When preparing for a pricing system rollout, companies usually account for the obvious costs—hours spent by the team, software fees, travel expenses, and training sessions. But what about the costs that surface during the launch and after the system is live? The high risks of predictable issues like delays, errors, and post-go-live surprises often go unaddressed. These risks don’t just exist during go-live—they persist well beyond, impacting the system’s long-term success.
By thinking through the potential outcomes now, you can steer clear of these hidden costs and ensure that your pricing system not only launches smoothly but continues to deliver value.
1. The Daily Cost of Not Being Live
In a pricing rollout, every day that your system isn’t live represents missed revenue, unoptimized pricing decisions, and growing inefficiencies. A valuable tool for keeping teams focused is calculating the daily cost of not being live. This metric provides clarity when conversations veer into seemingly endless discussions.
Imagine this: you’re stuck in a meeting where the team is debating whether to include 5 or 12 options in a drop-down box for pricing categories. Each additional day spent discussing this detail costs the company in lost margin, inefficient discounting, or missed pricing opportunities. By putting this into context—“Is this debate worth delaying the entire system another day?”—you can cut through the noise. Using this daily cost metric encourages the team to prioritize what’s necessary for go-live and address minor features after the system is live and providing value.
- Focus on Features That Directly Impact Margin
During the final phase before User Acceptance Testing (UAT), the focus should be on features that directly improve margin and profitability. Features like dynamic pricing rules, margin tracking, and analytics dashboards drive the most immediate financial benefits. Less impactful items, such as minor UI tweaks, should be saved for post-go-live iterations.
2. You Don’t Get Two Chances to Make a First Impression
A smooth launch sets the stage for user confidence in the system, but a rocky start can damage trust and disengage users. If the system falters right after go-live—whether it’s due to slow performance, downtime, or errors in pricing models—your users may start to question its reliability. In pricing, accuracy is non-negotiable. A poor first impression could lead users to revert to manual pricing processes or rely on outdated methods, nullifying the benefits of the new system.
The bigger cost, however, lies in regaining that trust. Getting users re-engaged after initial doubts requires significant effort—more training sessions, more support, and a lot of encouragement. In some cases, you may even see key employees leave out of frustration, leading to additional recruiting and onboarding costs.
- Reinforcing Confidence in Sales Teams
Sales teams need reliable, real-time pricing data to close deals. If your pricing system doesn’t deliver from day one, salespeople may return to negotiating deals based on gut instinct, which can quickly erode margins. Once the system is seen as unreliable, re-establishing its credibility takes more than technical fixes—it requires re-engaging the sales team with new demonstrations of how the system can support their goals. It is an expensive investment of time to Re-Cast a Vision rather than moving to New Value-Add Features.
3. Ongoing Testing: Making the Team the Guardians of Success
Testing doesn’t end at go-live. Because your pricing system will be updated regularly with new features and patches, testing is an ongoing need. More importantly, the team that uses the system every day needs to take ownership of testing. They are the ones who will spot when a pricing rule isn’t applying correctly or when a discount configuration feels off. It’s not just about catching bugs—it’s about knowing the system well enough to recognize when things aren’t behaving as expected.
When users aren’t engaged in the testing process, you’re bound to encounter the most expensive version of a test: a surprise bug, deployed into Production. However, when your team is proficient in testing, they’ll be more likely to spot issues early and fix them before they affect business operations. Continuous engagement in testing helps keep the system running smoothly, even as new updates and features roll in.
- Building a Testing Culture
To ensure ongoing success, foster a culture where testing is an embedded part of the team’s responsibilities. It’s not just the IT department’s job—everyone involved in the pricing process should be trained to recognize when something is off. Regularly scheduled testing after each system update keeps the system in peak condition and prevents costly errors from surfacing when least expected.
4. Knowledge Transfer: Can Your System Survive Without You?
One of the biggest risks to any system is the loss of key personnel. As your team members move up, retire, or move on, the pricing system should be able to continue functioning smoothly without them. A well-documented system—where the logic, processes, and decision-making framework are intuitive and accessible—ensures its longevity.
If the system’s functionality and capabilities are tied up in one or two people’s knowledge, you risk losing the vision and value when they leave. How do you make sure that, if the core team “gets hit by the lottery bus,” the pricing system can live on and thrive?
- Creating Self-Sustaining Documentation
It’s not enough to have a manual—your documentation should explain the system’s purpose, logic, and future goals. New hires need to understand not only how the system works but why certain decisions were made. This level of clarity ensures that the system can continue to deliver on its original objectives, even if the core team is no longer there to champion it.
5. Integration with Future IT Projects: Staying in the Loop
Your pricing system doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It needs to be integrated with other core systems, such as CRM or PIM solutions, and its success depends on how well it stays connected to future IT projects. One common hidden cost arises when the pricing system is left out of discussions around new projects—if major changes are made to adjacent systems without consideration for how they interact with pricing, you could end up with disconnected workflows, data silos, or inefficiencies.
- Maintaining Visibility in IT Roadmaps
Make sure the pricing system has visibility across the organization’s IT roadmap. Regularly communicate the system’s importance to the broader team, ensuring that it’s considered whenever new systems or updates are introduced. Being at the table when decisions are made about CRM, ERP, or other “cousin” systems will ensure your pricing solution continues to deliver value.
6. The Key to Longevity is In Your Data
No pricing system can survive without trustworthy data. The data that feeds your pricing models needs to be accurate, timely, and properly integrated with master data sets. If users encounter incorrect data—even once—they may start questioning the system’s reliability. The moment that trust is broken, users may begin double-checking every figure or, worse, stop relying on the system altogether.
- The Dangers of Data Discrepancies
In pricing, even a small data error can have ripple effects. If your pricing analysts or salespeople pull up a quote and see outdated or incorrect data, they’ll lose faith in the system. Rebuilding that trust is incredibly difficult. To ensure long-term success, data must be sourced correctly, and regular checks must be put in place to maintain data accuracy. - Aligning with Master Data Sets
A crucial aspect of maintaining data integrity is ensuring that the pricing system’s data aligns with the organization’s master data sets. This includes customer records, product information, and financial data. Any discrepancies need to be identified and resolved before they become visible to users, as trust in the data is the foundation upon which the entire system rests.
The hidden costs of a pricing system rollout—both during and after go-live—are well-known to those with experience. By anticipating these challenges, you can mitigate their impact and steer your project towards a successful, long-lasting implementation. From daily decision-making to long-term data integrity, planning for these known risks ensures that your system not only launches successfully but continues to deliver value for years to come.
