In a previous post (Be Better, Not Cheaper) I talked about the importance of differentiated value. I have conversations about value almost as often as I have conversations about pricing, because a lot of pricing confusion is really value confusion. … Read More
customer segmentation
Be Better, Not Cheaper
Who doesn’t love a bargain? We all do, and we know our customers do, too. But that doesn’t mean price is the only thing that’s important. It becomes the only thing that’s important if everything else is the same. Many … Read More
What’s your plan to close out 2009?
What’s your plan to close out 2009? For many companies, 2009 has been a tough year. While many people remember the crash of the dot-com bubble, some people seem to have forgotten, and even that crash didn’t impact the broader … Read More
The exponential benefits of differential value
I wrote a couple weeks ago about Value, Scarcity and Pricing in the Age of Superabundance. Now there’s a timely report about the concentration of profits among cell phone makers from Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi. Sacconaghi estimated that while … Read More
Value, Scarcity, and Pricing in the Age of Superabundance
For most people, throughout most of human existence, scarcity was paramount.** Now we live in an age of not just abundance, but superabundance. The agricultural revolution created abundance– not by today’s standards– in food. The industrial revolution created abundance in … Read More
Webinars Today and Tomorrow
For people interested in the interaction of pricing, sales, and business performance, we have 2 webinars that you won’t want to miss. Today at noon EDT we’ll be hosting a discussion with the Professional Pricing Society called Beyond Sales Prevention: … Read More
Microsoft’s Pricing Dilemma (Part 2)
We mentioned in a previous post that Microsoft is in the grips of a pricing dilemma. Changing paradigms have weakened Microsoft’s dominant position in operating systems and office productivity programs. Businesses and affluent consumers no longer upgrade regularly. What they … Read More
Microsoft’s Pricing Dilemma
Microsoft is between a rock and hard place. The Redmond software giant made an enviable $17.6B in profit last year (see MSFT for more details) but the stock is down from its bubbly peak and has been stagnant for almost … Read More
What if you create value and no one perceives it?
If a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, does it make a sound? If your offering has value that customers don’t perceive, can you charge for it? Price is limited by perceived differential value. So if … Read More
The real end of the line for airline fees
Back in August, I wrote a post titled “What Other Fees Can Airlines Charge?” Well, as several alert readers pointed out, The Onion has the ultimate answer. When it comes to airlines’ pricing power, the good news is that the … Read More