Impact Pricing Mark Stiving, Ph.D.

Tim Smith helps executives address critical questions in pricing, marketing, sales, and corporate strategy in the face of high uncertainty by using proven best practices informed by solid academic research.
In this episode, Tim delves into the Pricing Spineometer, a comprehensive tool designed to assess a company's pricing capabilities. By examining financial performance and organizational structure, one can provide valuable insights into the gap between a company's current pricing practices and optimal strategies. He also touches on the crucial role pricing plays in business success and the importance of CEO involvement in driving pricing excellence.
 
Why you have to check out today’s podcast:
Discover this pricing tool called Pricing Spineometer for assessing a company's pricing capabilities and learn how it works, its significance, and how it can benefit businesses Gain insights into the world of pricing strategies discover surprising findings about pricing practices in various industries and how they impact business performance Explore the critical role of CEOs in driving pricing excellence within organizations and understand why pricing decisions often require the direct involvement and prioritization of top leadership, and how this impacts business outcomes  
"Take the time to apply the expertise necessary to your pricing questions. Think about it, and then listen to that expertise."
- Tim Smith
 
Topics Covered:
01:36 - Sharing an enriching experience teaching and consulting
02:45 - How he found himself in pricing
04:08 - What made him create Pricing Spineometer, what is it all about, clarity on it measuring a gap versus a scorecard
07:31 - The process of using the Pricing Spineometer
11:40 - How the initial financial analysis sets the foundation for understanding a company's pricing needs and capabilities
14:29 - Understanding that creating a Pricing Spineometer for a company involves significant work and expertise
16:26 - AI's impact on pricing and the companies' various reactions on their pricing capabilities assessment with pricing spineometer
19:16 - Valued for the expertise and insight not on time spent
20:08 - Surprises coming up for different companies pricing sophistication
22:19 - Does the CEO takes care of the development of pricing expertise and how does a CRO differ from a VP of Pricing
24:26 - Tim's best pricing advice
 
Key Takeaways:
"If you changed the way you thought about pricing, there'd be a huge bottom line impact to your company." - Tim Smith
"You're charging for the intellect that goes into the work, not the actual amount of time it takes to do the work." - Tim Smith
"There are ways to get around tools, there are ways to use the tools, but you’ve got to understand what the goal is." - Tim Smith
 
People/Resources Mentioned:
World Class Pricing: The Journey by Paul Hunt: http://www.pricingsolutions.com/world-class-pricing-the-journey/ TI: https://www.ti.com Walmart:https://www.walmart.com Coca Cola: https://www.coca-cola.com/us/en Pepsi: https://www.pepsi.com/ Nvidia: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/ Kraft Heinz: https://www.kraftheinzcompany.com/  
Connect with Tim Smith:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drwiglaf/ Website: https://wiglafpricing.com/  
Connect with Mark Stiving:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com  

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on April 25, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.
Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/the-value-of-a-feature-how-to-create-value-tables/
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:
Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/  

Patrick Meegan is a Managing Director at Investor Group Services. Experienced in technology, industrials, consumer products, retail and e-commerce, subscription programs, pricing, and product strategy.
In this episode, he delves into the complexities of pricing strategies, emphasizing the importance of aligning prices with the perceived value and understanding market segments. She also explores the nuances between B2C and B2B pricing, highlighting the transparency in B2C and the significance of marketing and packaging in consumer products. Additionally, she provides insights on implementing price changes effectively in different organizational sizes and navigating the challenges of setting prices through distribution channels.
 
Why you have to check out today’s podcast:
Understand buyer drivers in order to make strategic decisions in pricing and packaging Learn practical advice on implementing price changes, particularly the challenges and strategies for ensuring successful pricing execution Gain valuable insights into the differences between B2C and B2B pricing, including unique challenges in B2C and the role of marketing in consumer products  
"Spend time pressure testing the ideas."
- Patrick Meegan
 
Topics Covered:
01:51 - The best way to teaching case studies and the how to go about each case
02:49 - How he ended up in pricing despite lack of pricing background
03:59 - Value-based pricing and understanding buyer behavior
05:03 - The process of generating pricing insights
06:39 - Application of a framework to generate pricing insights
08:57 - Challenges and strategies for executing pricing changes, particularly in larger organizations
11:17 - Overcoming fear of raising prices.
13:08 - Strategies for reducing fear and uncertainty when implementing price increases 
15:42 - The appropriate role of salespeople in pricing decisions
17:32 - The importance of setting and managing price floors and discounting policies for salespeople
21:34 - Maintaining pricing integrity and avoiding discounts
22:46 - The differences between B2C and B2B pricing strategies and how crucial is setting the end user price first when selling through distribution or channels
26:46 - Pat's best pricing advice
 
Key Takeaways:
"If we can't understand from the buyer's side what's driving their purchase, then it's hard for us to understand how to sell to them, how to negotiate, where to hang the value, how to package and how to structure the pricing model." - Patrick Meegan
"I cringe so much when I see people going out with a price of whatever it is with a discount right along with it because whatever value established you just eroded by saying it wasn't worth that." - Patrick Meegan
"Your portfolio also plays an important role in how you can influence pricing." - Patrick Meegan
 
People/Resources Mentioned:
Kimberly Clark: https://www.kimberly-clark.com/en-us Kleenex: https://www.kleenex.com/en-us/ Huggies: https://www.huggies.com/en-us/  
Connect with Patrick Meegan:
Website: maplestreet.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmeegan/ Email: patrick.meegan@igsinsights.com  
Connect with Mark Stiving: 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com  

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on April 18, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.
Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/b2b-market-research-is-overrated/
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:
Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: 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 explains how AI can significantly enhance software customization and pricing, enabling more precise value delivery for each customer. He emphasizes that while AI introduces new capabilities, it does not fundamentally change the core principles of pricing. 

 
Why you have to check out today’s podcast:
Dive deep into the comparison between AI and the transformative impact of SaaS, providing valuable insights into the future of software pricing and delivery Understand value models and how AI can optimize pricing strategies Explore how AI can enable highly customized software configurations and pricing, making it easier to deliver and capture value tailored to individual customers  
"Before they invest a lot of time and effort in developing or pricing their own AI, find out what their customers are already doing and how they're thinking about the problems."
- Steven Forth
 
Topics Covered:
00:47 - Skepticism as well as optimism regarding AI and addressing the hype surrounding AI
04:15 - Exploring how AI might impact software pricing compared to the changes brought about by cloud-based SaaS.
07:05 - The way AI can optimize software configurations and pricing based on individual value drivers for each customer
10:44 - Discussing how SaaS fundamentally changed software pricing compared to AI
14:11 - How AI, while it enhances capabilities and user experiences, does not fundamentally change the underlying principles of pricing
16:31 - What is a value model?
18:15 - Pricing being tied more closely to value with the rise of AI
23:27 - Steven's best pricing advice
 
Key Takeaways:
"The underlying ways that we think about pricing have not changed because of generative AI and will not change, but some of them we’ll be able to execute on much, much more effectively." - Steven Forth
"I think of pricing not as being something that is data-driven, but something that is model-driven." - Steven Forth
"AI is changing how we build, deliver, and experience the functionality that software and data can bring. But as it does that, it also opens new ways for us to think about the pricing of the applications and the data." - Steven Forth

 
People/Resources Mentioned:
Pros: https://pros.com Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/en-ph/Don Norman: https://www.nngroup.com/people/don-norman/ Jacob Nielsen: https://www.nngroup.com/people/don-norman/ Totogi: https://www.totogi.com McKinsey: https://www.mckinsey.com Tom Nagle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-tom-nagle-2bb2288/ Zilliant: https://zilliant.com Pricefx: https://www.pricefx.com Vendavo: https://www.vendavo.com Tomasz Tunguz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomasztunguz/  
Connect with Steven Forth:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenforth/ Email: steven@ibbaka.com  
Connect with Mark Stiving:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com  

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on April 11, 2024, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.
Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/value-for-buyer-personas/
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:
Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/