Book Review – The Pricing Roadmap, by Lehrskov-Schmidt Rating: 3.5/5 Qualitative: I really liked it As part of a book club (#BOP) that I’m a member of, I was invited to read The Pricing Roadmap a few weeks ago. I must confess: when the title was selected, my expectations were low—borderline apprehensive. I feared this might turn out to be “wasted” time. But, having committed to the group, I dove in—albeit reluctantly. To my surprise and delight, this journey turned out to be anything but a waste. This book offers tremendous value—not only for pricing professionals in B2B SaaS, but for anyone working in pricing or revenue management. Lehrskov-Schmidt writes as a seasoned practitioner. The concepts he presents are not just theoretical; they’re battle-tested and grounded in real-world experience. His approach is highly practical, yet anchored in solid theoretical frameworks that prompted me to pause, reflect, and reconsider some of my long-held assumptions—both in familiar areas and from entirely new angles. A particular highlight for me was his use of Clay Christensen’s “Jobs to Be Done” framework, which immediately caught my interest and added depth to the discussion. Key Learnings & Takeaways: Pricing is inherently complex—but that doesn’t mean your customers need to experience it that way. The value lies in the pricing structure, not the price point. Don’t just price the product—price the customer. Invest in designing a pricing process that enables segmentation through product packaging and pricing metrics. Understand your business’s economies of scale, which can provide a sustainable competitive advantage by keeping profits above your weighted average cost of capital (WACC). A business can scale through: Unit Sold Unit Price Unit Cost Each of these can reveal different scalability patterns—linear, critical mass, and diminishing returns. Unit cost decreases with volume—up to a point, per Economics 101. Unit price or network effects reflect increasing product value as user numbers grow. Units sold can drive down selling costs as customer numbers increase. Pricing strategy should align with scale patterns and always be grounded in overall business strategy. The CUPID framework (Customers, Users, Products, Iteration, and Distribution) helps define key product attributes and stakeholders, guiding the pricing process. Two key concepts tied to the product model: Fencing (akin to segmentation, aligned with Jobs to Be Done) Laddering (the customer journey within a segment—enhancing and monetizing value) Every pricing model should contain: The mechanism that determines what the customer pays A structure for differentiating prices across segments Pricing mechanics are based on pricing metrics, which should meet these criteria: Operational viability Relevance in the customer value chain Willingness to pay and fairness Metric density and monetization clarity Metric density stood out to me: your pricing metric should be unambiguous and tightly aligned with customer value. Wallet structure is a fascinating (though challenging) concept—tailoring your value proposition to multiple stakeholders within a customer to unlock monetization opportunities. Price points are relative, influenced by competitors and customer sophistication. Anchoring strategies include: Cost-based Niche-based Perceived value-based Fair value-based Establish a clear discount structure, distinguishing between structural and sales-driven discounts—governed by clear rules. Raising prices should be demystified. Treat it as a normal part of doing business—communicate clearly, transparently, and consistently. If this has sparked your curiosity, I recommend checking out the author’s https://www.youtube.com/@SaaSPricing for further insights into his thinking. This book may not have the hype or social media buzz of more mainstream titles, but it’s a must-read for anyone serious about pricing and revenue management. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. (text revised by a LLM)
- Pedro
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