Ask HN: Support contract pricing strategies
I run a small startup, Beanbag (http://www.beanbaginc.com). We write an open source code review tool called Review Board (http://www.reviewboard.org) and a Review Board SaaS called RBCommons (https://rbcommons.com).
One of the things we're starting to look into is how best to handle priority support contracts. We've been providing free, public support for Review Board, but as we grow, we're seeing customers who want something a bit more.
In researching support pricing, I've read Joel Spolsky's Camels and Rubber Duckies (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckies.html), various topics in other startup forums, and the support pages for a few dozen other products. It's left me feeling even more confused than when I started (as Joel promised it would).
For example, is it better to charge per-seat, and then have to make a sales pitch to big enterprises for months on-end to get them to pay the large price tag for a contract? Is it better to charge a much smaller fixed rate that's easier to get through the budget process? Do we offer different support plans with their own pricing and offerings? (I'm sure "better" is very situation-dependent.)
We're a very small team and can't exactly send someone over to a company to do training or on-site support, so I can see that impacting the price. That then opens the question of what do small startups often offer in support contracts? What have you found companies to expect?
So I'm interested in getting a discussion going. What's your strategy? What's worked for you? Any big gotchas?