Navigating Price Changes: Overcoming Fear and Implementing Strategy with Patrick Meegan

Patrick Meegan is a Managing Director at Investor Group Services. Experienced in technology, industrials, consumer products, retail and e-commerce, subscription programs, pricing, and product strategy.

In this episode, he delves into the complexities of pricing strategies, emphasizing the importance of aligning prices with the perceived value and understanding market segments. She also explores the nuances between B2C and B2B pricing, highlighting the transparency in B2C and the significance of marketing and packaging in consumer products. Additionally, she provides insights on implementing price changes effectively in different organizational sizes and navigating the challenges of setting prices through distribution channels.

Why you have to check out today's podcast:

• Understand buyer drivers in order to make strategic decisions in pricing and packaging
• Learn practical advice on implementing price changes, particularly the challenges and strategies for ensuring successful pricing execution
• Gain valuable insights into the differences between B2C and B2B pricing, including unique challenges in B2C and the role of marketing in consumer products

"Spend time pressure testing the ideas."

- Patrick Meegan

Topics Covered:

01:51 - The best way to teaching case studies and the how to go about each case

02:49 - How he ended up in pricing despite lack of pricing background

03:59 - Value-based pricing and understanding buyer behavior

05:03 - The process of generating pricing insights

06:39 - Application of a framework to generate pricing insights

08:57 - Challenges and strategies for executing pricing changes, particularly in larger organizations

11:17 - Overcoming fear of raising prices.

13:08 - Strategies for reducing fear and uncertainty when implementing price increases

15:42 - The appropriate role of salespeople in pricing decisions

17:32 - The importance of setting and managing price floors and discounting policies for salespeople

21:34 - Maintaining pricing integrity and avoiding discounts

22:46 - The differences between B2C and B2B pricing strategies and how crucial is setting the end user price first when selling through distribution or channels

26:46 - Pat's best pricing advice

Key Takeaways:

"If we can't understand from the buyer's side what's driving their purchase, then it's hard for us to understand how to sell to them, how to negotiate, where to hang the value, how to package and how to structure the pricing model." - Patrick Meegan

"I cringe so much when I see people going out with a price of whatever it is with a discount right along with it because whatever value established you just eroded by saying it wasn't worth that." - Patrick Meegan

"Your portfolio also plays an important role in how you can influence pricing." - Patrick Meegan

People/Resources Mentioned:

• Kimberly Clark: https://www.kimberly-clark.com/en-us
• Kleenex: https://www.kleenex.com/en-us/
• Huggies: https://www.huggies.com/en-us/

Connect with Patrick Meegan:

• Website: maplestreet.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmeegan/
• Email: patrick.meegan@igsinsights.com

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: mark@impactpricing.com