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Let's Make Some Growth Decisions

Abby Sullivan Oct 13 2020

Today, Zuora and Kia Motors America team up. What can we learn about revenue enhancement from this one?? Plus, Microsoft’s newest subscription: It’s all about the add-ons. And finally, a look at growth in these turbulent times with Patrick Campbell and Brian Balfour. 


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Zuora x Kia: a lesson in revenue enhancement

Our friends over at Zuora, the pros in cloud-based technology for subscription businesses, have teamed up with Kia Motors America to create connected car subscriptions. 

Kia is using its platform to launch and scale its UVO (short for "your voice") Link subscription service, which is a portfolio of connected vehicle services.

By launching the initiative in tandem with Zuora, Kia will be able to tap into valuable customer and financial data. With the growing demand for in-car technology and features, Kia will hyper-target its ACE (autonomous, connected and eco/electric) strategy. 

And rolling out a subscription is all part of that strategy, to open up new revenue streams and “fuel our goal to become a truly customer-centric organization,” said Orth Hedrick, an Executive Director at Kia. 

Every company wants to make as much money as possible, right? But sometimes making money doesn’t all stem from acquisition, as we’re seeing here with Kia’s UVO pipeline and the utilization of Zuora to provide a better current customer experience. Kia is also looking to revenue enhancement, boosting revenue from revenue channels they already have—namely, the UVO product (of which's limited launch was back in 2009)—and increasing upsells and cross-sells. 

Enhancing revenue will not only put more money in your company’s pocket, it will also have a positive impact on other SaaS metrics: customer acquisition cost, customer lifetime value, annual and monthly recurring revenues, and more.

Maybe you’ve already recognized the importance of revenue enhancement, but do you know how it’s accomplished? Linked here, a post we've published that’s all about revenue enhancement. I also have a really good one about revenue models, and how to determine which is the best fit to start enhancing your own streams. You can check that one out here

 

Microsoft money moves

Microsoft is about to launch its newest subscription model—a consumer version of Microsoft 365—during its spring product unveiling later this month (this go-round, virtually).

Microsoft’s Office 365 plans will likely include new apps and services focused on productivity, with consumer subscriptions under a potential branding dubbed “Life.” 

This establishes an entirely new tier for the Office 365 crowd, which we know can often correlate with higher annual revenue per user (or ARPU). In a study our team conducted, we found that companies with more than five plans are seeing 40 to 50% higher ARPU. Because with this move, simplicity doesn't always win.

The consumer tier is expected to include Office 365 and a new version of Teams, Microsoft's Slack competitor, that will have new features geared toward consumers. 

The crew at Microsoft knows: The products produced these days are losing their value at an alarming rate. Which is why we need to actively work to create a better product to keep up—focusing on things like add-ons and features. So this is a wise move for the Microsoft crew. 

 

Growth in these turbulent times

We’re joining forces with Reforge, the masters in masterclasses for experience practitioners. 

Our own pricing pro Patrick will be hanging with Brian Balfour over at Reforge to host a free, online community event addressing growth in these turbulent times. 

There is so much uncertainty right now regarding what's happening next in the market. Customer behavior has changed so fast it's impossible to know what's to come. As an operator, this makes decision-making an uneasy challenge, because there isn't a ton of data out there to guide it.

Should you be cutting costs? Will your fundraising be impacted? What signs should we look to, to make these decisions?

Brian and Patrick have collected a bunch of community questions to address, but they want yours, too. They'll also walk through market data they’ve put together across a number of segments and industries to help you make well-informed decisions right now. 

We'll schedule the event during the next couple weeks, once we better nail down the trajectory for your questions. For now, you can click here to sign up and submit your own Qs

To clarify, this is a 'no pitch' zone. No formal CTAs allowed. They simply want to be sure folks have the absolute best information to get through these times.


That’s it for your March 23 episode of Recur Now. If you are not already on the list to receive daily episodes, head to profitwell.com/recur/recurnow to sign up. It's free intel, all for you—every single day. 

This has been a Recur Studios production—the fastest-growing subscription network out there. If you find use for this show, subscribe for more like it at profitwell.com/recur.

 


 
By Abby Sullivan

Content Marketer

Subscription market insights you won't find anywhere else.