AI as a Multiplier for Pricing with Emanuel Martonca

AI as a Multiplier for Pricing with Emanuel Martonca

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:

Connect with Emanuel Martonca:

Connect with Mark Stiving:

Avsnitt(500)

Blogcast #68: Ballet, Football, Pricing and Sales

Blogcast #68: Ballet, Football, Pricing and Sales

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on July 13, 2022, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/ballet-football-pricing-and-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/

19 Aug 20223min

Memecast #71: Select KPIs

Memecast #71: Select KPIs

Possibly my single favorite KPI in the world of pricing is average selling price. Are we managing average selling price per product, average selling price overall across the portfolio. If you have a single product that has a price on it and you can monitor that average selling price, that gives you a great indication of what's going on in your marketplace, how well we're selling value. If you can monitor average selling price by salesperson, now we're getting a great indicator of which salespeople do a good job at selling value and which ones don't. If you can't manage average selling price, maybe you're going to have an average deal size. How big are the opportunities that we're facing, that we're being able to bid on? And which ones of those are we winning or not? But my recommendation, find some KPI, maybe two or three, that are a great indicator of how well our customers are perceiving our value, which means their willingness to pay and how well our salespeople are selling value. Track them over time. Watch for the anomalies. Watch for the changes. And use those as indicators to see if you can figure out what's going on in your marketplace. We hope you enjoyed this memecast. This impactful insight came from the book, Selling Value, which I wrote to help salespeople win more deals at higher prices. If you have any questions or feedback, please email me mark@impactpricing.com. Now go make an impact. Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

17 Aug 20222min

How to Package Your Services and Price for Value with Gabriel Dabi-Schwebel

How to Package Your Services and Price for Value with Gabriel Dabi-Schwebel

Gabriel Dabi-Schwebel is the Founder and CEO of SalesDeck, an online sales communication tool. He is also the Founder and CEO of 1min30, a French inbound marketing agency. He is an entrepreneur, speaker, and author of eight marketing and sales methodologies books. Gab hosts the Virtual Selling podcast. In this episode, Gabriel talks about service packaging as he shares how they do it in his marketing company, 1min30. Why you have to check out today's podcast: Find out how to get your product packaging and pricing right Learn good, better, best service packaging through the way a marketing company does it Understand why pricing is at the heart of entrepreneurship "If you are in service, the idea of packaging what you sell is very important." – Gabriel Dabi-Schwebel Topics Covered: 01:29 – Growing up with French fonctionnaire parents while wanting to become an entrepreneur 02:19 – How Gabriel got into pricing; Gabriel realizes how important pricing is 04:36 – Talking about service packaging in line with his marketing company, 1min30 08:34 – The difference between the three price points 09:54 – Where he got the idea of his good, better, best strategy 10:36 – Did Gab learn how to have value conversations with clients? 12:06 – Gabriel's pricing advice 14:51 – Pricing table topics: "Be strategic. Focus on lifetime value." Key Takeaways: "I think pricing is really at the heart of entrepreneurship, because at one time, you need to price what you do, what you sell, what you create, and it's really a marketing aspect that is very interesting, because with pricing, you can make your revenue even bigger without working too much." – Gabriel Dabi-Schwebel "It's really important to find the right price and to be sure that the price you choose is really the closest to what a customer is ready to pay and the ones that make you the more value and the more money in your pocket." – Gabriel Dabi-Schwebel "Really thinking about lifetime value is really thinking about what is the price being acceptable by your customer and the value you bring him, and also the fact that you keep bringing value and keep in loyal to your product." – Gabriel Dabi-Schwebel People / Resources Mentioned: SalesDeck: https://salesdeck.io/ 1min30: https://www.1min30.com/ Acquisition Strategy Design: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/2377740324/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2 Blair Enns' The Win Without Pitching Manifesto: https://www.winwithoutpitching.com/the-manifesto/ Connect with Gabriel Dabi-Schwebel: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrields/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriel-dabi-schwebel/ Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com

15 Aug 202217min

Blogcast #67: A Good Case for Cost-plus Pricing

Blogcast #67: A Good Case for Cost-plus Pricing

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on July 6, 2022, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/a-good-case-for-cost-plus-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/

12 Aug 20223min

Memecast #70: Start with Your Goal

Memecast #70: Start with Your Goal

Pricing decisions can always help us achieve our goals. We need to make sure we understand what those goals are. I would start with understanding what the corporate objectives are. Oftentimes those are things like we need to raise our average selling price. We need to gain more market share. We need to have more margin. Typically, these goals, these corporate goals, are established by our CEO and our executive team, and they're there to drive increased market capitalization. However, your product may have a different set of goals than what your corporate goal is. So, what is the goal of your product? The goal of your product may be to bring more people into the platform so that we then have more people we can sell upgrades to. That's a great goal. We need to understand that as we're setting our pricing. Your goal may be we need to generate more revenue, more profit, so that we can fund other projects. That's a great goal. We just need to know what our goals are. As we're making these pricing decisions. We hope you enjoyed this memecast. This impactful insight came from the book, Selling Value, which I wrote to help salespeople win more deals at higher prices. If you have any questions or feedback, please email me mark@impactpricing.com. Now go make an impact. Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

10 Aug 20221min

How Should a Law Firm Approach Pricing Strategy with John Chisholm

How Should a Law Firm Approach Pricing Strategy with John Chisholm

John Chisholm was a US lawyer. For 15 years, he's been in law firms, using value-based pricing, and now subscription pricing. John swims in the ocean every morning with his Speedo around his neck. Pricing for law firms or even major consultancy firms is not easy. Price your final client contracts too high, and you'll lose some of your most high-value clients. Price them too low, and you'll be forced to work too few staff to the bone to cut costs. In this episode, John shares how law firm should approach their pricing strategy. Why you have to check out today's podcast: Discover how to create a pricing revenue model that funds a thriving firm while generating real value for clients Learn how to make your law firm and consultancy clients understand the value of your service and the risks they are avoiding by hiring you compared to your competitors by communicating the value you provide Discover why a pricing expert is essential to the profitability of any law firm "Just don't price your own work." – John Chisholm Topics Covered: 01:06 – How John got into pricing: His late father's story in relation to legal service fees 03:06 – Doing timesheet free billing as a law firm in the 1970s to '80s 05:25 – The old law business model of billing by the hour 06:38 – How things led him to his aha moment in relation to the practice of pricing 10:37 – Changing the mindset around pricing: Possible or not? 15:48 – "The true indication of a really good professional is not so much the answers they give; it's the questions they ask" 19:24 – Having a value conversation around $500 vs. $270's worth 22:15 – John's pricing advice 23:31 – Pricing table topics: "Sunk costs don't matter to pricing or any business decision" Key Takeaways: "Now it's very, very ingrained – the whole profession, I'm afraid. There has been a lot of movement, but they've been mainly in smaller, innovative firms. But the large firms, despite what they say, when you peel back the onion, the measurements, their rewards, their whole internal systems still work around time, and it's hard to change, and they're very successful." – John Chisholm "I know I'll get into trouble for saying this, but lawyers buying and selling to each other is not a great recipe for innovation or change or taking risk." – John Chisholm "Those that perceive they have the most to lose will be the last to change, and that will be the big end of town worldwide." – John Chisholm "I try and get the lawyers that I work with my clients to stop thinking like lawyers, because often, the solution is not a legal solution; it really isn't, or the objectives are not a legal solution. It may be that what we're going to do has legal input, and that's the skills that the lawyers have that someone else doesn't have. But it's turning the conversation on its head. It's asking the right questions. And I think the true indication of a really good professional is not so much the answers they give; it's the questions they ask." – John Chisholm "I work more with my client lawyers focusing on what additional benefits can you give to clients, many of which don't cost anything to the law firm but add value to the client; the price just follows. I think also, if you can focus on increasing the client's profit, our profit will follow as a profession." – John Chisholm "I think even though it might be for short term profitability, there's just so many good lawyers that just do underestimate the value that they're providing to their clients, and that's their fault, not their client's fault." – John Chisholm People / Resources Mentioned: Ron Baker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronbaker1/ VeraSage Institute: https://www.verasage.com/ John Chisholm Consulting: https://www.chisconsult.com/ Connect with John Chisholm: Email: john@chisconsult.com Website: https://www.chisconsult.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chisholmjohn/ Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com

8 Aug 202227min

Blogcast #66: How I Think About Pricing

Blogcast #66: How I Think About Pricing

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on June 29, 2022, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/how-i-think-about-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/

5 Aug 20223min

Memecast #69: Sales Confidence

Memecast #69: Sales Confidence

This one's really targeted at marketing people, product management. It turns out that we make fun of salespeople a lot because they offer discounts, they don't know how to sell value. But the question that I would ask is, what have you given them in terms of tools and knowledge and confidence that they can win deals at the prices that we think they should be winning at? We may have gone out and done a ton of analysis in the marketplace, we understand the value of our product, we understand how we compare to the competition, but have we shared that well with our salespeople? In my newest book, Selling Value, I describe something called a value table. And if you've created a value table, it simply documents where the value of your product really comes from. And if you can share that information with your salespeople, it gives them the ability to go look for places where there really is value in the marketplace. And it gives them the ability to have value conversations with their customers and potentially close more deals at the prices that we think they should be winning at. We hope you enjoyed this memecast. This impactful insight came from the book, Selling Value, which I wrote to help salespeople win more deals at higher prices. If you have any questions or feedback, please email me mark@impactpricing.com. Now go make an impact. Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

3 Aug 20221min

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