How One of My Clients Cracked the Code on Pricing (and Avoided Common Pitfalls)

Pricing your products can feel like walking a tightrope over a pit of confused customers and lost revenue.

Charge too much, and you scare people off.

Charge too little, and you leave money on the table—or worse, devalue your product.

So how do you get it right?

One of my clients recently overhauled their pricing strategy with some sharp ideas inspired by expert Elena Verna.

Their results were impressive, and they even had some fun along the way.

Here’s a detailed look at what they learned—sprinkled with a little humor, because pricing shouldn’t always feel like tax season.

Common Pricing Mistakes to Avoid

Before you dive into fixing your pricing, let’s address the potholes my client dodged:

1. Letting the Highest-Paid Person Dictate Pricing

You know that “HiPPO” (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion) in the room? They might be great at leading, but pricing by gut instinct is like playing darts blindfolded. My client realized the importance of letting data, not ego, steer the ship. They stopped gambling and started analyzing.

2. Believing What Customers Say They’ll Pay

Here’s a fun fact: people are much more generous when they’re dealing with imaginary money. Customers might tell you they’d pay $50 for your product, but when it’s time to swipe the card? Suddenly, $30 feels like a stretch. My client stopped relying on hypothetical promises and started tracking real behavior.

3. Launching with a Single Price Point

Think you can stick to one price forever? That’s a fast track to irrelevance. Markets change, competitors evolve, and customer expectations shift. My client learned to embrace flexible pricing strategies, keeping them agile and competitive.

How to Nail Your Pricing Strategy

Now that we’ve tackled what not to do, here’s what my client did right:

1. Track the Right Metrics

Pricing doesn’t just affect sales—it touches everything. My client focused on these key metrics:

• Churn Rate: Are customers sticking around or fleeing like it’s a fire drill?

• Retention: How loyal are they over time?

• Cost Impact: Is your pricing covering costs and leaving room for profit?

While immediate sales conversions are tempting to prioritize, my client learned that pricing’s long-term effects often take months to reveal themselves. Patience pays—literally.

2. Run Price Sensitivity Tests

Instead of guessing, my client tested. They introduced three price points:

• Current price (the control group).

• A slightly lower price.

• A slightly higher price.

Results?

They found that lower prices attracted more customers, but higher prices brought in fewer, more loyal ones who actually spent more over time. A loyal customer who sticks with you is worth far more than a bargain hunter who churns after a month.

3. Test Pricing on New Customers First

Existing customers are like your favorite barista—they love you, but they also notice if their $5 latte suddenly costs $6. My client avoided unnecessary drama by testing new prices on fresh customers only. Once they saw what worked, they rolled out the updates gradually, keeping their long-time fans happy.

4. Isolate Pricing Changes

Ever heard of the “too many cooks in the kitchen” problem? That applies to pricing experiments, too. My client learned the hard way that changing prices while also renaming, redesigning, or adding features to the product was a recipe for confusion. By isolating pricing changes, they could pinpoint what actually made the difference.

The Key Takeaways

Pricing doesn’t have to be intimidating if you approach it like my client did—with data, patience, and a dash of experimentation.

Here’s a quick recap of their strategy:

• Ditch the ego and let data guide you.

• Test real behavior, not hypothetical promises.

• Stay flexible and adapt to market shifts.

• Track metrics beyond immediate sales.

• Experiment thoughtfully and keep changes isolated.

And if you’re still feeling stuck?

Remember, pricing is an ongoing process. It’s not about getting it perfect on the first try—it’s about refining until you hit the sweet spot.

So go ahead, put on your pricing scientist hat, and start testing! (And maybe keep your barista’s latte price the same while you’re at it.)