Prices your customers accept and your margin can live with.
Gully Sales builds pricing and packaging for Indian SMBs: what buyers value, what each segment will pay, packages that make choosing easy, the fences between them, and the rules that stop discounts leaking margin.
- Prices set from what each segment values and will pay, not cost-plus or the last quote.
- Two or three packages a buyer can choose between in one meeting, with clear fences.
- Discount rules that say who can give what, in exchange for what, and when to walk away.
Gully Sales Private Limited works with small and medium businesses across India, treating pricing as one part of a revenue system with sales and marketing.
In one paragraph
What is Pricing and Packaging Strategy for Indian SMBs?
Pricing and packaging strategy decides what you charge, how the offer is bundled into choices a buyer can compare, and the rules that keep the price you set close to the price you receive. Gully Sales builds it for Indian SMBs from customer, deal and cost evidence: value drivers each segment pays for, willingness to pay, a package structure with fences between tiers, discount governance and a tested rollout.
The problem
Your prices were set once, and every deal since has been negotiated down from them.
In most owner-led businesses the price list was built from cost plus a margin, or from the nearest competitor's quote, and adjusted deal by deal ever since. There is one offer, so small buyers find it too much and large buyers ask for extras at no charge. Every salesperson carries a private sense of how low they can go, and the discount is decided on the call. Revenue grows and margin does not, because the business is charging different prices for the same thing and cannot see who is paying which.
You will recognise it as
- The price list is a starting point; the real price is whatever the last negotiation ended at.
- One offer is too much for small buyers and not enough for large ones, so both ask for exceptions.
- Two customers of the same size and type pay noticeably different prices, and nobody can explain why.
- Discounts are given to close the month, and customers have learned to wait for them.
- Every quote is built from scratch, and what is included changes from quote to quote.
What it costs the business
- Margin leaks a little on every deal, across hundreds of deals, and is noticed only when the annual accounts arrive.
- Sales spends its time negotiating rather than selling, because price is the only variable the customer has been given.
- The customers who pay the least are often the ones who cost the most to serve, and the profitable ones subsidise them.
- Cost increases cannot be passed on, so growth adds volume without adding profit.
Why it persists. Price feels dangerous to touch. A change that goes wrong is visible immediately, while the margin lost to unstructured discounting stays invisible for months, so the safe choice is always to leave it alone. Nobody in the business has been asked to own pricing; it belongs to the founder on large deals and to the salesperson on small ones. And the evidence needed to price with confidence, what customers value and would pay, has never been gathered, so every decision rests on a competitor's quote.
If it stays unresolved. The business grows into a larger version of the same problem: more customers on more prices, a sales team that competes only on discount, and cost increases it cannot pass on. Competitors who package clearly win the buyers who want a simple choice, and the customers who stay are the ones who negotiated hardest.
What changes
A price structure buyers understand, sales can hold and margin can live with.
In the first weeks
- What each segment values, what it pays today and what it would pay, with the evidence behind each.
- A record of every discount given in the last period: who gave it, why, and what it cost.
- Two or three packages, each with a defined scope, buyer and price.
In how the work runs
- Price fences that stop the large buyer taking the small buyer's price, and a list sales can quote from without calling the owner.
- Discount rules with approval levels and give-get conditions, built into the quote template and the CRM.
- Quotes that name what is included and what costs extra, so scope stops creeping for free.
In sales and marketing
- Realised price closer to list, because there is less to negotiate and sales has something to trade besides price.
- Buyers who choose the middle package because it fits, instead of asking for the cheapest one to be made bigger.
In what management can see
- Margin by customer, segment and package that leadership can read every month and act on.
Over the longer term
- A pricing owner, a review calendar and a method for the next change, so pricing stops being a one-time event.
- A structure that new products, channels and markets are priced into rather than around.
Gully Sales controls the evidence, the package design, the discount rules, the test and the rollout kit. Whether realised price, win rate and margin move depends on the rules being applied on every quote, which is why the work ends inside your quoting process, not with a report.
Who it is for
This is for businesses whose margin is decided one negotiation at a time.
The businesses it suits
- Founders and directors of Indian SMBs whose prices were set on cost-plus years ago and negotiated down since.
- Manufacturers and distributors with one price list, hundreds of exceptions and no clear view of margin by customer.
- B2B service firms, agencies and consultancies that quote every project from scratch and give away scope to win it.
- Software and subscription businesses whose plans were designed for the first customers and no longer fit the market.
- Clinics, institutes, hospitality and consumer businesses with a single rate card that suits neither the value buyer nor the volume buyer.
- Businesses with a cost increase to pass on and no method for deciding how much, to whom, and how to say it.
What usually prompts the call
- A price increase is overdue and leadership cannot agree how much, or how customers will respond.
- A new product, tier or market is launching and needs a price before the first quote goes out.
- A distributor, marketplace or online channel is being added and must not undercut direct sales.
- A large customer has asked for a rate that would set a precedent for everyone else.
- The revenue model has changed, from projects to retainers or from one-off sales to subscriptions, and the old rate card no longer applies.
What Gully Sales does
The work, component by component.
Value drivers: what customers actually pay for.
We start with why customers pay, not with cost. From interviews, won and lost deal notes and service records we identify the value drivers each segment pays for: reliability, speed, a specification, a service level, a risk removed. Then we test which of those the price reflects today, and which are given away.
- Why it matters:
- A price that is not tied to what the buyer values is negotiated as pure cost, and cost is always too high.
- You receive:
- A value driver map per segment, ranked by what buyers said and what deals showed.
- Business value:
- You know which parts of the offer carry the price, and which cost you money without earning any.
Willingness to pay, measured rather than guessed.
We ask customers and prospects about price in ways that produce usable answers: what they pay for the alternative, where your price would feel expensive, where it would feel too cheap to trust, and which package they would choose at which price. Your deal history adds the prices at which deals were actually won and lost.
- Why it matters:
- Most price arguments inside a business are two guesses disagreeing. A range with evidence behind it ends them.
- You receive:
- A willingness-to-pay range per segment and package, with the interview and deal evidence behind it.
- Business value:
- The price is set inside a range customers have described, not one the competitor's last quote implied.
Packages a buyer can choose between in one meeting.
We design the package structure: how many tiers, what goes in each, what is an add-on, and who each package is for. The aim is a choice a buyer can make without negotiating, usually two or three options with a clear middle, so a large buyer's extras become a paid tier, not a free favour.
- Why it matters:
- One offer forces every buyer to negotiate. A structured choice lets them pick, and lets sales trade up rather than down.
- You receive:
- A package architecture: tiers, contents, add-ons, target buyer and price point for each.
- Business value:
- Small buyers get a version they can afford, large buyers pay for what they use, and both stop asking for exceptions.
Price fences that keep each price with its buyer.
A fence is the rule that stops a customer who could pay the higher price from buying the lower one: volume commitment, contract term, features, service level, payment terms, channel or geography. We define the fences for each package and check they can be enforced in practice, not only on paper.
- Why it matters:
- Without fences, every buyer migrates to the cheapest option that meets their need, and the tier structure collapses.
- You receive:
- A fence definition for each package and price, with who checks it and how.
- Business value:
- The higher price holds because the conditions for the lower one are real.
Discount governance: who can give what, for what.
We write the discount policy: the standard price, the discretion each role has, the approval ladder above it, and the give-get rules, so a discount is exchanged for volume, term, a reference, faster payment or reduced scope rather than granted for asking. Every discount goes into a register with its reason.
- Why it matters:
- Discounts given by whoever is on the call are the largest and least visible margin leak in most SMBs.
- You receive:
- A discount policy, approval matrix, give-get table and register template.
- Business value:
- Salespeople have a clear answer on the call, and leadership can see each month where margin went and why.
Commercial testing before the rollout.
New prices and packages are tested before they go to everyone: with a segment, a region, a product line or a set of new enquiries, while existing customers stay on current terms. We track win rate, realised price, package mix and objections against the baseline and adjust before the wider release.
- Why it matters:
- A price tested on a slice of the market can be corrected quietly. One rolled out to everyone cannot.
- You receive:
- A test plan, the results against baseline and the revised structure.
- Business value:
- The price you roll out has already been accepted by real buyers, so the decision carries less risk.
Rollout: the price list, the quote and the conversation.
We turn the structure into the tools that carry it: the price list, quote templates, CRM fields and approval workflow, a sales briefing on presenting the packages and holding the price, and a plan for moving existing customers, including how an increase is explained and staged. Then we sit with the team through the first quotes.
- Why it matters:
- A pricing strategy that lives in a slide deck is not pricing. It has to be in the quote.
- You receive:
- The rollout kit: price list, templates, CRM configuration, sales briefing and customer communication plan.
- Business value:
- Every quote that leaves the business carries the same prices, packages and rules, from the first week.
What you will have at the end.
- Price realisation analysis: list versus realised price by customer, segment and salesperson, from your transaction data.
- Discount audit: every discount in the period, who gave it, why, and what it cost in margin.
- Value driver map per segment, from customer interviews and deal history.
- Willingness-to-pay findings: price ranges per segment and package, with the evidence behind them.
- Package architecture: tiers, contents, add-ons, target buyer and price point for each, with the fences between them.
- Discount policy, approval matrix, give-get table and discount register template.
- Commercial test plan and results against the baseline.
- Price list, quote templates and CRM configuration for the new structure.
- Sales briefing on presenting packages and holding price, and the communication plan for existing accounts.
- Pricing calendar and monthly review routine, with the pricing owner named.
How it runs
The engagement, step by step.
- 1
Frame the pricing decision.
We meet leadership, finance and the people who quote. We agree which offers, segments and channels are in scope, what decision the work must support, such as a price increase, a new tier or a channel launch, and what each person believes the right price is today. Current price lists and known exceptions are recorded.
- You provide:
- Two working sessions with leadership, finance and the sales lead, and every current price list, rate card and quote template.
- We produce:
- The pricing brief: scope, decisions, current practice and the questions to answer.
- Done when:
- Leadership agrees what is in scope and what a good outcome would change.
- 2
Read the transaction and deal data.
We analyse invoices, quotes and CRM records to see the price actually realised by customer, segment, product and salesperson, how far it sits from list, where discounts cluster and which customers cost most to serve. Cost data is used to show margin, not to set price.
- You provide:
- Invoice or sales data for an agreed period, quotes won and lost, cost and margin figures, and access to the CRM.
- We produce:
- The price realisation analysis and the discount audit.
- Done when:
- Leadership has seen, in one place, who pays what and where margin goes.
- 3
Learn what customers value and will pay.
We interview customers, prospects and a few lost deals across segments, and where useful survey a wider group, to identify the value drivers and set willingness-to-pay ranges. We also gather the competitor prices your team has seen in the market.
- You provide:
- Introductions to customers and recent prospects, and the competitor quotes your team has collected.
- We produce:
- The value driver map and the willingness-to-pay findings per segment.
- Done when:
- There is a price range per segment with evidence behind it, and agreement on which value drivers carry the price.
- 4
Design packages, fences and prices.
With the evidence in hand, we design the package structure, set the price point for each, define the fences between them and write the discount policy. Options are modelled against your transaction data to show what each would have meant for margin in the last period.
- You provide:
- Working sessions with leadership, finance and sales to review the options and choose one.
- We produce:
- The package architecture, price points, fences and discount policy, with the margin model.
- Done when:
- Leadership has chosen a structure, seen what it means for margin, and signed off the discount policy.
- 5
Test with a slice of the market.
The new structure goes live with an agreed segment, region, product line or set of new enquiries. Sales is briefed and quotes from the new list. We track win rate, realised price, package mix and objections against the baseline and revise where the evidence says to.
- You provide:
- A test group, the sales team's time for a briefing, and honest reporting of what buyers said.
- We produce:
- The test plan, the results against baseline and the revised structure.
- Done when:
- The test has run long enough to compare, and the structure has been adjusted on what buyers did.
- 6
Roll out, move existing customers and hand over.
We build the rollout kit, brief sales, and plan how existing customers are moved, including how any increase is explained and staged. We sit with the team through the first quotes and the first difficult conversations. Pricing is then given an owner, a monthly review of the register and price realisation, and a calendar for the next change.
- You provide:
- Time from sales, finance and whoever manages the CRM, a decision on how existing accounts are moved, and a named pricing owner.
- We produce:
- The rollout kit, the customer communication plan, the review template and the pricing calendar.
- Done when:
- Every quote uses the new structure, existing customers know what changes and when, and the owner has run one review without us.
Ways to work with us
A sprint, a price increase, a launch price, or pricing inside a wider engagement.
Pricing and packaging sprint
A scoped engagement for one offer and its main segments: data analysis, customer evidence, package design, fences, discount policy, commercial test and rollout kit.
Price increase programme
For a business that must pass on cost increases: the evidence for how much and to whom, the increase staged by segment, the customer communication, and support through the conversations that follow.
Pricing for a launch or new channel
Pricing a new product, tier, market or channel before the first quote, with the fences that keep the new price from undercutting the existing business, tested with early buyers.
Pricing within a wider engagement
Pricing and packaging scoped as the step after revenue model, value proposition or positioning work, or as the policy a deal desk or sales enablement programme will enforce.
Why Gully Sales
What you are actually choosing when you choose us.
We price from your data before we price from opinion.
The first thing we do is read your invoices and quotes. Most businesses have never seen realised price by customer in one table, and that table changes the conversation from what the competitor charges to what you are already giving away.
Packaging is treated as a sales tool, not a menu.
Every package is designed for a buyer and a conversation: who it is for, why they choose it, and what the salesperson says when a customer asks for the cheaper one made bigger. The structure exists to end negotiation, not to describe the catalogue.
Discount rules are written to be used on a call.
A policy that needs a committee is ignored by five o'clock on the last day of the month. Ours give each role a clear answer, a defined trade to ask for, and a short path to approval when a deal is worth an exception.
Pricing, sales and marketing are treated as one system.
A price change reaches the proposal, the website, the channel margin and the sales conversation. We work across all of them, so the price on the quote, the price on the site and the price the distributor sees agree with each other.
We stay through the first difficult conversations.
Rollout is where pricing work usually fails: the first large customer objects and the old price quietly returns. We sit with sales through those calls, so the structure survives contact with the people who negotiated hardest.
Where it applies
The same service, in different businesses.
Industrial manufacturing
- The situation:
- A components maker sells the same part to OEMs, maintenance buyers and traders at prices that depend on who negotiated, and margin by customer is unknown.
- How it applies:
- Price realisation analysis by customer type, value drivers for each, three packages that separate spot orders, scheduled supply and contracted supply, and a discount policy tied to volume and term.
- Likely benefit:
- Traders pay spot prices, OEMs pay for the reliability they value, and the difference is defended by a written fence.
Distribution and dealer networks
- The situation:
- A distributor of building materials grants dealer margins case by case, so two dealers in the same town carry different landed costs and undercut each other.
- How it applies:
- A dealer tier structure with fences on volume, exclusivity and payment terms, a published margin schedule and an approval ladder for exceptions.
- Likely benefit:
- Dealers know what they must do to earn the next tier, and the distributor's margin stops depending on who called first.
B2B services and agencies
- The situation:
- A consulting firm quotes every project from scratch, includes extra scope to win the deal and then delivers it at a loss.
- How it applies:
- Three service packages with defined scope, a rate card for add-ons, quote templates that name what is excluded, and a give-get rule for any reduction.
- Likely benefit:
- Proposals go out faster, scope creep is priced rather than absorbed, and margin per project becomes predictable.
Software and SaaS
- The situation:
- A software company's plans were designed for its first ten customers, so every larger prospect asks for a custom deal and the pricing page is ignored.
- How it applies:
- Willingness-to-pay interviews across segments, a rebuilt plan structure with usage-based fences, an enterprise tier with defined entry conditions, and a tested pricing page.
- Likely benefit:
- Most buyers self-select into a plan, and custom deals become the exception with a defined approval, not the rule.
Questions buyers ask
Before you enquire, the answers you will want.
How will the pricing recommendations protect margin without hurting conversion?
By working on both at once. Margin is protected through fences and discount rules, so the price you set stays closer to the price you receive. Conversion is protected by packaging: a buyer offered a clear choice with a version that fits their budget is less likely to walk away than one offered a single price to argue with. We model each option against your last period's deals, and the commercial test measures win rate and realised price together before any wider rollout.
How long does a pricing and packaging engagement take?
It depends on how many offers, segments and channels are in scope, how clean your transaction data is, and how long the commercial test needs to run for a fair comparison, usually at least one sales cycle. A single price list for one segment is quicker than a multi-channel structure with existing customers to move. We set the stages in the free audit rather than quote a duration that the data or the test then overturns.
What inputs do you need from us?
Invoice or sales data for an agreed period, quotes won and lost, cost and margin figures, current price lists and quote templates, and access to the CRM if you have one. We also need introductions to customers and recent prospects for interviews, any competitor quotes your team has collected, and time from your leadership, finance and sales leads for the working sessions. If the data is messy we work with what exists; if it is missing, we build the first record.
How is success measured?
Against a baseline recorded before any change: realised price versus list, average discount and how often it is given, margin by segment and package, win rate and quote turnaround. During the commercial test we track win rate, realised price, package mix and objections against that baseline. After rollout, the monthly pricing review reports the same figures plus the share of discounts recorded with a reason and an approval. Success is a structure that holds on real quotes.
What is excluded from scope?
We do not decide your revenue model, meaning whether you sell one-off, on retainer, by subscription or by licence; that is separate work and pricing follows it. We do not write the value proposition or positioning, though we use them where they exist. We do not run the deal desk or approve individual deals after handover, negotiate on your behalf, configure the CRM beyond the pricing fields and workflow, or set transfer prices and tax treatment, which belong with your accountant.
Will you simply tell us to raise our prices?
No. Sometimes the evidence says the list price is fine and the problem is that nobody receives it, in which case the work is fences and discount rules, not a higher number. Sometimes one segment is underpriced and another overpriced. Sometimes the offer needs splitting so a small buyer can afford one version while a large buyer pays for what they use. A blanket increase is one option among several, and we recommend it only when the data and the customer evidence support it.
How do we move existing customers to new prices without losing them?
Carefully and by segment. Existing customers usually stay on current terms during the test, then move in stages with notice, a clear explanation of what changes and why, and something to choose: keep the current scope at the new price, or move to a package that fits better. Accounts that matter most get a conversation, not a letter. We prepare the communication, the objection responses and the escalation rule for the few who push back hard, and sit with your team through the first of those calls.
How is this different from revenue model and monetisation strategy?
Revenue model work decides how you earn: one-off sales, retainers, subscriptions, usage, licensing, or a mix. Pricing and packaging starts once that is settled and decides the numbers and the bundles: which tiers, what goes in each, what each costs, what keeps buyers in the right tier and how discounts are controlled. If your model is still open, we would do that first, because a subscription and a project are priced differently. If it is settled, this page is the next step.
Talk to us
See what your prices are really earning before the next discount is given.
The free audit is a working conversation about your price list, your discounts and what your customers value, not a sales pitch. If the gap is the revenue model, the proposition or the sales process rather than pricing, we will say so.
- No obligation and no sales script
- A reply from someone who does the work
- Your details are never sold or shared