The framework
Nine cells, three layers.
A B2B pricing model is not a number. It is a set of decisions that sit on top of one another: the value context you are pricing into, the model you design on top of it, and what survives once that model meets a live deal and a renewal.
Above all nine sits one primary objective — acquire, expand, monetize or defend. It is not scored. It decides which cells are load-bearing for what you are actually trying to do.
The canvas
Value Context
Cells 1–3What you are pricing into, before you design anything. Who the model is built for and who it turns away, what the customer's own numbers say the work is worth, and what they would realistically do without you — which is usually the status quo rather than a competitor.
-
1. Ideal Customer Profile
Who is this model built for — and who is it built to turn away?
-
2. Business Case
What story do the customer’s own numbers tell — and how do you know?
-
3. Switching Costs
What would they do without you — really?
Model Design
Cells 4–6The model itself. What sits in which tier and whether the fences between them hold, what you actually charge for, and which variable makes the price scale — including whether that variable will still work three years from now.
-
4. Packaging
What service, solution or feature belongs where — and which tier should most buyers choose?
-
5. Monetization Model
What do you charge for — access, usage, or outcomes?
-
6. Pricing Variables
What scales the price — and will it still scale in 3 years?
Deal Execution
Cells 7–9What happens to a well-designed model in the room. Whether expansion was built into the design or has to be renegotiated, what you get in return for each concession, and how much of list price survives the trip from invoice to pocket.
-
7. Account Expansion
Where does next year’s revenue live in this year’s design?
-
8. Negotiation Levers
Every concession is a trade — what do you get in return?
-
9. Price Realization & Leakage
How much of list actually reaches your pocket?