Why Good Better Best Didn't Work...at First | Katie Wei (Cloudinary)

Today we welcome extraordinary pricing strategist Katie Wei, Director of Pricing Strategy at Cloudinary. Starting from her early days in accounting and software, Katie reveals her journey into the intricate world of pricing strategy and her two-decade-strong passion for the field. She gives us a candid look into the art of handling pricing objections, her unique approach to sales management training, and a teaser of her upcoming keynote address at the Professional Pricing Society conference.

We tackle the significance of pricing in leadership and its role in shaping company dynamics. Katie provides insight into the intricacies of navigating senior leadership, showcasing pricing as a powerful, often underestimated, tool for addressing complex business issues like customer retention. We delve into the RACI matrix for managing multifaceted projects and how to demonstrate the strategic value of pricing expertise beyond just crunching numbers. Katie shares the importance of leveraging data and customer feedback, using tools like 'dollarization' to help customers see the tangible value of products and services. We encourage listeners to reevaluate their current pricing strategies and better capture the value they deliver.

In this episode:

(00:00) Elevating Pricing Team Excellence in Business - Pricing ninja Katie Wei shares insights on handling objections, training in sales, and elevating pricing teams to a strategic level.

(12:47) Strategic Pricing and Leadership - Strategic pricing, consensus-building, RACI matrix, demonstrating value, finding a ‘vacuum’, and navigating challenges in organizational leadership.

(24:49) Future of Outcome-Based Pricing - Align customer value with revenue growth, use data to calculate impressions, gather feedback, 'dollarization' technique, and outcome-based pricing models. How Cloudinary functions - bandwidth, conversions, and revenue.

(34:44) Capturing Value - Reassess pricing strategies based on outputs, not inputs. AI and watching how it plays out,

(36:00) Favorite jam of all time - Katie changes with the times, as listening to new music keeps you young, but “when the s*%# hits the fan”, she loves Tom Petty.

Welcome to Street Pricing, the only show where proven SaaS (Software as a Service) leaders share their mindset and mistakes in pricing so we can all stop guessing and start growing. Street Pricing is hosted by Pricing I/O CEO and Pricing Coach, Marcos Rivera, sought after slayer of bad pricing. With 20 years of pricing expertise, he has helped price over 200 SaaS products and coached over 100 SaaS CEOs and counting! From the streets of the Bronx to CEO, Marcos wants to take the guessing out of pricing.

Resources:

Katie Wei LinkedIn

Professional Pricing Society

Marcos Rivera LinkedIn

Book: Street Pricing

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