Communicating pricing information to others in the company couldn’t be easier. They all understand what pricing is trying to do and are more than happy to work together to ensure that their efforts and plans align perfectly with what the pricing team is trying to accomplish. They can certainly wrap their head around the reports and concepts pricing provides and they engage in thoughtful conversation about how to proactively leverage pricing principles to boost revenue and margin.
Boy…we sure wish that was the case. But from the thousands of companies we’ve interacted with through the years, we’ve never heard anything close to that.
The reality is that management (and many others in the company) don’t always know what pricing information they should be looking at. They may not know what pricing is actually trying to accomplish and why they’re expected to play a role in achieving those overall objectives. And because they aren’t data wonks, it’s likely that they don’t even understand many of the principles, practices, and processes that those of us in pricing are very familiar with.
The challenge is compounded by the fact that the same groups and departments that don’t understand pricing very well are relied upon to actually execute pricing’s initiatives and strategies. The “last mile” of every pricing strategy often falls on sales or another department to handle the actual quoting and negotiation. Bottom line…the best-laid pricing plans can all fall apart once they’re out of pricing’s hands.
The point is that pricing isn’t something that everyone just “gets”. And most people outside of the pricing team often fall into one of three camps.
- They don’t really understand pricing and have no real interest in understanding it (even though they’re a critical piece of the pricing puzzle)
- They already think they’re quite knowledgable about pricing because they dealt with prices as a consumer for most of their lives…so how hard can it be, right?
- They’re not an expert in pricing, but they recognize how they play an important role and want to know everything they can to ensure they get it right.
But let’s face it…not many fall into that third camp.
The bottom line is that it’s not good enough to just hope the people and teams that are critical to pricing’s success understand pricing well enough to make it successful. You need to be proactive in helping them understand pricing principles (and counteract the preconceived notions that are pretty commonly held out there).
So how do you help get those people in your organization to better understand what pricing is trying to do and why? And more importantly, how do you help them “get” enough of it to do what needs to be done?
That’s exactly what we’ll be discussing at our next live webinar–exploring things like:
- How to simplify and illustrate important concepts like price segmentation and price elasticity.
- Using real-world data and models to make certain practices more palatable, relatable, and relevant.
- How to proactively address and counter common preconceived notions and closely-held beliefs.
- Aspects of human behavior and cognition that can make it easier…or harder…to get your ideas across.
Communicating Pricing Concepts
Helping Others in Your Organization Understand Pricing Principles and Practices
Thursday, July 16, 2020 – 10 AM Pacific / 1 PM Eastern / 7 PM CET
