Impact Pricing

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on December 1, 2021, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.

Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/value-based-mindset-is-hard-for-an-organization/ 

If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected]. Now, go make an impact.

Connect with Mark Stiving: 

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn

Yes, pricing is really hard. I personally find it frustrating when I look at companies, doesn't matter the size of the company where they're focused a lot on how do we keep costs down?

How do we cut costs? We have procurement people. We hire specific procurement people whose job is to get costs down and their job is to learn how to negotiate better so that we can pay lower prices. And I'm not saying those are bad things. But, you know, pricing is so much more powerful. What if we could negotiate better on our sales side?

What if we could communicate value better to our marketplace? What if we understood value to where we could set our prices at a higher point and maybe even build products that have more value.

“Pricing is hard. There's no doubt, but that's what business is all about. It is definitely worth investing. I don't know why companies don't.” - Mark Stiving

We hope you enjoyed this podcast. If you see have any questions or feedback please email me [email protected]. 

Now go make an impact.

Connect with Mark Stiving: 

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn

Kevin Coppinger is currently the Director of Analytics in Ferrellgas. He is passionate about leading groups that turn large data into an asset, providing leadership the opportunity for insights and actions.

In this episode, Kevin shares his analytics journey as he talks about the importance of data in providing better service and becoming a better service provider in the field.

Why you have to check out today’s podcast:

• Discover why data is power and how the understanding of it makes everything better;
• Understand why an analyst needs to be a good overall communicator if he wants to be good at what he’s doing;
• Find out how knowing your competitors help you understand where your company and your products should fit in the field.

“Figure out who your top three competitors are and find their biggest weakness and their biggest strength when it comes to product offering and price.”

– Kevin Coppinger

Topics Covered:

02:40 – Talking about his failed CPA journey and how it led him to pricing

05:57 – Discussion about insurance, price segmentation, and the cost-plus model

09:20 – Ferrellgas and what Kevin does as he works there

14:04 – Ferrellgas tank users vs. non-Ferrellgas tank users and using analytics for overall betterment

20:16 – Why a good analyst needs to be a good interviewer and communicator nowadays

26:37 – How his background in accountancy helped him in switching to analytics

30:01 – Kevin’s pricing advice for the listeners

Key Takeaways:

“Price is the most important signal that a company sends to its consumers but willingness to pay is almost as important as what they think of your actual product.” – Kevin Coppinger

“Customers would want to behave the way we wanted them to behave, so that they could control their price.” – Kevin Coppinger

“You should shop insurance every three years. I know it is a pain in the butt, it's a hassle to move it especially if you've got all of your property insured with one place, but every three years, you should call just to check. It keeps your insurance company honest and it will most likely keep a couple of dollars in your pocket.” – Kevin Coppinger

“The more we know about the house and the more we can connect into how they use their energy, the better we can be for them and for ourselves.” – Kevin Coppinger

“Good pricing can only come with good data, and good data is usually tied to good understanding of your prices.” – Kevin Coppinger

“Data is power. Pure and raw data is pure and raw power and it is scary and it needs to be a little bit controlled and molded a little bit. But if you can help a company, if you can help analyst hone that data better, they become smarter, their companies become smarter, and us – we, as consumers – will inevitably benefit if more companies start using their data to much more intelligent fashion.” – Kevin Coppinger

People / Resources Mentioned:

• Ferrellgas: https://www.ferrellgas.com/
• AmeriGas: https://www.amerigas.com/
• Ivan Winfield: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanwinfield
• Eaton Hydraulics: https://www.eaton.com/us/en-us.html
• Syngenta: https://www.syngenta.com/en
• Resideo: https://www.resideo.com/us/en/

Connect with Kevin Coppinger:

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kmcoppinger

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: [email protected]

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on November 24, 2021, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.

Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/value-based-mindset-is-hard-for-an-individual/ 

If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected]. Now, go make an impact.

Connect with Mark Stiving: 

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn

I've spoken with lots of CEOs who believe that they should get higher margins and they want higher margins. And, by the way, doesn't everybody want higher margins?

But the key is the CEO as well as pretty much everybody else in the company doesn't truly understand what value means to the customer. 

And what that means is that the products they're building aren't necessarily. That valuable to their marketplace. 

“Build products that deserve higher margins. “- Mark Stiving

If everybody could switch their mindset to believing in value, to understanding what customer value really looks like, we could truly build products that had a lot more value in the marketplace and then charging higher prices and getting higher margins.

That just goes along with building better products. 

We hope you enjoyed this podcast. If you see have any questions or feedback please email me [email protected]. 

Now go make an impact.

Connect with Mark Stiving: 

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn

Scott Miller is an experienced pricing professional with over 12 years of proven leadership in achieving profit oriented sales growth through advanced pricing techniques. Currently, he works as the Vice President of Pricing at Fiserv. Scott guides the pricing team in developing creative proposals for clients on Fiserv sales of $3B annually. He successfully led and implemented profitable growth and pricing strategies in Fortune 500 companies across numerous industries.

In this episode, Scott shares insights in relation to his pricing journey, from the very start of being inspired by Neil Brisbane and now working as Fiserv’s VP of Pricing.

Why you have to check out today’s podcast:

• Discover how you can avoid cannibalization of your own sales in other regions as you start going global in business;
• Know why understanding the context – your customer, your competitors, and outside influences – is important in doing pricing decisions; and
• Learn more about formula-based pricing and its difference with cost plus pricing

“Understanding the context of the situation is key in making pricing decisions. Understand the customer's viewpoint, understand the competitors that are involved in that situation, even outside influences, as much as you can, a consultant or not. I think those are the key things, and I think those are what people should think about when they're pricing.”

– Scott Miller

Topics Covered:

01:24 – How Scott started his career in pricing and what he loves about it

4:11 – Talking about Scott’s exposure to different concepts, the rebates, and the relationship between pricing and the customers

8:29 – Leaving Motorola and working in Hollister

11:40 – Going back to Motorola in a global role, dealing with arbitrage, and taking the risk of currency fluctuations

15:55 – Scott’s new environment in Air Gas and the discussion about formula-based pricing’s difference to cost plus pricing

19:27 – Why do people consider the pass through of AWS costs? What should they consider in doing so?

24:10 – Starting his journey with Fiserv through LinkedIn

26:05 – Discussion about companies taking all their overhead costs which affect their product’s standard price

27:41 – “Understanding the context of the situation is key in making pricing decisions.”

Key Takeaways:

“We didn't have a ton of tricks. Mostly, it was just paying attention to our own selling price.” – Scott Miller

“We didn't deal with it [the risk of currency fluctuations] from the other side of trying to put the risk on the customers; we took the risk.” – Scott Miller

“The formula itself – coming up with something that's agreeable to both parties, you have to be kind of specific in how it ends out in the contract to make sure if for any reason that index goes negative on you, you’d want to make sure that that's not a price break. That this is only zero or up. It's not a ‘Now, we're going to start cutting costs because the index has went under.’ You have to be careful.” – Scott Miller

“Try to do it on a calendar date rather than like a 12-month from contract date, because you get into the business of constantly running these calculations. If you can get away with just doing it once a year, then maybe you're just looking at the labor cost once and the transportation costs depending on how you built those formulas. Otherwise, you're redoing it every time the contract comes due.” – Scott Miller

People / Resources Mentioned:

• Fiserv: https://www.fiserv.com/

Connect with Scott Miller:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottmillernetwork/

Connect with Mark Stiving:  

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: [email protected]

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on November 17, 2021, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.

Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/freemium-or-free-trial/  

If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected]. Now, go make an impact.

Connect with Mark Stiving: 

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn

Gross margin never matters to pricing. Occasionally, contribution margin does.

This might feel like accounting to you. 

Gross margin, contribution margin…. but you've probably heard me say, 'Fixed costs never matter to pricing. Never, never, never.’

 Now, if you believe that here's a really simple accounting concept. 

“Gross margin includes allocated fixed costs to the cost of a product. Contribution margin does not include allocated fixed costs. “- Mark Stiving

So if we simply take the rule that fixed costs never mattered in pricing, then when we're making pricing decisions, we shouldn't be looking at gross margins.

Sometimes we want to look at contribution margin, especially if we're pricing. Uh, take it or leave it type products. 

And we can talk about that some other day. 

So please don't use gross margin. 

We hope you enjoyed this podcast. If you see have any questions or feedback please email me [email protected]. 

Now go make an impact.

Connect with Mark Stiving: 

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn

Luigi Prestinenzi is Sales IQ Group’s Co-Founder and Head of Growth. He founded this company in 2014 and has been helping companies unlock the full potential of their sales teams since then. Luigi has been in sales his entire career. He hosts the Sales IQ Podcast where he talks with various leaders from around the globe to discuss the art and science of sales and marketing, personal development, and the mindset required to sell more every day.

In this episode, Luigi discusses the importance of creating value in your practice, and why understanding your customers is crucial.

Why you have to check out today’s podcast:

• Find out why you must know what your customer values in order to provide them with what they want;
• Learn why understanding ICPs and KPIs is important for your sales growth;
• Rather than losing a client because you thought you did what was right, find out how to close deals effectively.

“Before even going to a point of price and advocating any solutions, ask yourself a question. Do you know the problem they're trying to solve? Do you know the impact, the problem you’d help them achieve? Do you know the outcome that they're looking to achieve? If you can't answer those three questions, you're pricing too early and it's completely irrelevant.”

– Luigi Prestinenzi

Topics Covered:

01:49 – Luigi’s narrative on how he got into sales

03:09 – Talking about Sales IQ Group and the importance of knowing what your customer values

05:57 – How does Sales IQ Group help people identify their ideal customer profile (ICP)?

07:39 – Why is it important to understand the KPIs in relation to knowing what your customers value?

10:16 – Mark’s dark days in the sales industry and how it reflects two things that really matter the most whenever one sells anything

13:23 – Luigi talks about derived value as he reminds us that we’re not heroes, just byproducts of what we help people achieve

15:18 – The perspective that effectively works in helping clients find the value piece

19:28 – A CPO client who chose the more expensive option in finding an integrator for areeba; Creating value in seeing unrecognized needs

22:33 – Talking about RFPs; People not going for experts and fixing the problems all by themselves

25:44 – What is Luigi’s pricing advice that could have a big impact on people’s business?

Key Takeaways:

“How can you help extract value if you don't understand what the customer's goals and objectives are, and ultimately, what they value? This is where there's a misalignment in the sales profession.” – Luigi Prestinenzi

“Companies that are happy with the customer base – they just don't have enough customers – and often what they do is they've got one message for everyone. They've got the same message for an accountant that they might be selling to and a manufacturing business, when fundamentally, those businesses behave very differently. They've got different needs. Their goals and objectives are different. The challenges and their trends are different. They should segment them and then start to think about the message that resonates for the industry sector that they're dealing with.” – Luigi Prestinenzi

“They're the two things that really matter when we're selling anything. We’re either helping them achieve a better result, or helping them fix a problem that helps them achieve a better result, or it's de-risking something within the business that could have essentially stopped them from achieving a particular result. Anything outside of that, it doesn't become a priority. The biggest competitor a seller or a company selling a product or service he's competing with is not the competitor; it's the status quo.” – Luigi Prestinenzi

“We're not the hero. We're just a byproduct of the outcome we're helping the person achieve. We've got to continue to remember that – we are not the heroes in the conversation.” – Luigi Prestinenzi

“Your pricing conversation is not what they're buying. They're buying the outcome that your pricing conversation allows them to achieve, and that starts at the very first level of interaction that we have with someone.” – Luigi Prestinenzi

People / Resources Mentioned:

• Sales IQ Group: https://www.salesiqglobal.com/

Connect with Luigi Prestinenzi:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luigiprestinenzi/?originalSubdomain=au

Connect with Mark Stiving:  

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: [email protected]

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on November 3, 2021, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.

Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/pricing-during-supply-constraints/ 

If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected]. Now, go make an impact.

Connect with Mark Stiving: 

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn