It’s the great debate of what an invoicing portal is ‘worth’ to a customer. Should we charge them to access their digital invoices if that’s our preferred option? How valuable is the custom reporting and cost allocation to their business? How will customers respond to a charge – is it something they’re expecting?
Rather it be the initial roll out or enhancements down the road, the invoicing portal pricing strategy always garners a lot of strong and differing opinions. Support teams are reluctant to charge for anything having to do with billing, given their daily exposure to the customers’ frustration in this area. Sales teams are eager to have a chargeable solution – or another value-add for negotiating – that they know customers will sign on for. And the product team is caught in the middle, left to determine the appropriate balance of customer satisfaction and incremental revenue.
So what are the common practices at play?
We surveyed our existing global client base to determine common pricing strategies for their invoicing portal offerings. Here are a few key findings:
Product Offerings
The majority are providing 2 or more options of their invoicing portal offering (31% have a single offering, 38% have 2, 31% have 3 or more).
Most offer baseline offering of invoices and default reports and an advanced offering that includes custom reporting and cost allocation.
Portal Integration
The majority (63%) have integrated their invoicing portal into their overall business portal experience.
Customer Pricing for Invoicing Portal
63% are providing the invoicing portal as a value add, offering it free of charge, while 13% charge $20-40 per month, 18% charge $50-100 per month, and 6% charge $200-300 per month.
100% have add-on costs for additional end users, additional report storage, and additional historic data.
Customer Pricing for Unbilled Add-On
For those providing an unbilled data offering, 50% provide this free of charge, 25% charge an additional $30-100 per month and 25% charge an additional $200-300 per month.
Although it’d be nice to say there’s a ‘going rate’, the price that customers are willing to pay – and that carriers are willing to charge – are greatly influenced by varying internal and external forces.
As you embark on the go to market discussions, think of (1) how the invoicing portal fits into your overall digital experience (2) the added value this functionality provides for your customers (3) the current satisfaction state and (4) the current strength of your customer relationships.
