, the gold standard for pricing and packaging research and Echo Cove’s preferred methodology, proved to be the exception. “AI, machine learning, and analytics typically require large data sets and a few well-understood independent variables. B2B IT is the opposite – small data sets and very complex processes. Discrete Choice Conjoint is practically unique it its ability to operate in B2B IT environments” said Jon Klein, President of Topline Strategy.

Case Study: Hayes MDaudit

In Q4 of 2019, Topline and Echo Cove completed a highly successful pricing engagement with the healthcare SaaS platform, Hayes MDaudit. Hayes MDaudit got its start providing a single billing compliance solution for large health systems. However, the company’s business has evolved – expanding its product line to include more modules for more departments, serving smaller healthcare organizations, and facing new competitors.  As a result, the company realized it needed to revamp its pricing and packaging to support the changing business.

“We engaged Topline to assist us in determining the optimal pricing packages for our SaaS platform and products,” said Peter Butler, CEO of Hayes MDaudit.  “Changing pricing is a big decision. The fact that their methodology, Discrete Choice Conjoint Analysis, provides a scientific approach based on validated customer data gave us a lot of confidence in their recommendations.  With these recommendations, we are well positioned to compete for new business while ensuring we have fair pricing for our existing customers that aligns what they are paying with the value they receive.”

Want to learn more about Topline and Echo Cove’s pricing and packaging optimization engagements? Contact us at info@toplinestrategy.com.