Most pricing decisions are based on a mixture of competitor prices, historic precedent and what the business believes customers will tolerate.
The problem is that customers do not all value the same things, face the same switching costs or respond to a price increase in the same way. An average may help with forecasting, but it tells you very little about which accounts have room to move and which need a different conversation.
Building an annual percentage increase into the original contract does not solve the problem. An index linked clause may protect against inflation, but it cannot tell you whether the resulting price still reflects the market, the value being delivered or the importance of the individual customer relationship. It makes the increase contractually possible. It does not remove the risk of resistance or churn.
Customer pricing research gives you a view across the customer base as well as an understanding of individual accounts.
We combine structured customer conversations with a Gabor Granger pricing exercise. The survey shows how demand changes at different price points. The conversations explain what sits behind those choices, including what customers value, where they see alternatives and what would make a higher price feel justified.
How we run the research depends on the size of the customer base.
For a business with hundreds or thousands of customers, we survey at scale and hold deeper conversations with strategically important accounts. This provides a broad view of price sensitivity and a more detailed understanding of the customers that matter most to revenue.
For a business with twenty, thirty or fifty accounts, we can approach the entire customer base. This creates a far more useful picture than a generic average. You can see which customers are likely to accept an increase, where resistance may come from and what each account needs to hear about value.
The answer is rarely one universal price.
The research may reveal customers with room to pay more, customers who need stronger evidence of value and accounts where an increase would create a genuine retention risk. It can also expose benefits that customers value highly but the business has barely communicated.
The result is a clear view of willingness to pay, supported by evidence from individual accounts. It can be used to set prices, plan increases, prepare renewal conversations and decide where a more tailored approach is commercially worthwhile.
A pricing decision should tell you more than the number. It should tell you where that number will hold, where it will not and why.