Latest / Scaling Up with Fexingo: How Small Businesses Become Mid-Market Companies / How a Niche B2B Publisher Scaled Past 15 Million by Fixing Its Pricing Pages
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this niche B2B publisher — they put out trade journals for the commercial roofing and exterior maintenance industry — and they've been quietly grinding for years. But in the last two years, they went from about 6 million in revenue to 15 million. And the strangest part? The biggest single driver wasn't a new product, it wasn't a sales team expansion. It was a pricing page. Luna: A pricing page? That's the last thing you'd think of for a trade publisher. What did they do exactly? Lucas: Well, they had this classic B2B setup — a 'contact us for a quote' button and a sales rep would call you back. It worked, but it capped their growth. So they replaced it with three clear tiers, and put their most popular option right in the middle with a little 'most popular' tag. They also shortened the form from eleven fields to three. That was it. Luna: Eleven fields to three — that's a big jump. What was the thinking behind the tiers? Lucas: They used classic anchoring. The top tier was priced at 4,900 per month, the middle at 2,900, and the bottom at 1,500. The middle one was the same product they used to sell for 2,500, but now it looked like a bargain compared to the 4,900 option. And it worked — the majority of new customers picked the middle tier, which gave them a higher average contract value than before. Luna: So they're essentially using decoy pricing. The top tier isn't meant to sell — it's there to make the middle one look reasonable. Lucas: Exactly. And the decoy only works because the top tier is real — they actually have a few clients on it, and they deliver more value. But the point is, without the top tier, the middle one would feel like a stretch. With it, it feels like a smart compromise. Luna: I love that. But what about the sales team? I'd imagine they weren't thrilled about losing the 'contact us' lead gen. Lucas: That was the biggest hurdle. The sales team thought transparent pricing would commoditize them — that everyone would just pick the cheapest tier. So they ran a test. For six weeks, half the inbound traffic saw the old 'contact us' page, and half saw the new pricing page. The conversion rate on the pricing page was nearly triple. And the sales team actually ended up with better leads, because the people who reached out already knew what they were getting. Luna: Three times the conversion — that's hard to argue with. Did that change the sales team's tune? Lucas: It did, but it also changed their role. Instead of spending time on discovery calls with unqualified leads, they could focus on demos and closing deals. Their win rate went up too, because the leads were self-selecting. So the sales team became more effective, even as the volume of inbound leads dropped slightly. Luna: That makes sense. So the pricing page didn't just shorten the sales cycle — it actually improved the quality of the deals. Lucas: Right. And they also added a few trust elements — a money-back guarantee and a 'no long-term contract' line. That removed the fear factor for smaller businesses that were used to being locked in. For a trade publisher that relied on annual subscriptions, that was a bold move, but it paid off. Luna: So what's the 'aha' for our listeners? Most of them aren't B2B publishers, but they can apply this to their own businesses, right? Lucas: Absolutely. The principle is simple: if your pricing is hidden behind a form, you're adding friction and you're losing trust. Even if you can't go fully transparent, you can show a range, or offer a 'starting at' price. That's a low-risk way to test whether your pricing page is a growth lever. Luna: And it's not just about the numbers — it's about the psychology. Anchoring, decoy, trust signals. It's all part of the same package. Lucas: Yeah. And one more thing — they also made the page mobile-friendly, which seems obvious but so many B2B sites still aren't. More than half their traffic was on mobile, and the old form was nearly impossible to fill out on a phone. That alone probably cost them a chunk of conversions. Luna: You know, it's funny — we're talking about a pricing page, but it's really about respect for the customer's time. And that's something every business can get behind. Lucas: Exactly. And that's what this show is about — finding those small, overlooked levers that move the needle. And if you're a small business owner, the pricing page might be the most underrated one out there. Luna: So true. And honestly, that's the kind of insight we get to share because we can stay independent and ad-free. If these conversations have moved your work forward in some small way, you can support the show by buying us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It helps us keep bringing you these concrete, actionable stories. Lucas: Yeah, and we really appreciate that. But let's get back to the pricing page — because there's one more detail I think is worth unpacking. They also changed the language on their calls to action from 'get a quote' to 'start now'. That subtle shift made it feel more like a beginning than a commitment. Luna: That's a nice touch. 'Start now' is action-oriented, but it doesn't feel pushy. It's like the pricing page is inviting you in rather than asking for permission. Lucas: Right. And that's the kind of small change that can compound over time. They saw a 12 percent increase in click-through just from that wording. It's not huge, but when you layer it with the tier redesign and the shorter form, the cumulative effect was significant. Luna: So what's the takeaway for a business that's thinking about doing this? What's the first step? Lucas: Don't just copy their approach. Start by mapping out your current pricing page and your current conversion funnel. Then pick one change to test — whether it's adding a 'most popular' tag, or shortening your form, or even just changing your call to action. Run it for a month, measure the difference, and iterate from there. Luna: And if you're a sales-led business, maybe talk to your team first. Get their buy-in, because they're the ones who'll feel the impact. Lucas: That's a really good point. The sales team can be your biggest ally or your biggest obstacle. In this case, the test data won them over. But you need to bring them into the process early. Luna: So what's next for this publisher? Are they going to keep iterating on the pricing page? Lucas: They're actually looking at bundling now — they've got a good sense of which tiers are most popular, so they're thinking about how to package add-ons like webinars or directory listings. It's a natural next step once you understand your customers' willingness to pay. Luna: That's smart. It's almost like they're building a product ladder, not just a pricing page. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the bigger lesson — thinking about pricing as a product, not just a page. The page is just the storefront; the real work is in understanding what your customers value and being willing to charge for it. Luna: Well said. And that's a wrap for today — thanks for joining us on Scaling Up with Fexingo. We'll be back next week with another story of a small business that cracked the code.