Pricing Strategies: #3 Services never Stop with just Plans

"Hey, while you're here, could you also take a look at the vegetable patch?"

Aaron hears that line almost every week.

He runs a small gardening service, the kind where customers subscribe to a simple monthly plan that includes basic maintenance, mowing, watering, trimming and fertilising the greenery around the house. It was a clean plan, easy to quote and deliver. But every visit came with just one more request, which Aaron can hardly deny.

"Can you add some new soil to the corner beds?"

"Do you have time to prune the roses today?"

"Can you install a drip line this month?"

"On, and do you think we could add two more bags of compost next time?"

Aaron would laugh and say, "Sure, but that's not a part of the routine."

Then he'd rather do the work for free, feeling it's a small thing to charge or charge manually, which customers sometimes hesitate to pay or write a note to invoice later, which he misses most of the time.

By the end of the month, his plan-based business no longer looked like a plan. It seems like a collection of unpredictable, scattered requests that his billing system wasn't built to handle.

One day, a customer said, "I wish I could just add these extra things like a topping on a pizza. My plan stays the same, but I choose the extras I want."

That made Aaron realise something: People don't want complicated plans, but they do want flexibility in purchase. They want a solid base plan and the freedom to add the extras that fit their needs.

This is precisely why Zoho Billing offers Add-ons, to keep plans clean while allowing customers to personalise their subscription effortlessly.

Add-ons in Zoho Billing 

Add-ons extend a subscription beyond the base offering. They allow customers to purchase additional value without changing their main plan, while letting businesses scale offerings cleanly. Zoho Billing offers a comprehensive, structured add-on framework that covers different types of add-ons to address real-world subscription challenges.

Standalone Add-ons 

Standalone addons are independent enhancements that customers can attach to their existing plan whenever they prefer. They are meant to offer extra service or features that are not included in the base plan but are commonly requested.

Suitable Businesses: Gardening services, home cleaning services, fitness studios, consulting firms, repair/maintenance services.

Strategic Advantage: Standalone addons let businesses say "yes" to customer requests immediately without redesigning plans. They boost revenue, reduce complexity, and make offerings more modular.  

Addon Groups 

Addon Groups categorise addons into structured sections. This ensures customers see relevant options, not a long list of unrelated extras. This allows businesses to organise add-ons into meaningful groups, such as garden enhancement, soil services, and irrigation upgrades.

Suitable Businesses: Software platforms with feature bundles, wellness centres offering different service categories, and agencies with add-on service families.

Strategic Advantage: 

 Grouped addons improve customer experience and help businesses present upsells cleanly, increase adoption without overwhelming the subscribers.  

Recurring Addons 

Recurring addons behave like mini-subscriptions attached to the main plan. They repeat every billing cycle unless removed. These are long-term additions, such as premium service layers, extra recurring hours, monthly replenishments, or ongoing feature unlocks.

Suitable Business: IT service providers, digital content platforms, property maintenance companies, and management services businesses.

Strategic Advantage: Recurring addons provide predictable recurring revenue and increase customer retention by integrating deeper value into each billing cycle.  

One-time Addons 

These are single-use enhancements that do not renew. They are mostly occasional or emergency requests such as festival cleanup, a one-time plan installation, a deep garden care session or a special consultation.

Suitable Business: Event-based service providers, emergency repair teams, creative agencies, and landscaping services offering seasonal cleanup. 

Strategic Advantage: One-time add-ons let you capture revenue for specific needs while keeping plans simple. Customers appreciate paying just for what they use.

Quantity-based Addon 

Quantity-based addons allow customers to buy multiple units of a service enhancement. It depends on scaling by volume, such as purchasing more working hours, extra visits, additional fertiliser bags or extra user seats.

Suitable Business: Co-working space selling extra desks, SaaS apps offering additional seats, consulting firms selling extra billable hours, and gardening service selling extra material units.

Strategic Advantage: This model supports incremental growth, reduces customer friction and increases recurring revenue without modifying the customer's main subscription.  

Usage Addons 

Usage-based addons charge based on the quantity consumed, with tracking after the fact. This addon is measured purely on usage, such as irrigation water consumption, number of tasks completed, hours logged or API calls made.

Suitable Business: Utilities, IoT device monitoring service, API driven SaaS platform, retail services, telecom and metered resource providers.

Strategic Advantage: Usage based addon build trust and attract customers who prefer flexible at the same time fair way of billing. They also unlock revenue that grows organically with usage.  

 What Addon Do for the Business 

Add-ons transform how a business delivers value. Instead of forcing every customer into a rigid plan structure, they allow flexible, optional and scalable extensions that match real-world needs. This means your plan remains clean and predictable, while your revenue model becomes dynamic and adaptive.

Addons in Zoho Billing not only offer different types, but also provide flexible rules for when and how addons should be attached to a subscription. You can configure,

Association Type: 

Association type controls whether the addon is optional, recommended or mandatory.

1. Optional: The addon can be added or removed at any time when creating or editing a subscription.

2. Recommended: The addons appear as a suggested enhancement on the hosted page.

3. Mandatory: Addon is automatically included with the plan and cannot be removed.

Applicable Event: 

The applicable event defines the time range during which the addon should be considered.

1. Subscription activation: Triggered when a subscription goes live.

2. Plan Change: Triggered whenever a subscription is created or updated with a selected plan.

3. Trial Activation: Triggered when the trial starts. 

Event Frequency 

Event frequency determines whether the addon applies once or every time the event occurs.

1. Whenever Event Occurs: The addon is applied every time the selected event happens.

2. First-Time Event Occurs: The addon applies only to the first occurrence of the chosen event.

With all these addons, make your subscription model future-ready, flexible, profitable and responsive to how customers actually use your service.

Customers subscribe to your plan for the essentials. But they stay and spend more when they can tailor the service to their evolving needs.

Plans create the foundation, and addons create the experience.

Together, they build a perfect subscription model that scales merrily. 

Up Next: Counting on Discounts

• Topic Participants

• Hari Hara Sudhan. S

  

• Sticky Posts

• Community Learning Series | Digest #5 — September 2020

  Dear customers, We're happy to bring you the September edition of our #CommunityDigest! Keep track of your subscription KPIs right from your smartphone: Last month, we enhanced our Android mobile app to help our customers get daily updates on their business health. We got to know from a lot of customers that this has made their job much more easier because they no longer have to keep a reminder to manually check on the previous day's revenue or activations. If you have not downloaded it yet, here's

• Community Learning Series | Digest #4 - August 2020

  Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. I'm happy to bring you the fourth edition of our #CommunityDigest with some brand-new updates from us. 1. Daily Business Updates (for Android users) The Zoho Subscriptions Android app has got a cool new update: You can now get a push notification to your smartphone that lets you know how many activations and cancellations have taken place, and what's the net revenue for the previous day. The best part is, you can tell the app when exactly you

• Community Learning Series | Digest #3 - July 2020

  Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. We're glad to bring you the July edition of our #CommunityDigest. New community members can view our previous newsletters here. This time, we have two major updates and three interesting topics for you: 1. Zoho Subscriptions Developer Community Since the inception of Zoho Subscriptions, our team believed that the recurring billing platform we provide should be able to offer an extensive API library that empowers businesses to automate most

• Introducing: Community Learning Series | Digest #1 - May 2020

  Dear customers, We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Helping businesses manage their customer subscriptions more efficiently has always been, and always will be, our goal at Zoho Subscriptions. We strongly believe this is possible if we grow together as a community and share what we know with each other. To nurture this shared learning experience, here is our brand-new Community Learning Series! ​ Welcome to the first edition of our digest! Each edition of our community digest includes guides

• Recent Topics

• hard-bounced email list

  Hi, Below pops up when I try to send an Email to some of my customer. Please guide me how to take it out from hard-bounced list? I am not sure how they were marked in hard-bounced list

• Register the 'Contact Role' addition and change as a Potential edition so it can trigger Workflows

  We are trying to use "Contact Roles" in Potentials. Contact Roles are special and different than the other Related lists, so, it may have a special behavior. Something to keep in mind is that you will never have 100 Contact Roles as you can have 100 Tasks, Calls, or any other Related list. In our case we will have 2 in average and up to 4 or 5 maximum. The problem is that we need to bring information from 3 key Contact Roles to the Potential and adding a Contact to the Contacts Roles area never trigger

• Can I change the format of the buttons in the email templates?

  Hi all! We have been working hard trying to brand our email templates, and have some way to go yet. One of the things we can't seem to edit is the green ${Cases.CUSTOMER_PORTAL_BUTTON} button and the font of the View Ticket text. Is there any way of doing

• Best practice to structure reporting to include events covering multiple months / quarters.

  Hi, I'm new to Zoho, have some experience of more "enterprise" tools, looking for some input from the community. I'm looking to create a report that includes events that cover a long period, each event has a start / end date and I'm struggling undertanding

• Marketing Tip #11: Turn features into benefits that sell

  We all love talking about our products, but here’s a secret: customers don’t just buy features, they buy benefits. Instead of just saying "Made from 100% organic cotton," try "Soft, breathable comfort that lasts all day." Benefits tell shoppers how your

• Synchronise item image between Zoho Commerce and Zoho Books/Inventory/CRM

  Here is a blindingly simple idea to tie several Zoho products together. Zoho - please include a method to synchronise the item image (or images) from one Zoho application to another. For example, if you upload an item image in Zoho Inventory, a user should

• How do I migrate from zoho mail to Office 365?

  The manual migration of Zoho Mail to Microsoft 365 typically requires using IMAP to move emails and configuring Microsoft Outlook to sync Zoho Mail. This approach can be error-prone, especially if there are multiple accounts or large email archives. Moreover,

• New Update: Convert External Users in Bulk in Zoho Directory

  Greetings to all Zoho Directory users out there! We’re excited to introduce a new update that makes user management in Zoho Directory even more efficient; you can now convert external users in bulk! Earlier, admins could convert only one external user

• New Update: Convert External Users in Bulk in Zoho One

  Greetings to all Zoho One users out there! We’re excited to introduce a new update that makes user management in Zoho One even more efficient; you can now convert external users in bulk! Earlier, admins could convert only one external user at a time.

• How to edit form layout for extension

  I am working on extension development. I have created all the fields. I want to rearrange the layout in Sigma platform. But there is no layout module in Sigma. How can I achieve this for extensions other than Zet CLI and putting the fields into widget

• Website not properly connecting with Zoho Creator app portal (embed & data sync issue)

  Hello Zoho Community, I’m currently facing an issue while trying to connect my external website with a Zoho Creator app portal. I have a tool-based website ( https://mygardencalculator.com/ ) where users interact with calculators and dynamic content.

• 日本語フォントの選択肢拡充についての要望

  日本語フォントの選択肢がとても少ないと感じたことはありませんか？ 多くのアプリ（たとえば Invoice）ではフォントが1種類しかなく、正直あまり使いやすい・見た目が良いとも言えません。 そろそろ、もっと多くの日本語フォントを追加してほしい、そしてすべてのアプリで同じフォント選択肢を使えるようにしてほしいと、私たちユーザーが声を上げる時期だと思います。 ご存じのとおり、現状ではアプリごとにフォント周りの仕様にほとんど一貫性がありません。 みなさん、一緒に要望を出していきましょう！

• Does anyone know how to setup Zoho Desk or Zoho CRM as a custom outgoing/incoming Call Centre?

  I need to setup a call center so I can setup agents to make phone calls across Canada to market our services.  I am trying to figure out the most reliable and cost efficient way to do this? I am currently paying for two phone services and neither seem

• Display actual mileage on an invoice

  My users are creating expenses in Zoho expense. For example, they expense 10 miles and get paid 7 dollars (10 miles * IRS rate of .70). If I look at the expenses in Zoho Books, it does show them at 10 miles at .70 cent When I add these expense to an invoice

• Prevent Unapproved Quotes from Exporting to Zoho CRM Finance Module

  Is it possible to prevent unapproved quotes in Zoho Books from being exported from Zoho Finance module inside Zoho CRM?

• Default font size for printing is too big

  A recent issue in printing e mails is that the default font size is huge. This happens in both Edge and Firefox. In order to get what I would call a "normal" printout of an e mail it is necessary to go into the printer preferences / options and set the scale to 75%, otherwise a short e mail with signature and logos etc printed at 100% can take 3 or 4 pages. The annoying thing is that it is necessary to do this each time a printout is to be made as a change in scale only applies to that particular

• Request for Auto PO - Min–Max based Automated Purchase Feature

  Dear Zoho POS Team, I’m writing to request a feature enhancement that would significantly streamline inventory management for businesses using Zoho POS — particularly supermarkets, FMCG retail, and multi-store operations like ours. Feature Requested:

• Export Invoices to XML file

  Namaste! ZOHO suite of Apps is awesome and we as Partner, would like to use and implement the app´s from the Financial suite like ZOHO Invoice, but, in Portugal, we can only use certified Invoice Software and for this reason, we need to develop/customize on top of ZOHO Invoice to create an XML file with specific information and after this, go to the government and certified the software. As soon as we have for example, ZOHO CRM integrated with ZOHO Invoice up and running, our business opportunities

• issue with deluge script

  i used chat gpt to build this script and I am getting 2 errors which I cannot figure out how to fix: void monthly_sales_order_generation() { try { // ---------------- CONFIG ------------------- analytics_url_1 = "https://analytics.zoho.com/api/<workspaceID>/report/<reportID1>/data";

• Introducing LinkedIn Apply Connect for Zoho Recruit

  Attract up to 3x more qualified candidates and hire more efficiently with LinkedIn Apply Connect. Let candidates fill-in job applications without any redirections, gain deeper insights with applicant highlights within Zoho Recruit, and keep candidates

• Recruit paid support?

  Hi all, Could anyone who has paid support package advise if it provides value for money with regards to support response times? Exploring the idea as unfortunately when we have faced issues with Recruit it has been a 7+ day timescale from reporting to

• Ticket Status email

  Good day, This was discussed in the past, but it would be helpful if we could have the system assign a custom response to a status. We have various statuses for tickets, e.g. "closed due to no response", or "Pending Status", it would be helpful for the

• Future Orders - Due Date

  Hi In my role, I can receive tickets where the work required is requested months in advance. Using a Future Orders option, which I believe was setup under the On Hold status type, hides the Due Date, in all views/ticket etc. Whilst I understand the reasoning

• Introducing Withdrawal Reasons for Offers

  We’re excited to introduce a new enhancement to the Offer module that brings more clarity and accountability to every withdrawn offer. The Withdrawal Reason update ensures that each withdrawal — manual or automatic — is backed by a clear explanation,

• Zoho Creator customer portal users

  Hi, I'm in a Zoho One subscription with our company. I'm running a project now that involves creating a Zoho Creater application and using the Zoho Creator Customer Portal.  At most we need 25 customer portal users. In our Zoho One plan we only get 3

• GPS tracking only or Check out facility

  Dear Team, Zoho CRM is quite robust CRM but till date i was waiting for the feature of having GPS tracking of Sales employees which is a common demand by all customers for thier field sales executives. We cover them by saying that CRM provides Checkin

• Appraisals on Employee Information Profile

  Is it possible to show completed appraisals on each employee's "Employee Information" page? I would presume at the bottom - similar to the "Related Lists" concept in Zoho CRM. Obviously view access would be limited to employee and appropriate other roles

• Kaizen #220: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 2

  Hello all!! Welcome back to the follow-up Kaizen post of Kaizen #219: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 1. In the previous week, we covered how to configure a basic Webhook and how to include Headers, Body, and URL Parameters using both the POST Webhook

• Standard Payment Term is not pulled from account to quotation

  Hey Team There seems to be something off. I do have "Net 30" as my default payment term in Zoho Books for my customers. If, from the customer overview or quote section, I create a new Quotation, the payment terms field stays blank and doesn't get the

• Manage your invoices from Bigin's mobile app (iOS)

  Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that users can now integrate Zoho Books with the latest version of Bigin's iOS app. Zoho Books can be integrated with Bigin only via the web application. Users can view the Zoho Books tab in the detail pages of

• Systematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains

  Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered due

• Accessibility controls and multilingual captcha authorization for Help Center users ​

  Hello everyone, As part of our ongoing effort to improve user experience, we are excited about the accessibility controls and predefined accessibility personas added in the Help Center, similar to what is already available in Zoho Desk. Help Center users

• Zoho Sign + Zoho CRM : la solution pour simplifier vos accords de vente

  La conclusion d’un contrat de vente nécessite de nombreuses étapes : préparation de documents, validations successives et collecte des signatures. Les équipes commerciales passent souvent par plusieurs cycles de collaboration et de révision, tout en assurant

• Item/service subtotal

  Just discovered & really pleased that we can drag to re-order the line items in Sales orders & Invoices, a very nice feature which doesn't seem to be documented? It would be nice to be able to insert a subtotal as a line item to complete this great feature

• Send email template "permission denied to access the api"

  Hello, Per the title, I'm trying to send a Zoho CRM Email template based on the advice given here: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/specify-an-email-template-when-sending-emails-in-custom-functions (I'd prefer to send right from Deluge

• how to Solve Conflict Invoices in Zoho POS

  Hello Team, I am facing a repeated issue in Zoho POS while saving a sale that contains service-based items. My products are intentionally created as Service (Non-Inventory) items because I do not want to track stock for them. However, every time I try

• Copy, Paste, Highlighted text

  when i copy paste text it gets highlighted. Fix this.  WTF is with this black highlight ? Fix copy pasting. Some people pay for using this mail service. 

• Pricing Strategies: #6 Common Mistakes while Configuring Pricing

  "Why does this month's billing feel messy again?" That was the exact line Priya muttered while staring at the spreadsheet full of edited pricing, one-off discounts and mismatched subscription details. Her business was growing, but the pricing machine

• Publish to LinkedIn via API

  Hi, Is it possible to publish a job opening to LinkedIn (paid job slots) if creating a job opening via api / deluge function? Or is the user required to manually publish via the job boards process? Many Thanks Adrian

• FSM - Associating and selecting Contacts based on Service Addresses

  Hi FSM team, I've come across an FSM limitation I wanted to share for improvement. I'm currently configuring FSM for a client who provides heating system install and maintenance services. The are often sub contracted by building management companies to

• Next Page