We all know that if someone puts “all eggs in one basket”, they risk a lot if the tactic fails, as they have no alternatives left.
As an almost completely unrelated note, pricing policy has a nasty capacity to fail quietly, with you not noticing until all of the above-mentioned “eggs” are well and truly scrambled.
- Something changes and your revenue, after years of smooth running, starts “choking” on a now outdated sales approach.
- Your competitors start to raise prices but you only notice when the 17th client remarks on how “good value” you provide.
- Some new technology or legislation scares people about an obscure thing from your repertoire that you could never profitably sell, and now you could, but nobody tells you that.
People rarely see those coming.
It’s a great idea to mix different pricing policies for different kinds of clients. Leave the “cash cows” alone, push others to see if they can become better clients, or at least go bother someone else for a change. Finally, for the wildcards try out value-pricing or even a profit-sharing scheme where you could lose money, but also could earn a lot if it pans out.
It’s not trivial to pull off, but using it means enjoying higher returns on your time while having lower risks overall. I’m not saying that approach is good or even possible for everybody, but I am suggesting giving it a serious thought.