3 Imperatives for Selling Usage-based Pricing to the Enterprise

When I attended the Pavilion CRO conference in early June, I wasn’t surprised that an hour of the general session was reserved for a discussion on usage-based pricing (UBP). After all, “SaaS is Dead,” according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

So when the room of sales leaders from mostly small and mid-sized tech companies was asked if they had adopted usage-based pricing for their business—or were planning to—nearly every hand shot up.

UBP adoption at software companies grew from 27% to 46% from 2018 to 2023, with 15% more in testing, and Metronome reports that 85% of surveyed companies have some form of UBP.

Perhaps more telling, my LinkedIn feed is full of commentary on UBP, and it comes up in every conversation with a venture capitalist, as they see it as a path to uncapped growth.

Corporate Procurement Doesn’t Write Blank Checks

But despite its trendiness, selling usage-based pricing schemes to enterprises has it’s challenges. Enterprise buyers are increasingly wary of unpredictable pricing. 46% of enterprise IT professionals identified lack of pricing predictability—especially in AI or usage-based models—as a major barrier to adoption. ‘Bill Shock’ is now a common phenomenon, and corporate procurement simply doesn’t write blank checks.

Plus, while some corporations let their dabble with a credit card, the real deals are done through buying committees, followed by extensive negotiations, and then a drawn out deployment plan. After which, users may still not use the stuff - meaning, no revenue.

If you’re a sales leader, and your team is struggling with the realities of selling usage-based pricing to the enterprise, let me offer three imperatives for managing the pain:

Imperative 1: Solution for Outcomes

You might be priced in ‘credits,’ but you’ll build a vision around real work being done, and real value to be delivered. Enterprise decisions now involve 11+ stakeholders, each with their own lens on risk, ROI, and planning. They need confidence—not just in your product, but in how and where it will be used.

Buyers need a compelling business case. According to Gartner, “a business case is no longer optional for enterprise software—it’s a requirement.” You’ll need to arm your sellers with a new generation of solution tools to drive consensus, including:

Solution playbooks with clear demonstrations,
Usage calculators and cost proformas,
Future-state journey with milestones and success metrics, and
Case studies with “what good looks like” at similar customers.

Imperative 2. Structure for Predictability

Enterprise procurement teams are built for control. They need line-item budgets, purchase orders, and guardrails. Pure usage-based pricing often clashes with these norms—creating buyer resistance and long sales cycles.

For both your benefit and the customer’s, you’ll need a commercial playbook of go-to commitment structures, pricing tiers and contract clauses, plus defined approval processes to determine when and how they can be deployed. Think about the discounts you’ll offer for minimum commitments, and the mechanics and communications of capping your bill at a certain threshold.

UBP deals require proformas, not quotes. Your sellers and deal desk team will need to align on approach and format, so they can be speaking the same language. Post-sale, if the customer wants usage reporting, alerts and audits, can your systems accommodate it?

Imperative 3. Service for Usage

With usage-based models, revenue doesn’t start with the signature—it starts with adoption. If the customer doesn’t onboard and use the product, revenue never materializes. As OpenView notes, “in usage-based businesses, every day is a decision to buy.”

Professional services are no longer optional—they’re foundational. Snowflake is a leading example, using professional services to accelerate customer usage and drive revenue. Sales leaders need to make it easy for their teams to add in the right mix of services. Some ideas: