Friday, December 13, 2024

Why Black Friday Don’t Work for B2B: Lessons from Receipt-AI

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Last Thanksgiving, I ran an experiment with pricing for Receipt-AI. We did a 1-week Black Friday sale. Here's what happened:

First, no matter how long the sale lasts, people still wait until the last 3 hours to buy. And, of course, we had a technical issue during those 3 hours—absolute chaos.

But the bigger takeaway? Black Friday sales don’t work for B2B products. Why?

• They reduce the perceived value of your product.
• When customers see it as less valuable, they don’t appreciate it.
• And when they don’t appreciate it, they churn.

B2B isn’t consumer goods. There are better ways to drive growth, there are more strategic ways to apply discounts. Black Friday isn’t one of them.

(Standing in front of the Berkshire Hathaway building—a reminder of the long-term value and strategic thinking we are aiming for.)