2 mins

Strategic Innovation in Tech Pricing With Sendbird’s CEO John Kim

"Pricing is not a billing problem; it's a code problem," states John Kim, CEO of Sendbird, highlighting the importance of strategic pricing in tech. This perspective is crucial in a market where balancing cost and customer satisfaction challenges many.
Infographic illustrating tech pricing strategies featured in Sendbird's blog - Monetizely
Written by
Sonali Sood
Published on
May 8, 2024

Sendbird stands out by implementing innovative pricing strategies that drive user engagement and business success.

From Simple Beginnings to Advanced Strategies

Sendbird's pricing journey began with simple models, initially setting prices at $49 per unit, adjusted to $150 based on early customer feedback and market interaction. Recognizing the need for a model that adapts to customer usage, Sendbird transitioned to a more dynamic approach, introducing Monthly Active Users (MAU) and concurrent users as primary metrics. This shift allows pricing to scale with customer engagement, ensuring fairness and aligning costs closely with customer value.

Evolution of Pricing at Sendbird

Sendbird's journey through pricing models showcases the intricacies of adapting to market and operational demands. Their initial pricing approach was simple but soon evolved into an advanced strategy as the company grew. Here are key considerations:

  1. Initial Simplicity: Starting with a guesswork-based model at $49 per unit, Sendbird initially set prices based on what seemed reasonable without a deep market analysis. This price was later adjusted to $150 based on direct customer feedback and early market interactions.
  2. Feedback and Adjustment: The adjustments were not merely reactive but also part of a broader strategy to understand the market better. As more and more data was gathered from these interactions, it became evident that a more flexible and usage-based pricing model was necessary.

Transition to Usage-Based Pricing

  1. Focus on MAU

They introduced Monthly Active Users (MAU) as a primary metric for pricing. This shift was significant because it allowed pricing to scale with the customer's actual usage, making it fairer and more aligned with customer value.

  1. Incorporating Concurrent Users

Adding concurrent user metrics was a strategic move to manage load and system resources more effectively. This was particularly important for ensuring that high-demand periods did not degrade service quality.

  1. Technical and Strategic Rationale

The selection of these metrics was backed by a clear understanding of their operational implications and the types of customer engagements Sendbird was powering. For instance, industries with peak usage times require robust handling of concurrent user spikes.

Benefits of the Shift

  1. Enhanced Customer Satisfaction

By aligning pricing more closely with usage, customers felt more in control of their costs, which in turn improved their satisfaction and loyalty.

  1. Operational Scalability 

This model supported Sendbird’s scalability by allowing it to manage resources more efficiently and predictably, crucial for maintaining service quality as it grew.

The Role of Metrics in Pricing

Adopting Monthly Active Users (MAU) and concurrent users as key pricing metrics is a strategy utilized by industry leaders to closely align pricing with actual customer usage and system load. This method is important for several reasons:

  1. Scalability 

Pricing based on usage metrics allows big companies to adjust their models according to varying levels of customer engagement, accommodating both growth and fluctuations in demand.

  1. Fairness

This strategy ensures that customers are billed based on their actual usage, promoting a fair pricing environment.

These metrics are not just numbers; they are indicators of how effectively big companies are managing their resources and meeting customer needs. Such as:

  1. Customer Segmentation

By leveraging such metrics, the top companies are segmenting their customers more accurately, offering pricing tiers that correspond to different usage levels.

  1. Resource Allocation

Metrics like concurrent users help manage infrastructure needs, ensuring that resources are adequately provisioned during peak usage times.

Dynamic Pricing for Improved Engagement

Sendbird's shift to dynamic pricing models marks a significant move away from traditional per-message fees, promoting a more engaging user experience:

  1. Encourages Frequent Use

By removing per-use fees, companies encourage more frequent and deeper engagement. Users are not penalized for increasing their activity, leading to greater overall platform engagement.

  1. Increased Value Perception 

As users engage more freely with the platform, they derive more value, both in terms of utility and satisfaction from the service. This enhanced user experience often translates into higher customer retention and satisfaction rates.

  1. Adaptive Usage Costs 

Dynamic pricing models adapt to usage patterns, allowing companies to scale service costs in alignment with actual user engagement. This ensures fairness in billing and also aligns business costs directly with revenue streams.

Using High-End Tools for Pricing

Sendbird employs simple tech tools to intricately manage and refine its pricing strategies. These tools are important for dynamically adjusting prices in real time, which allows such big companies to respond promptly to changes in user behavior and service demands.

The foundation of this system is a detailed pricing calculator that Sendbird developed to handle the complexity of different customer needs and usage patterns. This calculator uses algorithms to assess various factors such as user engagement levels and peak usage times, which directly influence the pricing structure. For example, instead of a flat rate per message, which could discourage usage, Sendbird charges based on metrics that reflect the value users gain from the service, such as MAU and concurrent users.

This approach has several benefits:

  1. Scalability: As customer usage grows, the system automatically adjusts pricing tiers, ensuring that customers are always on the most cost-effective plan according to their usage.
  2. Fairness: By linking charges to actual usage, Sendbird ensures that customers only pay for the value they receive, preventing overcharging and enhancing customer satisfaction.
  3. Transparency: Automated tools provide customers with clear insights into how their usage translates into charges. This transparency builds trust and fosters long-term relationships.

Moreover, these tools are not static. They continuously evolve based on ongoing data analysis and customer feedback, which allows Sendbird to refine its pricing models over time. This adaptability is key in tech industries where customer behavior and technology capabilities can change rapidly.

Why Smart Pricing Matters for Future Success - Final Takeaway!

Sendbird’s approach exemplifies how essential precise, strategic pricing is for tech companies aiming to stay competitive. By continuously adapting its pricing strategies to meet and anticipate customer needs, Sendbird meets market expectations and sets new standards in customer value, promoting sustainable growth and long-term success.

Price To Scale: Practical Pricing For Your High Growth SaaS Startup (2nd edition)
As of March 2023, Price to Scale is the #1 search result on Google search for "SaaS pricing book".This is the 2nd edition of “Price To Scale”, co-authored with Jan Pasternak, ex-Head of Pricing at LinkedIn.

‍What have we changed since the previous edition?

1. 5 new case studies making the total number at 13 full length case studies from Zoom , DocuSign , Narvar , Gainsight , Mixpanel , Nosto , Oracle , Verint , Rubrik, Pushpay, Gitlab, Coralogix and more.

2. New chapter on Monetizing GenAI products with content Dr Sundeep Teki, ex-Head of AI at Swiggy, Amazon Alexa AI Scientist with 40+ papers and 2800 citations.

3. New chapters on nuances with Usage Based Pricing, Organizational Alignment, Pricing For Inflation & Churn, Deal Desk and more.
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