I’ll be doing a one day workshop for the Professional Pricing Society at their Spring Conference in Dallas on May 6. This workshop is about how you can’t just focus on the number in your pricing sheet, proposal, or negotiation. … Read More
pricing for the CFO
2 Sentence Pricing Advice for Small Business Owners
1. Be better, not cheaper. If someone in your market doesn’t think you’re better, you’re a commodity and have no pricing power. If you’re small, you probably have less costing power than the your larger competitors. Commodity pricing + uncompetitive … Read More
Pricing: Why You’re Doing It Wrong
I don’t know you. How can I know you’re pricing all wrong? Obviously, I don’t, and there’s a chance you’re actually doing it right, but experience with hundreds of business owners lets me play the odds. So in this post, … Read More
Do Pricing First, Not Last
Creative people love making things– widgets, software, knowledge, service calls. A lot of businesses and product lines get started this way. Someone has a cool idea to make something. Skeptics shoot down the idea. The founder or engineer makes it. … Read More
If you think you’re worth it, but can’t say it…
A lot of businesses think they have a great product or service. Something above and beyond what the competition offers. But when it comes time to put a price on all this awesomeness, they are still cheaper than the competition. … Read More
Value Pricing: When do I have to cut my price?
I was talking with a customer the other day about a new service his company has developed. It’s innovative and profitable, and they have found ways to reduce a lot of their costs to make it even more profitable. The … Read More
Price Optimization 101
I get a lot of questions about price optimization, so I just wanted to make it really simple. Write down your costs. Of course, you won’t know your real costs, so just use estimates, preferably from 2-5 years ago. These … Read More
Value-based Pricing: When can I stop asking questions?
How do you know when to stop asking questions about value? Couldn’t this go forever, asking “Why? Why? Why?” until we end up in a philosophical discussion? You want to ask questions until you no longer get meaningfully different answers. … Read More
Value, pricing, and the TSA
I try to avoid political commentary, but sometimes I just can’t avoid it. The airline industry has always been a tough place to make money, but since 9/11, terrorism fears, long delays in security, and surging oil prices have really … Read More
Better, Not Cheaper: Red Velvet Events
In a previous post, called Be Better, Not Cheaper , I talked about how important it is to differentiate elements of your offering other than just your price. Here’s a great example of executing that strategy from Austin and San … Read More