Scoping a Pricing Project and Choosing a Partner

A practical guide to getting SaaS pricing help that actually helps

Your B2B SaaS business needs pricing expertise. The question isn't whether you need a SaaS pricing consultant—it's when to get pricing help, what kind of SaaS pricing strategy you actually need, and how to choose a pricing consultant who won't turn your urgent SaaS pricing challenge into a six-month consulting theater production.

Having built SaaS pricing systems and worked across hundreds of pricing engagements with Price Intelligently (ProfitWell), launched B2B SaaS products from $0 to tens of millions at Toast, I've learned the majority of SaaS pricing problems can be solved using the same proven pricing methodologies. What you're really looking for in a SaaS pricing consultant is someone that can cut through the noise and give you direct feedback on your pricing strategy and packaging optimization.

When You Actually Need SaaS Pricing Help

The short answer: When SaaS pricing becomes a growth constraint or competitive disadvantage.

The longer answer: Most SaaS founders wait too long, then panic and delegate a pricing optimization project to someone who doesn't have the requisite background to run a SaaS pricing strategy efficiently. Here's when external pricing help makes sense:

You've Hit a Growth Ceiling

Your current SaaS pricing model is limiting expansion. Maybe you're losing deals because prospects can't understand your value proposition, or you're leaving money on the table with customers who'd happily pay more for your B2B SaaS solution. If pricing conversations keep coming up in board meetings, you've probably waited too long already.

Competitive Pressure is Real

A competitor just launched with usage-based pricing while you're still stuck in per-seat SaaS pricing models. Or everyone in your space is moving toward outcome-based pricing and you're not sure how to make that transition without breaking your SaaS business model. Market timing matters more than perfect pricing strategy.

Internal Bandwidth Doesn't Exist

Your team is stretched thin across product development, fundraising, and actually running the business. SaaS pricing research and pricing strategy work requires focus that you simply don't have internally. This is especially true if your current SaaS pricing was basically "copy what everyone else charges and see what happens."

You're Preparing for Scale

Pre-Series B SaaS companies often realize their current pricing approach won't survive contact with enterprise customers, usage growth, or international expansion. Better to figure out your SaaS pricing strategy now than during your next fundraising cycle.

Why Rowan Insights: We specialize in helping growth-stage SaaS companies build pricing strategies that scale from Series A to Series B and beyond. No six-month SaaS pricing consulting timelines—we diagnose your pricing constraints quickly and build implementation-ready pricing solutions immediately, without the overhead of traditional pricing consultants.

What You're Actually Optimizing For in SaaS Pricing Consultants

Here's where most people get SaaS pricing help wrong: they optimize for credentials instead of results in their pricing optimization efforts. But what you really need depends on your specific SaaS pricing situation.

Efficiency (Usually Most Important)

You need a SaaS pricing consultant who can diagnose your pricing problem quickly and build pricing solutions you can implement immediately. This means understanding your technical constraints, timeline pressures, and resource limitations from day one.

What this looks like: Clear SaaS pricing project scoping in week one, practical pricing deliverables you can act on, and implementation support that doesn't require a PhD in consulting frameworks.

Red flag: Pricing consultants who can't explain why your SaaS pricing project should take exactly as long as they're proposing, or who lead with process instead of pricing outcomes.

Relevant SaaS Pricing Experience

The SaaS pricing consultant helping you should have built what you're trying to build. This matters more than where they went to school or how many Fortune 500 logos they can name-drop.

What this looks like: Specific experience with your stage (Series A SaaS pricing is very different from enterprise SaaS pricing), your model (B2B SaaS vs. marketplace vs. usage-based pricing), and your constraints (startup budgets and timelines).

Red flag: Generic pricing experience that doesn't translate to your specific SaaS pricing challenges. Enterprise pricing expertise doesn't automatically apply to growth-stage B2B SaaS companies.

Implementation Focus

SaaS pricing strategy without execution is just expensive slide decks and plausible deniability if the pricing recommendation fails to make the expected impact. You need a SaaS pricing consultant who understands the difference between pricing ideas that sound good in boardrooms and SaaS pricing changes you can actually implement with your current team and systems.

What this looks like: Clear understanding of billing system limitations, change management requirements, and sales team training needs. Pricing deliverables that include implementation roadmaps, not just strategic recommendations. **A pricing partner who will help you drive the pricing change that they've recommended.**

Red flag: SaaS pricing consultants who hand over pricing recommendations without helping you figure out how to actually execute them.

Why Rowan Insights: We focus on implementation-ready SaaS pricing solutions, not theoretical pricing frameworks. Our pricing deliverables include practical roadmaps and change management support because we've actually built the SaaS pricing systems we're recommending. No slide decks collecting dust—just pricing results you can execute immediately.

Things to Look for in SaaS Pricing Consultant Background

Beyond the usual credentials and case studies, here's what actually predicts success in SaaS pricing projects:

Operational Experience at Your Stage

Has this person built pricing systems for companies like yours, or just consulted on them? There's a big difference between designing pricing strategy and implementing it while the business keeps growing.

Good signs: Experience scaling pricing from your current stage to where you want to be. Understanding of the practical constraints you're dealing with. Ability to explain trade-offs between different approaches.

Speed and Clarity

Can they diagnose your situation quickly and explain their approach clearly? If someone can't scope your project efficiently, they probably can't execute it efficiently either.

Good signs: Clear questions about your current state, constraints, and goals. Practical timelines that align with your business needs. Straightforward communication without consulting jargon.

Results Orientation

Do they focus on outcomes you care about (revenue, conversion, retention) or inputs they control (research depth, analysis sophistication)? You need someone optimizing for your success, not their process.

Good signs: Questions about your success metrics and business goals. Clear explanation of how they'll measure project impact. Focus on practical results over theoretical perfection.

Anti-Bureaucratic Mindset

Growing SaaS companies need help from pricing consultants who cut through complexity, not add to it. You want a SaaS pricing consultant with a bias toward action and simplicity.

Good signs: Previous experience at high-growth SaaS companies. Allergy to unnecessary meetings and process overhead.

Why Rowan Insights: Our SaaS pricing approach is built on anti-bureaucratic principles learned from military precision and high-growth SaaS company experience. We deliver strategic pricing intelligence without consulting overhead, offering practical SaaS pricing solutions instead of process theater.

Questions That Actually Matter When Choosing SaaS Pricing Consultants

Skip the credential verification. Ask these SaaS pricing questions instead:

"How would you scope this SaaS pricing project and why?" Good SaaS pricing consultants can explain their methodology and timeline clearly. Great ones can explain why their pricing approach fits your specific SaaS situation.

"What would success look like in 90 days for our SaaS pricing?" This separates pricing consultants focused on deliverables from people focused on your business outcomes.

"What could go wrong with our SaaS pricing change and how would you handle it?" Implementation experience shows up in how a SaaS pricing consultant thinks about roadblocks and contingency planning.

"When would you recommend against making SaaS pricing changes?" Anyone can sell you SaaS pricing consulting services. You want a pricing consultant who'll tell you when you don't actually need them.

Why Rowan Insights: We ask the right SaaS pricing questions because we've seen what works and what doesn't across hundreds of pricing projects. Our goal is solving your specific SaaS pricing problem efficiently, not extending pricing engagements or selling unnecessary pricing services. Sometimes the answer is "don't change your SaaS pricing yet"—and we'll tell you that.

The Real Decision Framework

Don’t get sucked into an overpriced engagement or overburden your product marketing team, use these frameworks to make a decision on the help you need based on:

• Relevant experience building what you're trying to build

• Efficient methodology that respects your timeline and constraints

• Implementation focus beyond strategic recommendations

• Results orientation aligned with your business goals

Growing companies have a narrow window to optimize pricing before complexity becomes a competitive disadvantage. The goal isn't finding the most credentialed consultant—it's finding someone who can help you execute pricing changes that actually move your business forward.

Need help figuring out your specific pricing challenge?

We’d love to partner with you if the fit is there, but we’ll also tell you if you should consider something else. Rowan Insights provides strategic intelligence without the consulting overhead—practical solutions you can implement immediately, at startup-friendly pricing.

Reach out to discuss your situation and see if we're a good fit.