What is a North Star Pricing Goal?

How does a pricing North Star Goal differ from one used in product strategy?

In product strategy, a North Star typically focuses on the value customers receive from using a product and is often expressed as a measurable indicator of engagement or adoption.

A pricing North Star Goal focuses specifically on the commercial outcome that pricing needs to prioritise—such as growing revenue, improving margins or winning more customers. Rather than measuring product success, it provides a decision-making principle for resolving pricing trade-offs.

The two should complement each other: your product North Star guides how you create customer value, while your pricing North Star Goal guides how you capture value in support of your commercial strategy.

Why does a pricing strategy need one primary goal?

A single pricing decision can affect commercial outcomes in different ways. For example, reducing prices might help a business attract more customers, but it may also weaken margins or affect how the brand is perceived. Increasing prices might improve profitability but reduce conversion, sales volume or retention.

Without a clear priority, teams can judge the same decision against different definitions of success. A change that sales sees as a win may look like a failure to finance.

A North Star Goal makes the #1 outcome explicit, giving everyone a shared basis for evaluating success and resolving competing priorities.

Ready to start designing your Pricing Strategy? Check out the Untapped Guide to Pricing Strategy →

What are some examples of pricing North Star Goals?

A pricing North Star Goal might be to:

• Grow revenue
• Improve profit or contribution margins
• Win more customers or increase market share
• Improve customer retention or increase customer lifetime value

The right North Star Goal for you will depend on your business’s unique needs. For example, if you are just working to establish your brand in a new market, you might prioritise customer acquisition. Meanwhile, an established company facing rising costs might focus on improving margins.

Your North Star Goal should go beyond “grow the business” to clarify how you want pricing to contribute to that growth. That then becomes the basis for assessing pricing decisions.

Looking for support setting your North Star Goal? Talk to a pricing expert → 

How do you choose the right pricing North Star Goal?

Start with your commercial strategy and ask what pricing most needs to achieve during the next phase of the business. Consider your financial targets, stage of growth, market position, customer behaviour and competitive environment.

You should also examine the trade-offs behind each possible goal. If winning more customers is the priority, for example, what level of margin are you prepared to accept? If improving profitability comes first, what effect on conversion or retention would be tolerable?

The right North Star Goal should be specific enough to guide real decisions, measurable enough to evaluate and important enough to command alignment across the leadership team.

Read the full guide on how to choose your North Star Goal →

Who should be involved in setting a pricing North Star Goal?

A pricing North Star Goal should not be set by one function in isolation. Pricing affects the whole organisation, so the discussion usually needs input from finance, sales, marketing, product, and senior leadership.

Each team brings a different part of the evidence. Finance understands costs and margin requirements; sales understands buyer objections and competitive pressure; marketing understands positioning; and product understands how customers receive value.

Bringing these perspectives together helps the business choose a commercial objective that teams can rally behind.

Even better, set up a Pricing Board to support your Pricing Strategy from setting the North Star through to implementation.

How do you measure whether a pricing North Star Goal is working?

Start by translating the goal into a clearly defined measure and timeframe. If the goal is to improve profitability, the primary measure might be contribution margin rather than revenue alone. If it is to win more customers, the business might track customer acquisition, conversion and market share.

Supporting measures are also important because they reveal unintended consequences. For example, a business increasing prices to improve margins should still monitor sales volume, conversion, and retention.

The North Star Goal determines the primary measure of success; supporting metrics show whether that success is sustainable.

Can a pricing North Star Goal change?

Yes. Your North Star Goal should reflect the current needs of the business. It may change as the company enters a new market or a new phase of business.

For example, an early-stage software company might initially prioritise winning more customers to gain a foothold in the market. That strategy may mean setting a lower entry price, offering introductory discounts, and maintaining a generous trial period. Once it has established a strong customer base, its North Star Goal might shift toward improving margins by increasing prices, changing how features are packaged, or rethinking its approach to product trialling.