Last week we had David Reid, Samuel Little and Pooja Nair from Teneo on PricingSaaS Office Hours. It was a great session, with tons of practical advice on implementing credit models. Here are 5 things from the session I'd want to know if I was rolling out a credit model right now: 1️⃣ Unpredictability loses more deals than price does. In Teneo's work, unpredictability comes up as a loss reason far more often than total price. When customers push back on credits, it's usually about control, not credits themselves. The fix: t-shirt-size bands, forgiving overage in year one, and enterprise contracts that lock in what credits cost at 1M, 10M and 100M. 2️⃣ Get customers used to the counting before you charge. David recommends a 3-month free pilot with monthly value statements: "You used 1,000 credits and saved 500 hours." Charge a small services fee for onboarding, not ARR. That way it never becomes a big, scary approval. 3️⃣ Don't create a new SKU for every AI feature. If a feature doesn't cost much to run, put it in the base platform with a credit allowance. Size that allowance so customers use it up early in the year. Top-up packs are where expansion comes from. (And no one is paying extra for AI summaries anymore.) 4️⃣ 5 to 8 credit burn categories is the sweet spot. Map out the jobs your AI does and you'll find about 50 ways to charge. Put them into 5 to 8 buckets. Keep the subscription and the credit estimate simple. The rate card itself can be more detailed. 5️⃣ Your margins should improve over the life of the contract. Credit models usually target 70 to 85% margin on COGS. Send each task to the cheapest model that does it well and your cost per task keeps falling. With fixed-price credits you keep those savings. With cost-plus pricing you end up passing them on. Dropping the link to the recording and transcript here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/158hWJshwYM3-8pgu2B0bFR4F5a5hxym9?usp=drive_link

According to Google, the majority of SaaS companies today selling contracts worth over $100K use a version of MEDDPICC as their sales method. I'd like to ask this community whether they use MEDDPICC at their company. If so, what influence does that have on your pricing?

I am the Co-Founder and CTO of Kinlock Group, where I specialize in translating complex technology into bottom-line business growth. I don't just build software; I build scalable systems that drive revenue, protect assets, and streamline operations. With a deep background as a Financial Markets Expert and a proven track record in sales, contract negotiation, and asset protection, my focus is always on the intersection of high-level business strategy and cutting-edge automation. What I Do @ Kinlock Group: We are a premier automation, SaaS, and application development agency dedicated to scaling service-based businesses. We build the operational engines that allow companies to dominate their local and regional markets. We specialize in serving: Home Services: HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical companies looking to automate dispatch, sales, and customer lifecycle management. Private Equity: PE-backed Generator Dealerships that require aggressive scaling, standardized tech stacks, and rapid deployment. E-commerce: Specialty boutiques needing custom application development to elevate their customer experience and backend fulfillment. What I Can Help You With: Designing and deploying SaaS and custom automation for service businesses. Strategies for asset protection and contract structuring. Insights on financial markets and macroeconomic trends. Aligning technical architecture with aggressive sales and growth goals. Let's Connect: I’m always open to talking tech, markets, or business strategy. If you're looking to automate your service business, navigate complex market dynamics, or just want to connect with a fellow founder, drop me a message or leave a comment!

Howdy pricing people! Next week, we've got a great Office Hours session planned. I'll be joined by David Reid to discuss the trends he's seeing in AI monetization. David runs the Global Private Equity Growth Practice at Teneo, and is working with some of the biggest players in SaaS to transition their pricing for the AI era. Most people talking about AI monetization are working off one company's experiment. David is working across a portfolio of SaaS companies at once, so he can see which pricing moves are actually sticking and which ones get walked back a quarter later. A few things we'll dig into: - How to structure credit models for adoption and monetization - What happens to margin when AI usage gets bolted onto seat-based contracts - Where companies are currently landing on buy vs build when it comes to billing software "How do I charge for AI?" is the number one question I get right now, so I'm glad we're getting someone who sees it across dozens of companies at once. Details below: Thursday, September 17th @ 12pm EDT Register here 👉 https://luma.com/5xj4t5vf Hope to see you there! Rob

How you charge goes a long way into defining how customers receive value from you. When the metric changes, customers will re-evaluate if the value is still there and can be trusted. When Hubspot changed their model, they faced backlash not because they didn't plan for different segments, but because the customers didn't fully understand the new model. The lesson: CLEAR and PROACTIVE communication about how the new model will impact each customer goes a long way. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7474793314920304640/ Love to hear your thoughts!