You have some very good suggestions here. I have a couple of general ones
1. ALWAYS make sure the customer has 3 clear-cut choices in front of them, ALL fixed-fee, defined results. I have a scenario where there are 4: the 4th one is "if you choose none of these 3, then you can expect 24+ hr response time, a fixed-fee paid-in-advance to DIAGNOSE your problem, followed by 3 options to fix it, with all of them paying full, rack-rate fixed-fee which are at least 50% more expensive than those we offer customers in the 1st 3 choices.
In other words, you don't say "no" but very clearly say "working with you in this state is difficult and costly (opportunity cost) so you will pay more if you really want to work this way."
2. Try very, very hard to avoid having just ONE feature be the difference between one level and another. With just one, they clearly know the price of that one option. So with upgrades, you can have the top option be annual, the 2nd and 3rd be every two years. But then you also must change other options such as response time, how many reconciliations they get annually, number of contacts, or other differentiators.
3. I am NOT a fan of including payment terms as any of the options: you are subtly showing you're open to negotiation over that, which ALWAYS then leads to arguments about "when the job is complete." Prepaid only.
4. I'm not always so good at this, but especially in selling the value of frequent upgrades you must make an effort to educate them on what they will get out of it. What they will save from it. At its core, customers who upgrade regularly save the consultant a lot of time and money fixing problems. That's invisible to customers. We need to bring it to them.
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Jerry Norman
At-Large BOD Member, 90 Minds
Smartbridge Partners
(512) 653-7498
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-15-2022 14:12
From: Doug Higgs
Subject: Sage Unsupported Versions
This is great info @Wayne Schulz Yes, I have been working with them for about 10 years. I have already had one meeting and presented my subscription agreement. I have done three upgrades so I know the effort required and have included the upgrade in each of my alternatives. She already asked if I can bill by the hour if they go with a plan and a situation arises that isn't covered in the plan. I said no I no longer bill by the hours and any additional services will be billed fixed price. She also has my "starting at" list of ala carte menu items.
@Jeff Schwenk it is "subscription statement of work plan from Doug Higgs for monthly "retainer""
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Doug Higgs
Midwest Commerce Solutions, Inc
(312) 315-0960
Chauffeur, Chef, and Personal Assistant to Sprinkles
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-15-2022 14:01
From: Wayne Schulz
Subject: Sage Unsupported Versions
It looks like you are asking about EXISTING customers - which I've found is slightly easier to deal with.
What are you hourly rates?
A: I don't have an hourly rate any longer - all my work is under a support plan.
( If you are serious about getting customers onto subscription/support agreement then never talk hourly rates. After you tell them you no longer have hourly rates SHUT UP. )
- If you have a history with the customer you might offer them a monthly amount prepaid with a 1 year term - just be sure you know what type of volume they might use
Do you have a cheaper alternative?
A: Yes, for $x per case prepaid by CC - response is no sooner than a 24 business hour turnaround from the time of payment .....
I have also begun to bundle in an annual upgrade but only when I've done at least one paid upgrade for the company and the upgrade is fairly straightforward.
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Wayne Schulz
wayne@s-consult.com
Schulz Consulting
(860) 516-8990
Moodus, CT