Latest / Community Marketing with Fexingo: Discord, Slack Groups, and Brand Communities / How a Brand Community Vetted a Pricing Change in Just Five Days
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this idea that pricing is a top-down decision, that you crunch the numbers, you look at the competitive set, and then you just announce it. But there's a growing group of companies that are flipping that entirely, and they're using their communities as a sort of pricing focus group. Luna: You mean actually asking members before you change the price? That feels risky. Wouldn't they just say 'no, keep it cheap'? Lucas: That's exactly what I thought. But there's a case from a few months ago that really changed my mind. A mid-sized B2B software company, about 4,000 customers, decided they needed to restructure their pricing tiers. They were leaving money on the table with their entry plan, and the mid-tier was a mess. So instead of just rolling it out, they went to their community first. Luna: And the community didn't just complain? They actually helped? Lucas: They did more than help. The community ran with it. The company posted a detailed breakdown of the proposed tiers, with a simple question: 'What would make this work for you?' They expected maybe fifty responses. They got 340 in the first 48 hours. Luna: Okay, but volume doesn't mean quality. What did they actually say? Lucas: The surprising thing was that most members weren't against the price increase. They were against the packaging. The proposed mid-tier bundled a bunch of features that power users didn't care about, while leaving out the one thing they needed: API access. So the feedback was really specific: 'I'd pay more, but only if the API is in there.' Luna: So they got permission to charge more, just not for the wrong things. That's a goldmine. Lucas: Exactly. And they went back to the drawing board. They adjusted the tiers based on the feedback, and then they posted the revised version. That's when the real conversation started about grandfathering. Some older members were worried about being forced onto the new plans. Luna: Grandfathering is always the emotional flashpoint. Did they cave? Lucas: They didn't cave, but they compromised. The original plan was to grandfather everyone for six months. The community pushed back, saying that felt like a ticking clock. So the company extended it to twelve months for the lowest tier, and made it permanent for a small legacy plan that only about a hundred members were on. Luna: That's a smart move. It shows they're listening, but they're still moving the business forward. Lucas: The whole process took five days. And when they finally launched, they saw churn risk drop by 40 percent compared to their previous pricing change a few years ago. That previous change had gone out without any community input, and it was a disaster. They lost a bunch of customers. Luna: So the community didn't just smooth things over, they actually improved the pricing model. That's the kind of thing that makes a community feel like a real asset. Lucas: And it's not just about avoiding churn. The company also saw upgrade intent go up. When they surveyed members after the launch, 68 percent said they understood the value of the new tiers better because they'd been part of the process. Luna: That's the interesting psychological effect. When you're part of the decision, you're more likely to accept it, even if it costs more. Lucas: Right. But I want to be careful not to oversell this. This approach has real limits. It only works if your community actually represents your broader customer base. If your community is all power users and your target market is mainstream, you're going to get a skewed read. Luna: So how do you know if the feedback is representative? Lucas: You have to segment the data. This company looked at responses by plan size, by tenure, by usage. They found that the most vocal members were the longer-tenured ones, but the newer, smaller customers were quieter. So they did a separate targeted email to that segment, asking a few specific questions. They got a different set of answers, which led them to adjust the entry tier price. Luna: So it's not just about listening to the loudest voices. You have to actively seek out the quiet ones. Lucas: Exactly. And that's why the five-day timeline was so important. They moved fast enough that the conversation stayed focused, but they still had time to do that extra outreach. If they'd dragged it out over a month, people would have gotten tired and the signal would have been lost. Luna: I can imagine. Community fatigue is real. But this makes me wonder about the mechanics. How did they actually run the feedback loop? Was it just a forum thread? Lucas: They used a mix. They had a dedicated Slack channel for real-time discussion, and then they posted a structured survey with specific questions about each tier. They also ran two live Q&A sessions where members could ask the product manager directly. That's where a lot of the nuance came out. Luna: So you get both the asynchronous depth and the synchronous energy. That's a solid combo. Lucas: And the company was transparent about what they took from each channel. They published a summary of the feedback, and then they explicitly said 'we changed this, we didn't change that, and here's why'. That transparency is what built the trust. Luna: That's the kind of thing that makes a community feel respected. It's not just a focus group; it's a partnership. Lucas: So before we get into the more tactical playbook, I want to step back for a second. You know, these kinds of conversations are exactly why we started this podcast. We want to give you real, usable examples that you can actually apply. And if you've found that useful, honestly, the best way to support us is a couple of dollars a month. It genuinely keeps these episodes ad-free and helps us keep digging into these stories. Luna: Yeah, we don't have a paywall or any corporate sponsors. It's just us and our listeners. So if you've gotten even one idea from this show, a small monthly contribution at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo really does make a difference. Lucas: And we'll get back to the playbook, because there's a real framework here that any community manager can use. Let's call it the five-day pricing sprint. First, you need a clear hypothesis. This company knew they wanted to raise prices on the entry tier and add a premium tier. They didn't ask 'should we raise prices?' They asked 'how should we raise prices?' Luna: So the framing is key. You're not asking for permission, you're asking for input on the execution. Lucas: Right. And that's what gets you constructive feedback instead of just resistance. The second step is to prepare your community. They announced the session a week in advance. They shared the current pricing model, their goals, and the constraints they were working under. So people came in with the full context. Luna: That's so important. If you just spring it on them, they're going to feel blindsided and react emotionally. Lucas: Exactly. The third step is to use a mix of channels, like we mentioned. Slack for the rapid back and forth, the survey for structured data, and the live sessions for the deeper 'why'. The company also used a simple voting tool to gauge sentiment on specific proposals. That gave them a quantitative read to complement the qualitative. Luna: And how do you handle the expected pushback? There's always going to be some anger. Lucas: You don't try to avoid it. You acknowledge it directly. The product manager came on and said, 'We hear you on the grandfathering concern. Here's what we're considering, and here's the trade-off.' That turned the anger into a problem-solving conversation. Luna: So you're basically co-creating the solution with them. Lucas: And that's the fourth step: publish the revised plan. The company posted a side-by-side comparison of the original and the revised versions, with a note explaining each change. That's a great credibility booster. Luna: It also gives people a sense of ownership. They see their influence in the final product. Lucas: The final step is to close the loop after launch. They sent a follow-up to all participants, showing what they changed and what they didn't, and the results. That's what keeps people coming back to the next conversation. If they feel ignored, they won't bother next time. Luna: So what's the one thing you'd tell a community manager who wants to try this but is nervous about it? Lucas: Start small. Don't pick your most complex pricing change. Pick a single tier, or even just a feature add-on. Test the process with something low-stakes, and build the muscle. Then when you have a big change coming, you and your community will both be ready. Luna: That's a great note to end on. It's all about building that trust over time, so when the big moments come, you're not starting from zero. Lucas: And that's exactly what this company did. They'd been running community feedback sessions for years, so when the pricing change came, the infrastructure was already there. It wasn't a one-off stunt; it was part of their culture. Luna: So the community isn't just a channel for marketing messages. It's a strategic input for one of the most important business decisions you can make.