Price fixing is very often contingent at a static exercise. We decide from a launch rate, often depending on the production costs or the prices charged by competition, then clinging to it as an unchanging truth. But The price is not a frozen accounting data: it is a perception lever, a growth engine and a strategic positioning tool.
Successful companies never let their pricing become a constraint (Netflix is a good example of rise in power). They treat him as a Constant dialogue with their market. Conversely, those who fail hang on to a figure, refusing to question it until customers stop buying.
The illusion of the “just” price
We often hear founders talking about “finding the right price”, as if a universal truth existed. They want a balance between a price low enough to attract as many customers as possible And A price high enough to preserve their margin.
But this vision is wrong. There is no absolute price. There are only prices that work in a given context.
Take three emblematic companies that have understood this logic and exploit it to their advantage:
- Apple does not sell its products according to their manufacturing cost. His iPhone could be cheaper, but that’s not the question. What matters is the perception of value. By fixing a high price, the brand anchors an image of prestige and unequaled quality.
- Tesla adjusts its prices over the months, sometimes upwards, sometimes downwards. His goal? Adapt to demand and market incentives. It is not an accounting exercise, but a dynamic strategy aimed at maximizing adoption while protecting its margins.
- Netflix regularly changes the price of its subscriptions. He tests new offers, segments his audiences and pushes more profitable formulas. Its economic model is based on a permanent adaptation of its pricing, and not on a decision taken ten years ago (although the growth in prices was undoubtedly developed very early).
These companies have understood a fundamental principle: The price is a signal. It indicates your positioning and directly influences the way your customers perceive your offer.
What your price says about you
The price you display is not just a number. It tells a story about your product, brand and market. It can attract or repel, make you want or arouse mistrust.
- A price too low? Your prospects doubt quality. If a SaaS is billed three times cheaper than its competitors, is it a good deal or a mediocre solution? If a perfume is too affordable, is it a find or a counterfeit?
- A price modeled on competition? You become interchangeable. By lining up on the market, you send a message: you have nothing special, you are just an alternative among others.
- A high price without justification? You lose customers. Ask more than the average can work … but only if your value proposal is clear and understood.
The biggest trap? Set a price and never question it.
Test and adjust: treat pricing as a conversation with the market
A price should not be a frozen hypothesis. He must be permanentlylike any other strategic hypothesis. However, few companies really dare to test their pricing. For what ? Because touching the price seems risky, even dangerous.
Yet, Methods exist To experiment by limiting uncertainties:
📌 Advertising experimentation
Rather than cutting out, test several prices on digital campaigns.
- Launch three advertisements on an advertising network with different prices.
- Measure the impact on conversion rates, but also on the average basket and profitability.
- Observe if a price variation creates a break in the perception of value.
The goal is not only to see What price attracts the most customersbut What price maximizes the overall value captured.
📌 Churn analysis and customer objections
The price is often quoted as an obstacle to purchase … But is it really a question of cost?
- When a customer leaves your product, ask him: “Has the price played a role in your decision?”
- If so, is it a problem of financial accessibility or a problem of perceived value ?
- A high price can work if the user feels a Clear justification for return on investment.
📌 Dynamic pricing: adapt its price according to the market
Why limit yourself to a single price? The most efficient companies segment their market in several offers to better capture the value.
- A “standard” offer for the general public, a “premium” offer for advanced users, a “freemium” offer to bring more people into the ecosystem.
- Priced adaptation according to product maturity or customer context (different prices for startups and large companies, for example).
Dare
Modifying your pricing is scary. However, it’s often The best short -term profitability lever.
🔺 Control of controlled price
A SaaS company has increased its prices for 30 % on its existing customersby justifying this increase by new features and an improvement in the support. Result ? Increase in profitability and decrease in churn. Customers have not left. On the contrary, they perceived a more robust product.
🔻 Targeted price drop
A cosmetics brand has chosen to reduce its prices on A line of specific productswhile maintaining a premium positioning on the rest of its range. This strategy made it possible to expand its customers while maintaining a high -end image.
🎯 Transform the price into a competitive advantage
Rather than fighting on prices, an agrifood company has increased its price while strengthening the customer experience and highlighting the quality of the ingredients. The result? Increase in sales, higher margins and reinforced loyalty.
The price is not attached, it is optimized
The price is not a frozen data, it is a living mechanism which evolves with your market and your product. The successful companies do not undergo their pricing, they experience it, adapt and optimize it.
The keys to intelligent pricing:
✔ Regularly test and analyze the data Rather than rest on assumptions.
✔ Value the price by a clear justification To avoid unsolved objections.
✔ Segment the offers intelligently To capture more value without losing customers.
✔ Dare to experience increases or decreases To maximize the long -term impact.
