It’s no secret we’ve recently raised the prices of our products and annual maintenance fee. We’ve spent months taking partner feedback, conducting partner calls and coming up with the very best scenario for everyone involved. (If you’re a partner who hasn’t been on the calls, email us at sales@eonesolutions.com to request the exclusive links.)

We’ve moved up our prices for a handful of reasons, but it boils down to adding more value for the customer through our continued product investment.

While price increases tend to garner a knee jerk reaction of “Nope, not going to do it!” (trust me, I’ve been there), I think it’s important to communicate the ‘why’ to the customer. As a partner, you are your customer’s advocate and the one we’ve spent time with making sure to get this right for them. You are the one with the real opportunity. It’s your job to give your customer a pile of value – not just serve as the go-between for requested discounts.

So, I’ve compiled a few tips as you begin to communicate these changes. (We also have a TON of resources for you – including templated emails, faq’s, sample call scripts and more. Just ask us for them!)

  1. Remember the why. Unless it’s the customer’s birthday – they probably aren’t going to welcome a surprise. Don’t send your customer an invoice with a higher price tag without communicating why and what additional value they are receiving.

     

    For example, for annual enhancement plans, though the price has gone up, we’ve added the benefit of 2 free incidents of eOne support, made other products available at major discounts, added numerous features throughout the years without ever raising prices and continue developing plans to keep the product thriving.

     

  2. See the opportunities ripe for the picking. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – as the partner, you are in the best position to both serve as your customer’s advocate AND benefit from the opportunities which come from a change.

     

    Have you offered any professional services as a result of your communication on pricing changes? Think integration reviews, creating new Extender windows to capture critical or missing data, writing new and updated SmartLists, etc. If you do not take the opportunity to provide services, you’re missing out on a lot of available work.

     

  3. Seize the day. Now is the perfect time to talk about cloud-apps or discuss web-based opportunities. Want to make a stickier client? Recommend Popdock.com – a perfect reporting tool they can use across nearly all the applications they use – not just one single ERP.

     

  4. Reiterate the facts – namely that Microsoft Dynamics GP remains the best ERP on the market. The fact that ISVs, like eOne, continue to invest heavily in adding new features to their products is a sign that GP is not going away and will be around for a long, long time.

     

As a former partner myself, I want to make your life easier to communicate these pricing changes (so email my team for the resources you need) BUT I also want to challenge you: set yourself and your customer up for success and seize the opportunities right in front of you!

If you’re not communicating clearly, offering services, or talking about new opportunities available to your customers – you are leaving easy money on the table.