This is a great comment - I would add that for the $50 price point / pricing stage, it is also low enough for an "operator" (someone using your SaaS to help their daily work) to just put their credit card in first, and then worry about claiming back from their company later.
The "pinch" of buying is therefore low enough to encourage uptake. If the base price level is higher than this, then that itself becomes another mental task for the potential customer to work through before pulling the trigger. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have higher priced plans (you must!), but from my experience $50 or even $99 as the upper end of the "base" plan is a good first threshold to get prospects to be ok with putting their credit card in.
But with all those things, beware of the recurring expense problem: I would agree with all those cliffs, for one-time expenses.
As soon as payments are recurring, things will be more complicated: Being bound to a contract beyond the current year is often subject to approval, at least when recurring payments are involved. Not yet paid but binding future obligations have to occur in various reports and need accounting involvement. Better have short contracts with autoextension or at least the possibility to pay up front for a fixed term.
Usually yearly should be fine, however, monthly would reduce customer anxiety (not sure if thats very relevant for B2B) but increase possible administrative overhead on your side.
> What's a good fixed term, maybe one year? Or a few years?
Longer than your usual recurring term. I'd say 2 to 5 years. The right term depends on the overall cost of that package: you should price them below the next-higher aforementioned cliff of course. If you usually offer yearly $20 contracts, and you have determined a typical cliff to be at $50, you could offer a 3year package for $49.
Also consider other factors: you might not want to support a version for the whole fixed term. And you definitely don't want to sell anything perpetual or semi-perpetual.
The "pinch" of buying is therefore low enough to encourage uptake. If the base price level is higher than this, then that itself becomes another mental task for the potential customer to work through before pulling the trigger. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have higher priced plans (you must!), but from my experience $50 or even $99 as the upper end of the "base" plan is a good first threshold to get prospects to be ok with putting their credit card in.