By Griffin Parry, CEO & Founder, m3ter
According to TechRadar, 71% of global CFOs say their companies have no clear strategy to monetise AI-powered services, despite calling them mission-critical. The problem? Legacy billing systems can’t keep up with how software is bought, used, or priced today. What used to be a back-office process is now a make-or-break revenue lever.
Revenue and profit aren’t just earned; they’re engineered. That’s why investors prioritise companies that scale predictably and look for businesses that operate like finely tuned machines. In theory, a well-designed business model should convert strategy into measurable financial results. In practice, execution often falls short.
Businesses may have plenty of customers that they struggle to monetise effectively. When pricing is poorly designed and monetisation stacks are rigid, companies risk leaving money on the table, ultimately eroding long-term enterprise value.
For companies with $50M–$1B ARR, especially those using sophisticated systems like Salesforce and NetSuite, the question isn’t whether they can afford to fix monetisation, it’s whether they can afford not to. It is worth asking:
● What does our monetisation gap cost us?
● What’s the size of the prize if we fix it?
The answer can add up to millions in recovered or unrealised revenue.
Why monetisation fails: pricing without strategy
Fixing monetisation isn’t just about removing friction; it’s about capturing value. It requires a pricing strategy that has clear ownership, yet many companies struggle to define who’s responsible (Finance? Sales? Marketing? Product?). Pricing is often intimidating, as missteps can lead to customer churn or brand damage, making companies hesitant to act decisively.
The pricing shift you can’t afford to ignore
The early years of SaaS created nice, predictable subscription revenue. But according to a 2022 OpenView survey, 61% of SaaS companies either have usage-based pricing strategies (UBP) or are actively testing it. Additionally, 46% are experimenting with hybrid models that combine traditional subscriptions with usage-based elements.
TechRadar highlights that traditional billing models are already failing in the face of AI’s rise, with 68% of tech firms reporting that legacy systems can’t support AI-driven usage. As generative models and automated workflows reshape how users (or machines) consume software, flat-fee pricing no longer makes sense, especially when margins and overuse risks are on the line.
There are various drivers. It’s partly because innovators such as AWS and Snowflake had obvious success and encouraged imitation. Partly because of trends in go-to-market motions, particularly PLG (‘product led growth’) which lends itself to usage pricing. Partly because the users of software are increasingly machines rather than humans (e.g. as with any API-first business) which undermines the established ‘seat’-based models.
Currently, the explosive growth in AI and LLM technologies is only accelerating the need for dynamic pricing models. Forbes notes that the AI market is on track to reach a staggering $1.8 trillion by 2030, reflecting a CAGR of 37.3%. As AI-powered applications drive new software usage patterns, traditional flat-fee pricing structures are becoming obsolete, often to control margins (to stop your heavy users bankrupting you).
When systems become a liability
Just as critical is the monetisation stack – the CRM, CPQ, and ERP systems that enable paying customer relationships. Too often, these systems are inflexible, inefficient, and error-prone. And leaders can see these tools as operational headaches rather than strategic assets. In reality, an outdated monetisation stack is a financial liability.
Don’t rip and replace; do this instead
This isn’t just theory; getting monetisation right can transform a business from the inside out.
Imagine a fintech company doing anti-money laundering (AML) checks, bringing in $100M in annual recurring revenue. They charge based on usage, but their deals often include fixed commitments and upfront payments. Naturally, their Enterprise sales team wants flexibility to tailor pricing for bigger accounts.
They’re running Salesforce for CRM and NetSuite for ERP, but the way the firm’s systems are set up makes it hard to support usage-based pricing at scale – they’re built around traditional subscription logic. The result? A tangle of operational headaches.
The dividend for ‘upskilling’ the monetisation stack is huge. With the right upgrades, this company could unlock $5M+ in additional EBITDA. How? By:
- Plugging revenue leaks from underbilling
- Giving customers clearer insight into their usage and bills—boosting Net Dollar Retention
- Speeding up product launches by removing billing as a roadblock
- Improving deal conversion through more agile, personalised pricing
- Reducing manual effort in billing ops, and cutting audit risk along the way
The best part? No need to rip and replace. Salesforce and NetSuite can stay. What’s missing is the invisible infrastructure: real-time metering and rating, and automated data flows between systems.
TL;DR You don’t need to rebuild billing from the ground up. Just modernise the parts that matter.
Why settle for less?
Businesses must respond to a fundamental shift towards more dynamic and flexible pricing models. Sticking to outdated pricing methods now means risking millions in unrealised revenue.
Outdated pricing and billing systems aren’t just an operational headache; they’re a strategic liability. Your best salespeople should be closing deals, not stuck in pricing approval limbo. Your engineers should be innovating, not maintaining a billing Frankenstein. But the good news? It doesn’t have to be this way.
To address these issues, businesses need better tools. Just as platforms like Zapier and Workato have simplified integrations and democratised automation, scalable and flexible monetisation software enables seamless experimentation in both test and production environments.
As a result, what used to take days now takes hours. What was once prone to errors is now seamless and reliable. And perhaps most importantly, the bottlenecks that once delayed new pricing strategies, invoicing, and customer growth are removed.
When done right, the rewards can be significant, with the potential for millions of dollars in recovered revenue, improved customer retention, and increased sales productivity. The prize is waiting, don’t let outdated systems stand in your way.
