Project management solutions, USA

Challenge
An American supplier of project management solutions was having difficulty winning sales and faced customers unwilling to pay the prices it needed to charge. The company delivered a core functionality similar to that of its competitors, but added several extensions that vastly increased its value to the customers. The customers’ pricing pressures threatened the very survival of the company.

Solution
We measured which product features and functions drove customers’ willingness to pay and found that, although price was a convenient basis for resisting sales pressures, it was in fact not determinant. We found that, among users who had never used a specialized project management solution, the actual point of resistance was buyers’ reluctance to learn something new. Experienced buyers welcomed the extensions and believed they were underpriced compared to their value. In consequent, Atenga Insight developed a completely new pricing strategy, tailored for their unique need. 

Results
The company revised its sales approach, integrating physical demonstrations off the software as standard for prospective buyers. This became the company’s basic lead generation mechanism, providing an attractive initial experience with the software and the company. The company raised prices twice during those 6 months, with almost no loss of customers.