046: How Subscription Models Help You Win, Keep, and Grow Customers with Mark Stiving

Enterprise Product Leadership

Transitioning to a subscription model is not easy but the challenge is worth it because SaaS products provide a host of benefits to both the companies that offer them and the clients they serve. Our guest for today is Mark Stiving, author of Win Keep Grow, and he joins us to share important insights from his book to help us learn the fundamentals of accelerating a subscription business. Mark kicks things off with a story about how he got interested in prices, and then we go on an exploration of the connection between pricing and value. From there, Mark talks about how he began to study subscriptions, got fascinated by this model from a value perspective, and essentially combined his biggest aha moments into his new book. We go on a deep dive into some of the frameworks for understanding subscriptions Mark lays out in Win Keep Grow, looking firstly at how this model can be used to acquire and retain customers through renewals, but then also to expand through upgrades. We then get into the second framework which is all about how to take advantage of the expansion possibilities of subscriptions by using three different levers: market segments, pricing metrics, and packaging. In today’s conversation, listeners also get to hear Mark’s perspectives on the benefits and biggest challenges of transferring to a subscription model, before we wrap up with some top tips for companies looking to take the plunge. So for all this and more about how subscription models help you win, keep, and grow customers, tune in today!

Key Points From This Episode:

Introducing Mark, his education, and superpower of helping companies understand value.

Discussing the difficulty of pricing; toeing the line between seeming valuable versus arrogant.

Understanding the ‘acquisition, retention, expansion’ framework in Win Keep Grow.

Mark explains how the ‘three value levers’ framework in the book helps companies grow.

The ability that cloud companies have of using usage data to design tiered packages.

The use of the customer success department to SaaS companies and its functions.

Mark’s thoughts on why SaaS companies should be thinking about the benefits of their products.

Why subscription models benefit B2B companies: valuation, competition, and customer relations.

Challenges that companies face when transitioning to a subscription model.

Different models for compensating the sales team after transferring to a subscription model.

How companies can get better at getting their clients to not just renew but upgrade their subscriptions.

Using the ‘insurance company mentality’ when transferring to a subscription model.

Advice from Mark for product leaders considering transferring to a subscription model.

Links From Today’s Episode:

Mark Stiving on LinkedIn

Mark Stiving on Twitter

Win Keep Grow

Daniel Elizalde on Impact Pricing

Daniel Elizalde

IoT Product Strategy Template

WebRTC