Rethinking pricing plans
You've probably seen those ubiquitous pricing plans on the Web. They usually feature 4–5 plans for a range of budgets, each with a list of in/excluded features below.
Needlessly complex
While scanning yet another cryptic list, it struck me: who is actually meant to look at these and make a purchase decision? In online store builder shopify.com's case, for example, I assume this would be a small business owner. Would you really expect them to know what SKU, SSL, AdWords Credit, or the day-to-day, real-world difference between 100MB and 500MB storage space was? Probably not. Shopify even added a help line below for people who are 'not sure' about the pricing options.
I have read a great many articles on 'improving conversion rates' or 'good practice' in landing page design. Unfortunately, few are based on actual usability testing. Most seem to follow the simple credo of 'one million pricing plans can't be wrong'! Sure, if your service is desirable, even a complicated pricing plan might get you customers – but it may be costly to ignore more innovative and effective approaches.
Stories, not features
Features are facts without context and generally don't communicate well. Imagine a Little Red Riding Hood remake in pricing plan style: Girl (included), Forest (200 trees), Grandmother (one), Wolf (most clever version), Suspense (guaranteed), Happy Ending (fanatically supported). Next!
Reversely, what if cold feature lists were turned into little real-world stories, allowing your customers to try out your product within the mental scenarios you've evoked. Sounds crazy? The advertising industry does this all the time: bypass the head and go directly for the gut. Yes, I need that new razor with 6 blades because in my mind, I'm already being chased by dozens of supermodels.
We're currently building Flowli's public site, and will keep this mind when we come to the pricing plans (stories, not supermodels ;-)
I'll end with a nice anecdote by one of venturethree's founders, who years ago was asked after a talk why so many of their new SKY adverts featured nature documentaries (think larger-than-life frogs and tropical birds). Was this what typical SKY customers were watching? 'No', he said, 'that's what typical SKY customers imagine they like to watch!'
