tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4279845366616399597.post2739616577780598261..comments2023-08-24T11:24:44.949-04:00Comments on The Power of Pricing: Pricing is a Business Process, Not Just a FunctionMichael Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15245723895274099048noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4279845366616399597.post-1944067818883514622011-03-29T09:44:41.705-04:002011-03-29T09:44:41.705-04:00I received the following question from LinkedIn: &...I received the following question from LinkedIn: "I work with so many companies where sales and marketing people caucus on price and meeting comp. Very few spend time on creating value and therefore on getting better compensation (price?) What do you notice when you work with clients?"<br /><br />Simply stated, my experience has taught me there is no "standard". For most companies, and this is especially true in larger companies that I've worked with, pricing was one of many job responsibilities a product manager or sales manager had. Therefore, many "caucuses" as mentioned above, occurred related to pricing, but very little could be done. Call it "Silo mentalities", "turf protection", or whatever, but those who realized change was needed could, in actuality, do little to affect change. In these type of situations, it took a groundswell of momentum to enlist upper management to appoint someone in charge to change pricing (it's amazing when a CEO, CFO, or similar says "jump", everyone asks, "how high?"). When this happened, change was on the horizon. But for those going through the early days of building that momentum, the days are long.<br /><br />That being said, I have seen that within organizations, smaller groups that do have the right amount of power can make and implement the necessary changes to improve pricing strategies. However, it will take a leader with the right vision and the wherewithal to seek out pricing improvement opportunities.Michael Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15245723895274099048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4279845366616399597.post-18214914728145714542011-03-20T15:55:52.390-04:002011-03-20T15:55:52.390-04:00Chris - what were some of the impediments you enco...Chris - what were some of the impediments you encountered during your transition to pricing being integral to the organization? I've typically encountered the usual "pride in ownership" and "silo mentality", but I'm curious what else you might have faced and what you did to overcome these roadblocks.Michael Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15245723895274099048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4279845366616399597.post-6733068668186715992011-03-19T12:27:16.037-04:002011-03-19T12:27:16.037-04:00When I was in an operational role some time ago fo...When I was in an operational role some time ago for some B2B enterprise software, we implemented pricing processes, which resulted in our team winning a quality improvement for measurable results. This included processes for establishing pricing, reviewing it periodically, and changing pricing over time. <br /><br />As you point out, over time, we found that pricing is integral to many other business processes, such as software licensing and license models, software product structure, maintenance, product lifecycle management, discounting, entitlement management (back-office systems) and deal structures. As processes improved, so did education and socialization of the processes and methods. <br /><br />Ultimately, this more structured approach lead to more a more agile business as the organization could systematically move to newer pricing and licensing models to gain competitive advantages in the marketplace.Cris Wendt, Principal Strategy Consultanthttp://www.flexerasoftware.comnoreply@blogger.com