Brand Value for Big Sales: Insights from Satish Dharmarajan

Dr. Thomas (Tom) Nagle founded the Strategic Pricing Group (now part of Monitor Deloitte) in 1987 soon after publication of the first edition of The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing. For more than three decades, he has advised companies, primarily in B-to-B markets, on how to manage more profitably the five elements of pricing strategy: Value Creation, Value Communication, Price Structure, Pricing Policy, and Competitive Price Setting. In this episode, Tom shares how value is perceived and measured by customers, emphasizing the distinction between economic value and willingness to pay. He also delves into the complexities of pricing negotiations, highlighting the importance of understanding customer perceptions and effectively communicating the impact of products or services on their business outcomes.    Why you have to check out today’s podcast: Understand the intricacies of value-based pricing, distinguishing between economic value and willingness to pay, and providing real-life examples illustrating these concepts effectively Delve into these two critical decisions buyers make to help you better understand and influence customer purchasing behaviors Find out practical advice on handling price negotiations, emphasizing the importance of "gives and gets" and strategies to avoid undermining your pricing integrity   "Don't ever believe what the customer is telling you upfront about what their value is. They may believe it, but they don't know the impact." - Tom Nagle   Topics Covered: 01:29 - His early experiences with pricing influenced by his grandmother and how he got into pricing professionally 03:16 - How it is more effective to focus on market response to price changes and gather qualitative insights from clients than just precisely measuring elasticity 08:49 - Important thoughts on why pricing didn't matter much then before its deregulation 11:28 - Explaining the concepts of value and value-based pricing with an example illustrating the point 16:56 - The need to create policies to maintain price integrity and managing negotiations to prevent undermining value capture 23:25 - Discussing the concept of value-based pricing and sharing an insightful example where a service's value was evaluated against the status quo rather than a competitor 26:16 - Tom's best pricing advice   Key Takeaways: "The goal is not to try to put a line between them that's a weighted average of the high prices and the low prices, and call it a demand curve. The goal is to figure out why we have all this variation and use that variation to create segments that eliminate the trade off between price and volume." - Tom Nagle "The value isn't in the product. You can study the product from now until kingdom come, and you are never going to understand the value by studying the product. You have to study how the products' benefits impact the customer's income statement." - Tom Nagle   People/Resources Mentioned: Financial Analysis for Profit-Driven Pricing: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/financial-analysis-for-profitdriven-pricing/ Walmart: https://www.walmart.com DuPont: https://www.dupont.com Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award: http://asq.org/quality-resources/malcolm-baldrige-national-quality-award   Connect with Tom Nagle: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-tom-nagle Email: thomasnaglephd@gmail.com   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com

8 Heinä 202427min

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on May 16, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/roi-calculators-busting-myths-and-building-trust-in-b2b-sales/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at mark@impactpricing.com.  Now, go make an impact.   Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

5 Heinä 20243min

Jason Covitz, the Vice President of Commercial Finance at Covetrus, possesses a wide range of expertise including CFO, Business Growth, Value-Based Pricing, Sales Effectiveness, and Product Management, among others. In this episode, Jason shares competitive pricing strategies, emphasizing the importance of understanding both inherent and relative value when comparing products to competitors. He shares practical methods for gathering competitive pricing intelligence and highlights the need for combining analytical and creative thinking in pricing.   Why you have to check out today’s podcast: Gain valuable insights into how to approach value-based pricing, understand competitor comparisons, and leverage features to maximize your product's value Discover valuable methods for gathering competitive pricing intelligence and innovative techniques to help you make informed pricing decisions Learn to "ruthlessly prioritize" tasks based on their potential value to help you effectively focus your efforts and achieve significant business results   "Keep digging. Get your teams comfortable with learning. Be inquisitive, poke around, turn on the lights, and hopefully you find large piles of money." - Jason Covitz   Topics Covered: 02:11 - What led Jason into pricing 03:17 - Discussing how analytics at Capital One included evaluating factors like the cost of repossessing a car and its post-repossession value 05:01 - Explaining the difference between a private equity (PE) owned company and a public company 07:32 - Advocating for a detailed feature-level competitor comparison 10:45 - Think about ROI conversation 11:45 - The challenge of determining competitor pricing for value-based pricing 16:16 - Discussing strategies for competitive pricing and understanding relative value 20:50 - Important thoughts on the use of conjoint analysis in B2B versus B2C contexts 22:40 - Talking about the blend of skills required in pricing, noting that it's not about pure numbers 23:44 - Jason's best pricing advice   Key Takeaways: "Competitive intelligence from pricing --- people are like, well, I'm just going to ask them what the number is. Well, the number by itself doesn't stand alone; you got to bring the whole story to the conversation in that case." - Jason Covitz   People/Resources Mentioned: Capital One: https://www.capitalone.com First Data: https://www.first-datacorp.com Covetrus: https://covetrus.com/   Connect with Jason Covitz: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcovitz/ Email: jascovitz@gmail.com   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com

1 Heinä 202425min

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on May 8, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/simplifying-segmentation-for-enhanced-profitability/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at mark@impactpricing.com.  Now, go make an impact.   Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

28 Kesä 20244min

With over 25 years of experience in pricing strategy, analytics, and customer relationship management, Adrienne Gordon is passionate about empowering businesses to leverage pricing as a long-term strategic advantage and a path to self-actualization. In this episode, Adrienne delves into the profound impact of CEO decisions on overall company pricing. She explores the concept of 'value killers' such as the 'Bob Factor',  the 'Lester Factor,' and ‘Cheryl factor’ illustrating how individual actions and outdated models can undermine pricing policies. Additionally, she discusses the importance of setting clear pricing goals, understanding price distribution and variance, and leveraging pricing processes to maximize profitability.   Why you have to check out today’s podcast: Delve into the crucial role of leadership in effective pricing and value delivery within a company Find out common pitfalls and strategies in pricing that will help you understand how internal processes and individual actions can impact a company's pricing power and profitability Discover actionable advice for immediate impact enhancing your company's pricing approach and proactive value creation   "If you look at pricing as a process, you will self-actualize as a company." - Adrienne Gordon   Topics Covered: 00:51 - How she found herself in pricing 02:26 - How her role in product management helped her develop valuable skills in product segmentation and customer insights 03:55 - Differentiating these two companies she manages, Pricing Empowered and Price Space 06:36 - The role of leadership, specifically CEOs, in pricing strategy 09:09 - Explaining the concept of "value killers" using the metaphor of "Bob" 11:40 - The negative impact of allowing CEOs to negotiate prices and discussing the concept of parameters of empowerment 14:29 - Another value killer: The Lester factor 16:55 - What makes ‘'Cheryl factor' a value killer and the extent of profit leaks this causes 20:15 - Three key actions leaders should take to drive pricing in their companies 24:19 - Differentiating between intentional and unintentional price variance 25:14 - Adrienne's best pricing advice   Key Takeaways: “If the CEO doesn't believe that you can proactively price and influence markets with your pricing, then the company has no faith in it either.” - Adrienne Gordon "Parameters of empowerment: to me sometimes actually retracting some permission and then testing your value proposition, pushing pricing a little bit so that the organization can see the worth doesn't fall apart when you do that. And releasing that empowerment back, I think, actually, can help companies evolve." - Adrienne Gordon "I often make recommendations, do not put on your parameters of empowerment 5, 10, and 15. Put on 4.72. Somebody's going to have to do the hard work to figure out what 4.72% discount is. And that's a good thing." - Adrienne Gordon   People/Resources Mentioned: McKinsey: https://www.mckinsey.com   Connect with Adrienne Gordon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrienne-gordon-0a93129/ Website: https://www.pricespace.com/   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com

24 Kesä 202426min

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on May 2, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/reduce-the-risk-of-raising-prices/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at mark@impactpricing.com.  Now, go make an impact.   Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

21 Kesä 20242min

Tim Smith helps executives address critical questions in pricing, marketing, sales, and corporate strategy in the face of high uncertainty by using proven best practices informed by solid academic research. In this episode, Tim delves into the Pricing Spineometer, a comprehensive tool designed to assess a company's pricing capabilities. By examining financial performance and organizational structure, one can provide valuable insights into the gap between a company's current pricing practices and optimal strategies. He also touches on the crucial role pricing plays in business success and the importance of CEO involvement in driving pricing excellence.   Why you have to check out today’s podcast: Discover this pricing tool called Pricing Spineometer for assessing a company's pricing capabilities and learn how it works, its significance, and how it can benefit businesses Gain insights into the world of pricing strategies discover surprising findings about pricing practices in various industries and how they impact business performance Explore the critical role of CEOs in driving pricing excellence within organizations and understand why pricing decisions often require the direct involvement and prioritization of top leadership, and how this impacts business outcomes   "Take the time to apply the expertise necessary to your pricing questions. Think about it, and then listen to that expertise." - Tim Smith   Topics Covered: 01:36 - Sharing an enriching experience teaching and consulting 02:45 - How he found himself in pricing 04:08 - What made him create Pricing Spineometer, what is it all about, clarity on it measuring a gap versus a scorecard 07:31 - The process of using the Pricing Spineometer 11:40 - How the initial financial analysis sets the foundation for understanding a company's pricing needs and capabilities 14:29 - Understanding that creating a Pricing Spineometer for a company involves significant work and expertise 16:26 - AI's impact on pricing and the companies' various reactions on their pricing capabilities assessment with pricing spineometer 19:16 - Valued for the expertise and insight not on time spent 20:08 - Surprises coming up for different companies pricing sophistication 22:19 - Does the CEO takes care of the development of pricing expertise and how does a CRO differ from a VP of Pricing 24:26 - Tim's best pricing advice   Key Takeaways: "If you changed the way you thought about pricing, there'd be a huge bottom line impact to your company." - Tim Smith "You're charging for the intellect that goes into the work, not the actual amount of time it takes to do the work." - Tim Smith "There are ways to get around tools, there are ways to use the tools, but you’ve got to understand what the goal is." - Tim Smith   People/Resources Mentioned: World Class Pricing: The Journey by Paul Hunt: http://www.pricingsolutions.com/world-class-pricing-the-journey/ TI: https://www.ti.com Walmart:https://www.walmart.com Coca Cola: https://www.coca-cola.com/us/en Pepsi: https://www.pepsi.com/ Nvidia: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/ Kraft Heinz: https://www.kraftheinzcompany.com/   Connect with Tim Smith: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drwiglaf/ Website: https://wiglafpricing.com/   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com

17 Kesä 202428min

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on April 25, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/the-value-of-a-feature-how-to-create-value-tables/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at mark@impactpricing.com.  Now, go make an impact.   Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

14 Kesä 20246min