
Understanding Context-Driven Pricing: The Key to Maximizing Willingness to Pay with Mark Stiving
Mark Stiving is a pricing expert and the host of the Impact Pricing podcast, where he explores the intricate relationship between pricing, value, and context. With a wealth of experience in pricing strategies, Mark is passionate about helping companies maximize their revenue through effective pricing techniques. Steven Forth is the co-founder and Managing Partner at Ibbaka, a leading pricing strategy consultancy. With deep expertise in B2B SaaS pricing and value-based pricing models, Steven has been at the forefront of pricing innovation for over two decades. He's passionate about the intersection of pricing strategy, customer value, and emerging technologies like AI agents. In this episode, Steven turns the tables on Mark to explore context-driven pricing – Mark's revolutionary framework that's changing how pricing professionals think about willingness to pay. Together, they dive deep into the four contexts that drive every pricing decision, the three-layer business framework that organizes pricing strategy, and why perfection is the enemy of progress in pricing. Why you have to check out today’s podcast: Discover the concept of context-driven pricing and its significance in today's market. Learn how different contexts, such as environmental and customer factors, influence pricing decisions. Understand the importance of defining the problem to effectively implement pricing strategies. “Willingness to pay is contextual.” – Mark Stiving Topics Covered: 01:37 – What motivated Mark to think about Context-driven Pricing? 03:15 – The four categories of context: problem, customer, behavioral, and environmental. 04:52 – How environmental factors influence willingness to pay? 06:01 – The role of competitors in shaping pricing strategies. 08:13 – Understanding the foundational problem and its impact on pricing decisions. 14:01 – The intersection of context-driven pricing and AI. 24:58 – Key takeaways on implementing context-driven pricing effectively. Key Takeaways: “Pricing is about understanding the context in which a buyer operates.” – Mark Stiving “Defining the problem is crucial to determining willingness to pay.” – Mark Stiving “Perfection is impossible; focus on being better every day.” – Mark Stiving Resources and People Mentioned: Steven Forth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenforth/ Ibbaka: https://www.ibbaka.com/ Craig Zawada: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-zawada-a0a39029/ Pros: https://pros.com/ Stephan Liozu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanliozu/ Zilliant: https://zilliant.com/ Gabe Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabesmith/ PriceFX: https://www.pricefx.com/ Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com
9 Juni 26min

Blogcast: Tariffs Are a Second Chance
This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on April 7, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/tariffs-are-a-second-chance/ 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/
6 Juni 2min

Blogcast: Price Segmentation at National Parks
This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on March 31, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/price-segmentation-at-national-parks/ 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/
30 Maj 3min

Adoption Over Retention: The New AI Pricing Game with Marcos Rivera
Marcos Rivera is the founder of Pricing I/O and author of "Street Pricing." He brings 25 years of pricing experience, including a three-year tenure as an operating executive at Vista Equity Partners where he worked on pricing strategies across multiple portfolio companies. He's been running Pricing.io since 2019 and is passionate about the intersection of pricing and AI. In this episode, Marcos shares his insights on the evolving landscape of pricing in the age of AI, the importance of capturing value, and how companies can differentiate themselves in a competitive market. Together, they discuss the shift from traditional pricing models to outcome-based pricing and the role of AI in enhancing pricing strategies. Why you have to check out today’s podcast: Discover how AI is changing the pricing landscape and what it means for businesses. Explore the relationship between pricing, value, and customer outcomes. Learn about the importance of low-friction entry points in pricing strategies. “AI forces you to walk the walk versus talk the talk.” – Marcos Rivera Topics Covered: 02:48 – The evolution of pricing in SaaS where the system gets credit for capturing more value using AI. 05:36 – The significance of capturing value quickly and efficiently. 08:09 – Differentiation in a competitive market and the role of pricing power. 12:16 – The importance of entry points and reducing friction for customers. 14:44 – How product design and pricing design are interconnected. 17:07 – The challenges of pricing in the AI landscape. 18:59 – Marcos's approach to using AI in pricing strategies. 28:56 – Pricing advice from Marcos. Key Takeaways: “Pricing is about capturing value, and AI opens up new opportunities for that.” – Marcos Rivera “Entry points matter; make them as low friction as possible.” – Marcos Rivera “Understanding how to differentiate your offering is crucial in a crowded market.” – Marcos Rivera People and Resources Mentioned: Steven Forth: https://impactpricing.com/podcast/691-pricing-in-the-agent-economy-the-future-beyond-subscriptions-with-steven-forth/ Vista Equity Partners: https://www.vistaequitypartners.com/ Pricing.io: https://www.pricingio.com/ Finn AI: https://www.glia.com/ Zendesk: https://www.zendesk.com/ Cursor: https://www.cursor.com/ HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/ Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/ Snowflake: https://www.snowflake.com/en/ Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/ Slack: https://slack.com/ 99designs: https://99designs.com/ DeepSeek: https://www.deepseek.com/en ChatGPT: https://openai.com/ Claude: https://claude.ai/ Grok: https://grok.com/ Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/ Connect with Marcos Rivera: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcoslrivera/ Website: https://www.pricingio.com/ Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com
26 Maj 31min

Blogcast: Reasons Why B2B Salespeople Discount
This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on March 24, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/reasons-why-b2b-salespeople-discount/ 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/
23 Maj 3min

Pricing in the Agent Economy: The Future Beyond Subscriptions with Steven Forth
Steven Forth is the Co-founder & CEO of Ibbaka and a recognized expert in generative AI in pricing. With extensive experience in the intersection of artificial intelligence and pricing strategies, provides valuable insights into how agents are transforming the pricing landscape. In this episode, Steven discusses the concept of AI agents, their role in pricing, and how they can deliver value in various contexts. Together, they explore the implications of AI-driven agents on user interfaces, pricing strategies, and the future of business interactions. Why you have to check out today’s podcast: Understand what agents are and how they differ from general-purpose AI. Discover how pricing strategies for agents can be structured around value delivery. Learn about the future of agent-to-agent interactions and their impact on pricing. “Understanding what job your agent is going to do is critical for pricing.” – Steven Forth Topics Covered: 02:07 – Definition of agents and their functionality. 03:17 – Differences between agents and general-purpose AI like ChatGPT. 05:11 – User interface simplicity and complexity in agent design. 08:16 – The AI agent layer cake and its implications for pricing. 11:12 – Access and usage-based pricing for agents. 14:03 – Outcomes-based pricing and its challenges. 16:16 – Tokenization. 20:27 – The importance of understanding the job an agent performs for pricing. 24:31 – Steven’s insights on the evolving landscape of pricing strategies. 31:28 – Steven’s pricing advice around agents. 31:53 – How to connect with Steven. Key Takeaways: “Agents make it easier to do things, and if those things are valuable, we’re going to do them a lot more.” – Steven Forth “Pricing agents will require a shift in how we think about value delivery.” – Steven Forth Resources and People Mentioned: Jakob Nielsen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakob_Nielsen_(usability_consultant) OpenAI: https://openai.com/ Zilliant: https://zilliant.com/ Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/ Salesforce's Agent Force: https://www.salesforce.com/ap/agentforce/ Marc Benioff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Benioff AI Agent Layer Cake: https://www.ibbaka.com/ibbaka-market-blog/how-to-price-ai-agents Connect with Steven Forth: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenforth/ Email: steven@ibakka.com Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com
19 Maj 32min

Blogcast: Practical Pricing in a World with Tariffs
This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on March 17, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/practical-pricing-in-a-world-with-tariffs/ 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/
16 Maj 3min