Impact Pricing

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on March 14, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/using-value-to-break-down-silos/ 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: mark@impactpricing.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Rishi Bhatia is an experienced analytics consultant, data expert and market research professional with domain expertise in retail, technology, telecom, apparel, manufacturing, and insurance domain. In this episode, Rishi shares about Walmart's lower pricing strategy. He emphasizes the importance of prioritizing the customer when determining pricing strategies. He also highlights the significance of leveraging data and analytics to inform pricing decisions. And also the importance of adopting AI-driven models to streamline operations and remain competitive in the market. Why you have to check out today’s podcast: "Put your customer first. Rather than going for the traditional route, learn from the data as much as you can. And then, improve your models constantly based on how can you get the prices right." - Rishi Bhatia Topics Covered: 01:01 - How he found himself in pricing 02:46 - Why everyday low price policy for Walmart and how do they maximize revenue with this strategy 03:46 - Pricing and how it affects loyalty and retention 05:18 - What makes Walmart's margins high other than lower prices 06:48 - How AI in pricing optimization has evolved from basic insights generation to sophisticated model-driven recommendations 08:41 - Is AI a blackbox and how the process works in achieving pricing decision 11:31 - Walmart's primary focus regarding pricing decisions and how AI ensures timely transitions between product cycles and maintaining profitability 13:47 - How algorithms and recommendations ensures consistency and optimization across the retail chain 14:44 - Discussion around Wendy's dynamic pricing 19:49 - Rishi's response to Mark's advice for retailers and also talking about Walmart Plus 21:15 - Rishi's best pricing advice 23:12 - How do you measure value in retail products Key Takeaways: "Value pricing, what does your customer want, at what price your customer will be more loyal to you and what will they... because pricing is one component that everyone wants low price." - Rishi Bhatia "When you're putting the product, rather than going for the traditional route, learn from the data as much as you can and improve your models constantly based on that, how can you get the prices right." - Rishi Bhatia "If you're able to improve on that and the customer, your overall complaints are also going down. And that is one value you can measure from that perspective as well. It's not always in the monetary term, it's always on the customer satisfaction side as well." - Rishi Bhatia People/ Resources Mentioned: https://www.walmart.comhttps://www.uber.com Connect with Rishi Bhatia: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rishi-bhatia-5480577/ Connect with Mark Stiving: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on March 7, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/to-fee-or-not-to-fee-that-is-the-question/ 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: mark@impactpricing.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Stephan Liozu has studied, researched, and practiced value-based pricing for over 15 years now. That includes training, speaking, consulting, managing pilot projects, and coaching large scale pricing transformations. In this episode, Stephan highlighted the utmost importance of understanding the value delivered to customers before setting prices, emphasizing a value-first approach to pricing strategies. Why you have to check out today’s podcast: "Do the value work first and then worry about pricing. So, value-based pricing is 90% value, 10% price. So, if you want to do that very well, value first, then price." - Stephan Liozu Topics Covered: 02:25 - How Stephan started in pricing 04:13 - Customer segmentation as it relates to value pricing 05:25 - Effective ways of maximizing segmentation 07:17 - Defining customer segmentation and how the SaaS scenario Mark described relate to that 10:16 - Integrating value pricing into customer segmentation 13:03 - What value means to the price buyer 14:11 - How is market segmentation different from customer segmentation? 16:52 - Discussing about product segmentation and taking software for an example 21:28 - The challenge of operationalizing customer segmentation 24:57 - Why focus on one market segment 26:41 - The need to not excessively customize your product 27:42 - Stephan's best pricing advice Key Takeaways: "Pick one market, focus on it, find your ICP, and then get a few logos; see what happens." - Stephan Liozu "Do the value work first and then worry about pricing." - Stephan Liozu "If you want to do that [value-based pricing] very well, value first, then price." - Stephan Liozu People/Resources Mentioned: https://investor.owenscorning.com/https://www.thalesgroup.com/en Connect with Stephan Liozu: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanliozu/ Connect with Mark Stiving: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on February 29, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/your-inward-focus-causes-horrible-decisions/ 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: mark@impactpricing.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Mike Bosworth is a Co-Founder of WeConcile considered as the world's first Relationship Rescue and Restoration application. In this episode, Mike shares effective pricing strategies and sales techniques to hold prices. Why you have to check out today’s podcast: "Understand the value, i.e. how your buyer would use a particular piece of your product to solve their problem. And if you have that knowledge, it's really easy to defend the value of your price." - Mike Bosworth Topics Covered: 02:13 - Mike's pricing approach 03:16 - Understanding why salespeople are losing the conversation when it comes to price 06:40 - What is a 'buying vision' and how helpful it is for buyers 07:26 - The need for salespeople to know well their customer's business 10:20 - How 'premature elaboration' gets you at a disadvantage 13:58 - Explaining 'cost justify' and 'price justify' from the buyers point of view 20:49 - The importance of patience in negotiation and use of "polite No's" to stand your ground on pricing 24:36 - Book resource of major negotiation stories you can check out 25:42 - Mike’s pricing advice Key Takeaways: "The only salespeople who can go out and negotiate their own prices are those ahead of quota." - Mike Bosworth "I say to the managers, if your salesperson is under quotas, you have to go out there and provide the backbone and coach the call ahead of time.” - Mike Bosworth “We want to teach them how to survive that call, but on their own, they're not going to have the ability to do it." - Mike Bosworth People/Resources Mentioned: https://www.xerox.com/en-us https://www.salesforce.com https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hold-out-david-n-crabtree/1119321227 Connect with Mike Bosworth: Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebosworth/ Connect with Mark Stiving: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on February 22, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/fear-stymies-your-growth/ 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: mark@impactpricing.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Joe Woodard's vision is to "transform small businesses through small business advisors." And in the service of that vision he and his team educate, coach, provide resources and build communities for small business advisors, with the overarching goal of empowering them to play a powerful, high-impact advisory role with their clients. In this episode Joe shares strategies for Infusing feelings and solutions into your pricing models that drive people's buying decisions. Why you have to check out today’s podcast: "Infuse everything we've talked about [sales approach] with feelings and solutions into something the client can consume, easily understand, comprehend, and buy easily." - Joe Woodard Topics Covered: 02:51 - From a Quickbooks advisor to hiring and teaching coaches how to coach businesses 05:40 - How this great quote from John Maxwell became a huge inspiration for his upcoming conference 07:28 - Understanding the two foundational pillars of value 09:31 - Methodologies used to maximize product's value proposition 12:06 - Gaining a competitive by catering to both emotional and solution-oriented needs 13:48 - Incorporating emotional intelligence into your sales approach 18:44 - How mimicking good behaviors is effective in selling 19:33 - Understanding the DISC method for hiring people 24:26 - Delegating outcomes, holding individuals accountable using methodologies like OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) 25:58 - Infusing pricing strategies with a combination of emotional resonance 28:47 - Interplay between emotions and problem-solving in both B2B and B2C contexts 30:06 - Joe's best pricing advice 31:51 - What this conference, 'Boldly Go!' is about Key Takeaways: "If you're waiting for all risk to go away, you're waiting for all fear to go away, you'll never act. And if you're waiting for perfection, you'll never act. So don't wait on those things. Enter the danger, proceed afraid, fail forward, and then read a lot. That's how I did it." - Joe Woodard "People will only exchange their hard earned dollars for one of two things, how you make me feel, or how you solve my problem." - Joe Woodard "It's not about price, it's about nature." - Joe Woodard People/Resources Mentioned: https://www.maxwellleadership.comhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michio_Kakuhttps://neildegrassetyson.comhttps://www.gladwellbooks.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwell/dp/0316017930 https://www.amazon.com/s?k=positive+intelligence&languagehttps://www.amazon.com/Measure-What-Matters-Google-Foundation/dp/0525536221https://www.axe.com/us/en/home.htmlhttps://www.redbull.com/ph-en/ Connect with Joe Woodard: https://www.woodard.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/quickbooksadvisor/ Connect with Mark Stiving: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on February 15, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/stopping-one-of-your-biggest-revenue-leaks-discounts/ 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: mark@impactpricing.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Steve Laborda is a CEO of Valuebizbooster, Consultant, Coach, Author and Speaker. He is a practitioner in B2B sales and marketing, focusing on improving profitability, how to capture value, and developing the competencies of the commercial people through customer orientation and commercial excellence. In this episode, Steve delves into the intricate blend of art and science involved in the sales process. He emphasizes the importance of incorporating intangibles alongside hard facts, highlighting that both are essential for success and reaching a deal. Furthermore, he underscores the collaborative efforts of individuals within the company, working cohesively as a team to uphold a value-based approach throughout the entire sales process. Why you have to check out today’s podcast: "Don't forget to work with sales when you do your pricing." - Steve Laborda Topics Covered: 01:00 - How he got into pricing 01:30 - The many roles he played 02:41 - Pointing out the 'art' in value, pricing, and selling 04:16 - The intangible benefit other than the emotional, and cognitive aspect of value selling 06:24 - How was his experience different from any other salesperson who's good at building relationships 9:47 - Examples illustrating the three components of the sales process of relationship building, the science part, and the intangibles 11:38 Defining cross-functional value selling 15:04 - Why companies often fail at value-based pricing 17:55 - Calling it a value calculator and not the ROI calculator 20:10 - Why a collaborative way of using the value calculator instead of leaving it to the customer alone 23:36 - Reasons customers likely buy from you 25:35 - Pricing a highly volatile product in the chemical industry 29:23 - Steve's best pricing advice Key Takeaways: "Yes, you need to do value quantifications, but you need to be able also to be emotional and to read body language and to read the skills that people have in front of you." - Steve Laborda "You need to have sales, marketing, pricing, the technical people, if it's a technical context, to have all those people together to develop that value-based approach so that everybody is behind it..." - Steve Laborda "The value calculator is there for me to give confidence to the salesperson about the price that you can defend to the customer." - Steve Laborda Connect with Steve Laborda: LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevelaborda/ Connect with Mark Stiving: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/mark@impactpricing.com

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on February 8, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/proven-value-can-be-a-game-changer/ 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: mark@impactpricing.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

This one is the 8 of Clubs from the Impact Pricing card deck. Ban the word markup. First, can we all agree that cost-plus pricing is not optimal? We really want to do value-based pricing, charge what a customer is willing to pay. Got it, so we're all in agreement. Now, let's talk about the word markup. Markup is defined as, tell me what my costs are, how much do I need to mark that up in order to get the margins that I want? So a markup is by definition cost-plus. Well, it's cost-times, but it's cost-plus. So when we use the word markup, as a company, we're saying we use cost-plus pricing. Now, it is okay, let's say you're running a distribution organization. You're running a grocery store. You've got hundreds of thousands of products to price. You can't do specific value-based pricing on each one of those products. And so, you have to do something. But don't do just cost-plus. When you say we use a 50 point markup or a 20 point markup, we're implying that goes across the board. What we should be saying is, how much margin do we think we can get from this product category? Because margin starts at, what's the price? And then, how much did we have to pay to acquire the product that we sold? So margin is a great term to use when we're thinking about value-based pricing. Markup almost forces us to use cost-plus pricing. So my advice, stop using that word. Don't let anybody else use that word. Switch your mental thought process to margin, not markup. We hope you enjoyed this example of Pricing Table Topics. What you just heard was done without a script. If you have any questions or feedback, please email me, mark@impactpricing.com. Now, go make an impact. Connect with Mark Stiving: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Geraldine Carter helps single-owner CPAs go down to 40 hours without giving up revenue. In this episode, Geraldine reveals effective strategies for tailoring your accounting service business to suit your lifestyle, enabling you to increase revenue without feeling overwhelmed by excessive work. Why you have to check out today’s podcast: "Your clients have an expectation to pay and if your prices are too low, they might not buy from you." - Geraldine Carter Topics Covered: 01:56 - Working less but earning more 03:41 - Flexibility, autonomy and working less hours 05:38 - Mindset shift to less hours work 08:48 - Pricing strategies so accountants work less and increase income 11:10 - How message is structured to a CPA's client in terms of raising his price 14:44 - The idea of selling services but delivering transformations 16:42 - Understanding the services accountants perform and how they earn recurring income 17:20 - What transformation does accountants deliver to companies 22:36 - The beauty of having people see the value in your own business Key Takeaways: “The revenue that you create in your business has nothing to do with the time that you put in. I mean, you have to grind out the beginning to get it all set up and going. But you can get to the place where you do not have to work 40 or 25 or 15 hours a week. You just have to stay at it until you figure out how to get your hours down.” - Geraldine Carter “Thinking that revenue comes from work for clients is like thinking that time comes from your watch, it's not how that works.” - Geraldine Carter “Your buyer decides what price they want to pay. So, we do tiered pricing, we offer it to the clients.” - Geraldine Carter “Most accountants are selling services, but they're creating and delivering transformations.” - Geraldine Carter "For business owners listening, do not underestimate the power of pricing wisely." - Geraldine Carter Connect with Geraldine Carter: https://geraldinecarter.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/geraldine-carter/ Connect with Mark Stiving: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on February 1, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/to-discount-or-not-to-discount/ 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: mark@impactpricing.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

This one is the 8 of Diamonds from the Impact Pricing card deck. Customer perceptions always matter. And what's fascinating is every time we touch a customer, we touch a buyer, they form perceptions of our company. They could be positive perceptions. They could be negative perceptions. And when I say every time, it's not only salespeople making sales calls. It's when they read our marketing messages. It's when they receive our invoices. It's when they call our customer support or customer service line. Every single touch point we have with a customer either creates value in their mind, or it destroys value in their mind. The question becomes, which are we going to do? My recommendation is obviously to create more value with every customer touch point. But how do we do that? We do that by creating a culture of value Inside our company. A customer centric perspective that says, how is it that this decision, how is it that this action, impacts our customers? And can I do it in a way that impacts our customers in a more positive manner instead of just thinking about how do I get them off the phone? Or how do I take care of them quickly so that they go away and stop bothering me while I do my day job? So value, a culture of value, is all about doing what's best for our customers and making sure every customer touchpoint increases value, not decreases it. We hope you enjoyed this example of Pricing Table Topics. What you just heard was done without a script. If you have any questions or feedback, please email me, mark@impactpricing.com. Now, go make an impact. Connect with Mark Stiving: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Robert Ribciuc is the Managing Partner at EBITDA Catalyst. He helped establish, grew, and managed a successful advisory/consulting firm focusing on pricing strategy and analytics, go-to-market optimization, and revenue management for middle-market corporate and private equity portfolio (PE) clients in diverse industry verticals. In this episode, Robert shares the key to succeeding as a pricing practitioner: nurturing curiosity. By continually seeking new experiences and knowledge, you'll not only advance in your current role but also pave the way for future promotions, ultimately leading to a successful career as a consultant. Why you have to check out today’s podcast: "Without curiosity, you wouldn't have tried and you wouldn't know how much room for improvement to have." - Robert Ribciuc Topics Covered: 01:51 - The breadth of the pricing field extending beyond one's job 03:57 - Specializing in a particular industry versus embracing a multifaceted approach to pricing 08:37 - The importance of constantly learning and adapting in pricing 12:02 - How pricing professionals can be better at what they do 14:40 - How curiosity gets your job done easily and gets you promoted 20:46 - The challenge of teaching for students in university versus teaching for companies 26:08 - Summarizing what the whole topic is about 28:18 - Robert's motivational message Key Takeaways: "Go read a book about a different industry, something that's not pricing. Also, get out of your chair and go walk to our product people, go walk to our marketing people and make some friends. Get them to tell you what their job is like and what they're thinking about." - Robert Ribciuc "Curiosity is kind of the opposite of, ‘I can do it easy.’" - Robert Ribciuc "In many companies the curiosity gets subdued by, ‘Oh, I find that if I just do this repeated cycle my boss is happy enough,’ right? And that can be an illusion." - Robert Ribciuc People/ Resources Mentioned: https://impactpricing.com/podcast/497-classic-trash-the-timesheet-exploring-opportunities-in-subscription-businesses-with-ronald-j-baker/https://www.susandavid.comhttps://www.vendavo.comhttps://pros.comhttps://zoom.ushttps://www.honeywell.com/us/en Connect with Robert Ribciuc: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ribciuc/ Connect with Mark Stiving: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on January 25, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/who-should-own-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: mark@impactpricing.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

This one is the 8 of Hearts from the Impact Pricing card deck. Business acumen is a skill that salespeople really need, and product people really should have, to say, "Why is it that a customer would want to buy our product?" In B2B, value is measured in incremental profit. Your customer isn't going to buy anything from you, assuming it's a business customer, unless you are making them more money. Here's the question, how are you making them more money? Somehow, when you can communicate that, when your sales team can communicate that, you have a much better chance at winning the business. And by the way, when you understand it, you have a much better chance at delivering great marketing messages, and building the right products. We really need the skill of business acumen so we can say what is the business of our customers and how is it that we make them more money, because that is where the value is. We hope you enjoyed this example of Pricing Table Topics. What you just heard was done without a script. If you have any questions or feedback, please email me, mark@impactpricing.com. Now, go make an impact. Connect with Mark Stiving: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Steven Forth is Ibbaka’s Co-Founder, CEO, and Partner. Ibbaka is a strategic pricing advisory firm. He was CEO of LeveragePoint Innovations Inc., a SaaS business. In this episode Steven shares the shifting landscape for pricing professionals, emphasizing the rising importance of pricing strategists over analysts in leveraging AI for value-centric decision-making. Additionally, he highlights the possibilities beyond automation to include real-time recalibration of value models, enabling companies to better adapt to changing customer needs and market dynamics. Why you have to check out today’s podcast: "What pricing people should be doing today is learning how to have productive conversations with AI agents." - Steven Forth Topics Covered: 02:44 - Discussing about platform pricing and solution pricing in the context of AI 05:40 - The challenge that pricing platforms presents when it comes to quantifying value for all users 07:06 - Generative AI versus computational knowledge AI in the case of Wolfram Alpha 10:20 - Highlighting the value of packaging solutions tailored to specific needs which can be more valuable to users 12:06 - What goes in the pricing world with AI around 18:38 - Pricing strategists becoming increasingly important, need for better systems to facilitate meaningful conversations and decision-making 20:11 - Would it be possible for AI to make people inside the company understand what value is to customers 24:08 - Six types of value drivers according to Ed Arnold 27:03 - The challenge of building large amount of value models 30:20 - Steven's best advice to pricing people 31:12 - Building a value model through client interviews Key Takeaways: "Why don't people focus more on value? I think part of this is because many of us find it easier to look inside our own company than outside to our customers." - Steven Forth "In an uncertain world, having options and being able to generate options gives you a much more adaptive and resilient business." - Steven Forth "They [pricing people] need to be learning how to ask the AI questions. They need to be learning how to train the AI so that it can better answer those questions." - Steven Forth "They [pricing people] need to be understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the answers they're going to get. Because like it or not, you are going to be using an AI, you are using an AI, in your work today, even if you're not aware of it." - Steven Forth People/ Resources Mentioned: https://www.wolframalpha.comhttps://www.stephenwolfram.comhttps://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/https://pros.comhttps://zilliant.com https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-quantify-value-service-ed-arnold/https://www.mckinsey.comhttps://copilot.microsoft.com Connect with Steven Forth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenforth/ Connect with Mark Stiving: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on January 18, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/listen-to-your-market-then-think/ 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: mark@impactpricing.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/