Blogcast: Pricing Professionals have “Trained Incapacity”

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on August 18, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/pricing-ai-are-you-selling-a-platform-or-a-solution/ 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/

24 Okt 7min

Bill Wilson, CEO and founder of Pace Pricing and official pricing advisor for the government of New Zealand, takes Mark on a deep dive into Jobs to be Done methodology and its connection to value-based pricing. From his origins as a software developer building productized services to coaching hundreds of companies through SaaS Academy, Bill reveals why pricing isn't just about the number—it's about understanding the progress customers are trying to make.  In this episode, Mark and Bill dive into why the Jobs to Be Done framework offers a more effective lens than traditional problem-and-results approaches, leading to insights about value realization, emotional jobs, and why the biggest pricing advice might be the simplest: just raise your prices.   Why You Have to Check Out Today's Podcast: Learn the critical role of value realization and how to effectively package products to help customers achieve desired outcomes quickly and sustainably. Understand the Jobs to Be Done framework, how it differs from traditional problem-solving approaches, and why it’s vital for grasping true customer motivations. Discover practical pricing strategies, including overcoming fears around raising prices and how thoughtful price increases positively impact a company’s bottom line.   "Without being too on the nose about it, you probably should raise your prices." – Bill Wilson   Topics Covered: 01:32 - Bill's journey from technical founder in 2007 to productizing services, escaping hourly billing, and discovering that pricing is everyone's delicate secret. 06:59 - The Product-Pricing-Positioning Triangle Why these three cannot be separated: value delivery (product), value perception (positioning), and value capture (pricing). 09:33 - What is Jobs to be Done? Bill's definition: statements describing the progress customers are trying to make, with specific ways to measure that value. 14:17 - The Trigger Moment: Status Quo Change Why the sandwich shop example illustrates how triggers create jobs people are willing to pay to solve, unlike generic problems. 20:11 - Context-Driven Pricing Meets Jobs to be Done Mark's framework of foundational problems, problem scope, and situational context—and how it maps to Bill's JTBD structure. 21:56 - System 1 vs. System 2: Emotion vs. Value Separating intuitive, emotional buying (System 1) from deliberative value calculation (System 2)—and why B2B sellers must address both. 26:39 - The Three Phases of Value Value perception (positioning), value realization (first aha moment), and value adoption (features driving continuous use). 30:08 - The Product-Pricing-Positioning Connection in Practice: Why Bill sometimes produces product requirements documents during pricing engagements—because time-to-value affects pricing success. 30:28 - Final Advice: Raise Your Prices The simplest, most powerful advice that everyone fears—and why money from price increases falls directly to the bottom line.   Key Takeaways: "A job to be done inherently has monetization built into it because there are a lot of problems that I'm not willing to pay to be solved. But a job in and of itself is something I'm actively trying to achieve." - Bill Wilson "Recurring revenue lives in value adoption, not in value realization. I can get anybody to realize value pretty quickly and they'll never buy my product more than once." - Bill Wilson "Everybody's scared to death to raise their prices. But if you haven't raised your prices in a couple of years, you're probably safe to raise your prices. And all that money that you raise it by, whatever percentage that is, is going to fall directly to the bottom line." - Bill Wilson   People / Resources Mentioned: April Dunford: Positioning expert, author of "Obviously Awesome" and "Sales Pitch" Anthony Ulwick: Outcome-Driven Innovation approach to Jobs to be Done Clayton Christensen: Jobs to be Done theory pioneer Danny Kahneman: System 1 and System 2 thinking framework SaaS Academy: Where Bill coaches companies on pricing Volta: Coaching organization Bill works with   Connect with Bill Wilson: Pace Pricing: https://www.pacepricing.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdrwilson/   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com

20 Okt 31min

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on August 11, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/pricing-ai-do-costs-finally-matter-in-pricing/ 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/

17 Okt 7min

Emanuel Martonca, founder of Soft Fight, reveals how agentic AI is solving one of the biggest challenges in IT services: coordinating pricing decisions across hundreds of people in decentralized organizations.  After his career journey from product management to sales management to discovering pricing at a Simon Kucher workshop, Emanuel shares how his bootstrapped company evolved from traditional consulting to building AI-powered pricing agents that act as an ever-present pricing manager- coaching teams, improving proposals, and recommending pricing models without sending a single byte of data outside the client's infrastructure. In this episode,  learn why AI should augment rather than replace pricing teams, why deterministic calculations still matter, and how to quantify value in IT services without universal quality standards.   Why You Have to Check Out Today's Podcast: Discover how AI solves coordination problems in large IT services companies where hundreds of people make pricing decisions without pricing expertise. Learn why AI should augment pricing teams, not replace them, and why deterministic calculations still matter more than probabilistic AI outputs. Understand how to quantify value in IT services using measurable quality attributes instead of universally accepted standards.   “Pricing is leverage. It allows you to have an impact with very few actions, with little effort."  – Emanuel Martonca   Topics Covered: 01:32 -Emanuel's transformational discovery of pricing at a Belgian retail bank workshop that revealed a world he didn't know existed—launching 18 years of pricing-focused work. 02:37 - Why pricing is the ultimate leverage tool, especially in B2B tech where "it's just communication"—what you write in Excel, on websites, and in proposals. 03:28 - How the pandemic transformed Emanuel from a globe-trotting sales manager into a pricing consultant, then bootstrapped Soft Fight to solve the value extraction gap in tech companies. 04:41 - How large IT companies lose money when hundreds of non-experts across five functions (finance, marketing, sales, delivery, executives) make pricing decisions on every custom project. 06:59 - The evolution from deterministic SaaS pricing rules to AI-augmented agents installed in client infrastructure—solving pricing problems in hours instead of years without sending data externally. 08:00 - Why new deals lack technical depth and renewals lack value articulation—and how AI coordinates knowledge without restructuring organizations. 11:00 - Eight AI agents (four for understanding, four for justifying) with access to all systems but zero external communication—no security or privacy risks. 13:00 - All pricing calculations remain deterministic because AI makes too many mistakes—it's used only for reading RFPs, emails, and meeting notes to improve value communication. 14:17 - How AI acts as a coach recommending pricing models with ready-made arguments, eliminating months of change management—with email as the main interface. 16:17 - Why determining "how long will this take?" is unpredictable and varies by person and timing—and how AI solves the costliest unknown in custom projects. 18:00 - Mark's perspective on why costs matter less than value, and why companies avoid alternative pricing models despite knowing hourly billing hurts both sides. 21:00 - When AI tools cut development time, hourly pricing becomes self-defeating: "You're cutting your own revenue"—forcing the industry to finally sell value, not time. 21:56 - Starting with measurable quality attributes on invented scales that competitors can't compare—getting 80% of the way just by having the quantification discussion. 23:00 - Mark's framework for B2B value and why results translate to economic impact through customer KPIs like reduced complaints, not abstract "quality" metrics. 25:00 - Unlike automotive suppliers with nanometer specs, IT services vendors can define their own quality metrics—putting them two steps ahead of alternatives. 26:00 - The necessity of industry knowledge for value conversations (increase revenue, reduce costs, mitigate risk) and how AI enables understanding of new sectors that would've taken years. 27:30 - Final Advice: AI as Your Pricing Force Multiplier Using AI for research, analysis, and domain understanding when teams are too small or mandates unclear—plus how to connect with Emanuel on LinkedIn.   Key Takeaways: "AI is a huge multiplier for pricing experts—not for calculating prices, I agree with you on that, it's not there yet. But for everything else around pricing, whether we want to call it product management, analysis, or research, it can help us overcome typical challenges." - Emanuel Martonca "Pricing is a change management problem. It can be done, it'll take months, sometimes years, and they have to experiment and they have to make mistakes." - Emanuel Martonca   Resources Mentioned: Simon-Kucher: https://www.simon-kucher.com/en    Connect with Emanuel Martonca: Website: https://www.softfight.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emartonca/    Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com

13 Okt 30min

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on August 4, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/pricing-ai-buyers-buy-inherent-and-relative-value/ 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/

10 Okt 8min

Whether you've been with us since the beginning or you just discovered Impact Pricing last week, this episode is for you. If you're one of our longtime listeners, you know Mark's voice, you've heard his insights, and maybe you've even implemented some of his strategies in your own business. But have you ever wondered what drives him to keep showing up week after week, year after year? If you're new here, welcome. You're about to meet the person behind the podcast—not just as a pricing expert, but as someone who genuinely loves teaching and believes that understanding value can transform your business and your career. Mark Stiving is the host of Impact Pricing and founder of Impact Pricing LLC. But before he was a pricing expert, he was a teacher—of scuba diving, kayaking, and marketing. That passion for helping people learn never left him. Even after retiring in 2019, Mark couldn't stop sharing what he knows about pricing and value. In this heartfelt solo episode, Mark pulls back the curtain on his journey. He shares why he chose to dedicate his post-retirement life to pricing education, what keeps him energized after blogging every week since 2010, and the two critical topics that consume his attention right now. This isn't just another pricing lesson—it's an invitation to understand the "why" behind everything we do here at Impact Pricing. For our loyal listeners: Thank you for being part of this community. This episode is Mark's way of reconnecting with you and reaffirming his commitment to your success. For our new listeners: This is the perfect place to start. You'll understand not just what we teach, but why it matters so deeply to the person teaching it.   Why you have to check out today's podcast: Discover why teaching and sharing pricing knowledge became Mark's post-retirement mission and driving passion. Learn about the two critical topics dominating modern pricing strategy: AI pricing and context-driven pricing. Understand how value impacts decisions across sales, marketing, product development, and packaging—not just pricing.   "Probably my single most favorite thing is when I share something with someone and it has an impact on their life. I absolutely love that." - Mark Stiving   Topics Covered: 00:30 - Mark's Retirement and Continued Mission. Why Mark retired in 2019 but couldn't stop sharing pricing knowledge, and how his blogging streak since 2010 kept him connected to his passion. 01:15 - The Joy of Teaching. Mark's history as an instructor across multiple disciplines—from scuba diving and kayaking to university-level marketing—and why teaching is his core passion. 02:00 - The Pricing Knowledge Gap. Why pricing and value are critical business topics that remain poorly understood, and Mark's mission to change that. 02:45 - Working with Different Organizations. How Mark's work differs between large enterprises (focusing on sales teams) versus small and mid-sized businesses (focusing on executive teams). 03:30 - Two Current Focus Areas. Deep dive into Mark's concentration on AI pricing and context-driven pricing, including the concept of value architecture. 04:45 - Context-Driven Pricing Framework. How buying contexts differ for every purchase and how companies can structure their product portfolios to deliver and capture more value.   Key Takeaways: "Pricing and value are such important topics in all of business and so few people understand it. And that's almost my mission now is just to see how many people I can get to have a better understanding." - Mark Stiving "All buying is contextual. Every purchase that's made is made in a different way than any other purchase has ever been made." - Mark Stiving "When we start thinking through context-driven pricing, that drives me to something I call a value architecture, which is how do you structure the way you think, the way you built your product portfolio, the way you have packaged your greatest features?" - Mark Stiving   Resources Mentioned: Impact Pricing Blog (since 2010): https://impactpricing.com/blog/ Mark's Substack newsletter Impact Pricing monthly newsletter   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com Website: https://impactpricing.com

6 Okt 5min

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on July 28, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/pricing-ai-a-practical-guide-for-a-hype-filled-world/ 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/

3 Okt 9min

Ryan Doran is a Partner in Lead Creative and Head of UI/UX for Turkois, with over 17 years of experience in monetization strategy, payments, and scaling technology businesses.  Danny Smith is a Solution Architect at Stripe, working on AI-driven commerce innovations and partnering with AWS. In this episode, Ryan and Danny explore the critical intersection of pricing strategy and payment infrastructure, discussing how AI is transforming both the mechanics of pricing implementation and the challenge of pricing AI products themselves.   Why you have to check out today's podcast: Understand the difference between billing systems and payment systems and how they work together. Learn why flexible technical infrastructure is essential for modern pricing strategies. Discover how AI is enabling hyper-personalized shopping experiences with built-in guardrails.   "Your pricing strategy is only as good as the background tech that you have to operationalize it. If you have a legacy monolithic stack and you can come up with these great strategies, but it takes you six months to implement that strategy, then you've probably been left behind already." – Danny Smith   Topics Covered: 02:15 - How Ryan got into pricing through product development and payment flows. 04:30 - Danny's journey from cloud architecture to payments infrastructure. 06:45 - The difference between billing systems and payment systems. 10:20 - Why new billing companies continue to emerge despite established players. 14:15 - How AI is accelerating data utilization in pricing decisions. 17:30 - The dual challenge: using AI for pricing vs. pricing AI products. 19:45 - Hyper-personalized shopping with AI agents and built-in guardrails. 23:10 - The ethical concerns of "sleazy price segmentation" and AI pricing. 28:40 - Agent-to-agent negotiations and policy engines. 31:20 - How AI products are changing pricing models: tokens, credits, and hybrid approaches. 35:15 - Creating "action units" to translate technical complexity into business value.   Key Takeaways: "Data is basically the new margin. What you can do with it is only gaining in value." - Ryan Doran "We've implemented API level technology that will create a budget... and it will create a virtual debit card on the backend for that exact amount, tied to today as an expiration date, tied to that particular transaction." - Danny Smith   People / Resources Mentioned: Turkois: https://turkois.io/ Vanilla POS: https://vanillapos.io/ Stripe: https://stripe.com Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/ OpenAI: https://openai.com/ Chargebee, Chargeify, Zora: Alternative billing platforms MCP Server: Technology enabling AI agents to interact with Stripe for dynamic pricing   Connect with Ryan Doran: Website: https://turkois.io/ Email: ryan@turkois.io   Connect with Danny Smith: Contact through Ryan Doran   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com

29 Sep 33min