Hey Reader,
Welcome to The Middle, your midweek rundown of the most exciting things we've read this week.
Let’s jump into The Middle.
Jeff
Getting ahead of pricing
(Spoiler: price increases were the most common change with an average price increase of 20%.)
John and Rob of PricingSaaS tracked over 3,000 SaaS pricing pages and shared the data point in their most recent report.
A quick snapshot of the companies that increased their price...
Pricing changes—especially increases—are inevitable, but they’re only as successful as the value story behind them.
Before any price increase, work closely with your customers to communicate recent improvements, expanded features, and the future roadmap. This shifts the conversation from ‘just a price increase’ to an evolution in value.
For Customer Success leaders, this is a chance to champion a proactive strategy: ensuring customers feel valued before any pricing change hits their inbox.
Remember, no one argues over paying more for what’s essential to their business growth.
The real reason customers churn
Kyle Poyar dropped the real reasons a customer churns:
Why they actually churn:
1. They weren’t the right customer
2. They were oversold on the initial deal
3. They failed to launch effectively
4. They never adopted sticky features or integrations
5. They only adopted for a single use case or project
6. They didn’t know all that they could do with the product
7. Because of ^, above-the-line decision makers couldn’t justify renewing
Two others that I think go under the radar:
- The product doesn't address the real business problem: Customers may churn because it solves a surface-level issue but fails to address the underlying strategic problem they need to tackle.
- The account champion left, and no new internal advocate was found. Often, a key internal champion or user initially drives adoption - they put their neck on the line. If that person leaves the company or their role changes without a structured handoff or a new advocate identified, the product’s perceived importance can diminish.
(Sure, Kyle said that he doesn't believe in the Champion leaving as a churn reason, but far too often, companies rely on single-threaded relationships.)
Kyle points out that churn is a company-wide problem. And look at what he's done—he clearly laid out leading indicators to hold different departments accountable.
So much wisdom in 20 minutes that should've been illegal
Peter Yang, a product lead at Roblox (cool job!), shares his takeaways from a Scott Belsky talk:
Scott dropped so much wisdom in 20 minutes that it should’ve been illegal.
5 of my favorites:
1. You should only do half of what you want to do. Reducing features, tabs, offerings, and audiences compounds your chances of achieving P/M fit.
2. Data is a compass, not a map. Vision and intuition help you identify the right mountain, while data helps you reach the top.
3. The best way to review a product experience is to ask three questions - “How did I get here?” “What do I do now?” and “Where do I go next?”
4. Marketing and copy should be born with (or in) the product team. They are integral parts of the product experience.
5. Product is people. A product is ultimately the presentation of a team’s DNA, and the apple falls close to the tree.
Damn, those are all hits right there.
If I had to choose, #1 stands out to me—not just in building products but in how a company operates.
We overengineer the solution to help us stand out and give our customers more value.
However, it becomes more complicated to use, and less value is extracted.
Fit into your customer's day-to-day workflow.
