Comments on: How Being Scrappy Made Grasshopper Profitable Within 2 Months – with Siamak Taghaddos http://mixergy.com/siamak-taghaddos-interview/ Events and Interviews for Web Visionaries. Tue, 16 Mar 2010 07:01:12 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Paul Spray http://mixergy.com/siamak-taghaddos-interview/comment-page-1/#comment-9827 Paul Spray Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:40:20 +0000 http://mixergy.com/?p=4233#comment-9827 Siamak - Thanks for the reply, you gave me a lot of good ideas to help us determine our pricing plans! <br><br>I was curious, was there a reason why you don't offer a Free Trial? <br>In the interview you mentioned that in the past you provided some features al a carte but then decided to provide all of your features in all of your plans, but have you considered offering additional power features to your higher priced plans instead of just providing more minutes in the higher plans?<br>Do you have any strategies in place to encourage your $9.95 plan clients to upgrade?<br>And finally have you considered offering an annual subscription at a discount, say $99 a year? We are considering offering annual subscriptions for a discount but we don't want to complicate the registration process.<br><br>By the way, your voice to text feature rocks! Lot better then Google Voice.. Siamak – Thanks for the reply, you gave me a lot of good ideas to help us determine our pricing plans!

I was curious, was there a reason why you don't offer a Free Trial?
In the interview you mentioned that in the past you provided some features al a carte but then decided to provide all of your features in all of your plans, but have you considered offering additional power features to your higher priced plans instead of just providing more minutes in the higher plans?
Do you have any strategies in place to encourage your $9.95 plan clients to upgrade?
And finally have you considered offering an annual subscription at a discount, say $99 a year? We are considering offering annual subscriptions for a discount but we don't want to complicate the registration process.

By the way, your voice to text feature rocks! Lot better then Google Voice..

]]> By: staghaddos http://mixergy.com/siamak-taghaddos-interview/comment-page-1/#comment-9812 staghaddos Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:37:55 +0000 http://mixergy.com/?p=4233#comment-9812 Hi Paul, good to hear from a previous customer. <br><br>Customers purchase the lowest plan because it has the lowest risk and we do not offer a free trial or plan. In your case, if $9.95 isn't profitable, then you shouldn't do it. Personally, I could care less about my competitors and how they price because we're leading an industry and targeting a niche segment of small businesses. Your industry is different however. There are lots of providers in your space so you first need to figure out who your market is, what makes you different, and then charge them whatever you think fits. As long as they see the value, they'll sign up for the lowest plan. As to whether or not they'd sign up for the lowest plan at $14.95 or $19.95, yes, they would if we included more minutes. Once a customer as made up their mind to purchase, it all comes down to lowering their risk to trying out your service. Make sure to do a good job with the conversion funnel and making them understand the value they'll receive out of your service.<br><br>The $49 plan is the most popular among our ideal target, which is why we mention that. And it does have an affect, yes. For the number of plans, if you're offering a free plan, then 4 is ideal. All paid, then I like 3 but you can still do 4. 5 is too many options.<br><br>It all comes down to testing. Start with what's ideal and profitable and go from there.<br><br>Here's a good post to start you off: <a href="http://bit.ly/373D1i" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/373D1i</a><br><br>Good luck. Hi Paul, good to hear from a previous customer.

Customers purchase the lowest plan because it has the lowest risk and we do not offer a free trial or plan. In your case, if $9.95 isn't profitable, then you shouldn't do it. Personally, I could care less about my competitors and how they price because we're leading an industry and targeting a niche segment of small businesses. Your industry is different however. There are lots of providers in your space so you first need to figure out who your market is, what makes you different, and then charge them whatever you think fits. As long as they see the value, they'll sign up for the lowest plan. As to whether or not they'd sign up for the lowest plan at $14.95 or $19.95, yes, they would if we included more minutes. Once a customer as made up their mind to purchase, it all comes down to lowering their risk to trying out your service. Make sure to do a good job with the conversion funnel and making them understand the value they'll receive out of your service.

The $49 plan is the most popular among our ideal target, which is why we mention that. And it does have an affect, yes. For the number of plans, if you're offering a free plan, then 4 is ideal. All paid, then I like 3 but you can still do 4. 5 is too many options.

It all comes down to testing. Start with what's ideal and profitable and go from there.

Here's a good post to start you off: http://bit.ly/373D1i

Good luck.

]]>