Impact Pricing

• What is Value Research Discovery 
• Identifying what specific values the customers have and letting go over assumptions around that 
• Why is it not necessary to follow your competitors’ pricing model 

Alan Albert is the President of MarketFit, providing strategic services that drive measurable growth.

He is a co-founder of three software companies, selling one to Apple Computer. He conceived and led the design and development of multiple top-selling and award-winning products, generating over US$1 billion in cumulative revenue.

In this episode, Alan leads us to a discussion about market segment, pricing metrics, and value, how they all relate to value creation and pricing. His vast knowledge about capturing value will give you a clear understanding of what value-based pricing is all about and debunks whys much of what you know now about your customer is wrong.

“Whether your company's biggest challenge is in the area of innovation or in marketing or in product or in pricing, they all tie into customer perception of value. Start by letting go of your own assumptions about what our customers should care about and take the time to truly discover and understand and gain insight into your customer's perception of value.”  

– Alan Albert 

Get Accelerate Your Subscription Business: Your Blueprint to Packaging & Pricing for Growth Course at https://www.championsofvalue.com  

Topics Covered: 

01:24 - What is Value Discovery Research? 

02:30 - What is Value?  

05:58 - Customer Value: What it means and how to create it

07:02 - Walking through the process of Value Discovery Research 

11:35 - Why value-based pricing is a misunderstood model 

13:56 - Values: Why most companies get it wrong

14:52 - What is Market Segment and how does this relate to Value 

16:46 - How does Value Discovery Research drive Pricing Model 

17:53 - What is a Pricing Metric 

21:05 - Why it is not effective to follow your competitor's pricing model 

Key Takeaways: 

“The first step in value discovery research is to acknowledge that we do not know our customer's perception of value. My definite definition of value is what something is worth in exchange as perceived by the recipient.” – Alan Albert 

“There is a difference though than having the same problem and having the same values about how to go about solving it. Some might want to solve it with a do it yourself approach. Some might want to buy the most expensive product on the market. Some may want to just dip their toes in and try something without being too committal. They all still have the same problem, but the values of the people may be different and that will lead them to different solutions.” – Alan Albert 

“Often people think of pricing initially as picking a number, what price should we charge? And by focusing on customer perception of value, I've learned that pricing is actually an area for innovation that by changing the pricing model, companies can do a far better job of generating revenue and distinguishing themselves in the market than just picking a number.” – Alan Albert  

“Following your competitor’s pricing is rarely the most effective strategy. Companies like Netflix with their all-you-can-eat subscription pricing or Amazon with Amazon Prime have seen just enormous gains just by coming up with innovative pricing models, by changing what people are paying for.” - Alan Albert 

“If we know what our customers value and we can measure the delivery of that value, we can increase the price of our product so that those who are getting and receiving the most value and perceiving the most value are paying the most for it.” – Alan Albert  

“One way of distinguishing your product or service in the marketplace is to use a completely different pricing model. This makes it so that your customers cannot directly compare your product to theirs as a commodity.” – Alan Albert 

“Understanding the customer's value is, does not mean you need to have a complicated pricing model. In fact, simplicity as you mentioned, is a virtue and that's the beauty of something like Amazon Prime, like Netflix, all-you-can-eat subscriptions, it's relatively easily understood and the value of it is quite clear.” – Alan Albert 

Resources / People Mentioned 

• Infobip 

• Pragmatic Marketing 

Connect with Alan Albert:  

• MarketFit.com  

• LinkedIn  

• Twitter  

• Email: [email protected] 

Connect with Mark Stiving:    

• Email: [email protected]    

• LinkedIn    

• Twitter    

• https://www.championsofvalue.com  

• Discover the 3 central C's of Value; creating, communicating and capturing value 
• Learn what is customer perceived value and how outcome appeals to them rather than benefits only
• Learn how to be a customer experience expert and how to get customers talking about your company

Mark Boundy is a sales, value, differentiation, and pricing expert who helps companies sell more profitably.

He's a consultant for Miller Heiman, an advisor and thought council member to The C-Suite Network where he advises corporations on all things value-related, identifying their fundamental differentiators to help them choose where to compete and how that informs boots-on-the-ground selling.

In this episode, Mark shares how W. L. Gore & Associates taught and instilled in him the importance of customers perceived value to a business, why value should be a religion to any business, the 3 central C's in marketing, and the importance of focusing on the outcomes you bring to customers rather than benefit.

"I often see the word benefits use differently. So, I no longer like to use the word benefits with my clients. Because benefits sometimes mean less than what I think of its value. I use the term ‘outcomes.’" 

– Mark Boundy 

Topics Covered: 

1:58 - Mark shares lessons he learned from a material science and engineering company called W. L. Gore & Associates

2:39 - How value has become a religion to him and everyone else at W. L. Gore & Associates

7:49 - Creating Value: Why it is important to know what the value of the customer is going to be and the value of the product to that customer

15:59 - Communicating value: why the outcome is better than the benefit 

19:17 - Capturing Value. Why front-liners like salesperson has a significant role in understanding customer's outcomes and why should they be trained in communicating understanding the customer's business

21:17 - On being an expert at your customer's business, how Microsoft Enterprise is practicing to help their consumers understand their market

24:33 - Mark shares how Bob Miller trains their consultants at Miller Heiman. Bob to Mark - “Customers don't buy their products. They buy results or outcomes.” 

Key Takeaways: 

 "You need to be able to have a dialogue with a customer to understand their outcomes and to understand their business." –Mark Boundy  

"Help the customer understand that a high price is a low price to pay for the kind of outcome [you offer]." – Mark Boundy 

"It's the outcomes is the desirability outcomes, and it's built on the differentiation, the outcomes they get from you that they can't get anywhere else." - Mark Boundy 

People and Resources Mentioned

• The C-Suite Network
• Miller Heiman
• Bob Miller
• Microsoft Enterprise
• W. L. Gore & Associates
• Listen to Mark’s Impact Pricing Interview: Ep 15: Mark Boundy – Value Selling: How to Sell Value Rather than Price

Connect with Mark Boundy: 

• Email: [email protected] 
• Read his blog: boundyconsulting.com/blog 
• boundyconsulting.com 
• LinkedIn 
• Twitter 

Connect with Mark Stiving  

• Email: [email protected]  
• LinkedIn  
• Twitter  
• https://www.championsofvalue.com 

• Discover the 3 central C's of Value; creating, communicating and capturing value 
• Learn what is customer perceived value and how outcome appeals to them rather than benefits only
• Learn how to be a customer experience expert and how to get customers talking about your company

Mark Boundy is a sales, value, differentiation, and pricing expert who helps companies sell more profitably.

He's a consultant for Miller Heiman, an advisor and thought council member to The C-Suite Network where he advises corporations on all things value-related, identifying their fundamental differentiators to help them choose where to compete and how that informs boots-on-the-ground selling.

In this episode, Mark shares how W. L. Gore & Associates taught and instilled in him the importance of customers perceived value to a business, why value should be a religion to any business, the 3 central C's in marketing, and the importance of focusing on the outcomes you bring to customers rather than benefit.

"I often see the word benefits use differently. So, I no longer like to use the word benefits with my clients. Because benefits sometimes mean less than what I think of its value. I use the term ‘outcomes.’" 

– Mark Boundy 

Topics Covered: 

1:58 - Mark shares lessons he learned from a material science and engineering company called W. L. Gore & Associates

2:39 - How value has become a religion to him and everyone else at W. L. Gore & Associates

7:49 - Creating Value: Why it is important to know what the value of the customer is going to be and the value of the product to that customer

15:59 - Communicating value: why the outcome is better than the benefit 

19:17 - Capturing Value. Why front-liners like salesperson has a significant role in understanding customer's outcomes and why should they be trained in communicating understanding the customer's business

21:17 - On being an expert at your customer's business, how Microsoft Enterprise is practicing to help their consumers understand their market

24:33 - Mark shares how Bob Miller trains their consultants at Miller Heiman. Bob to Mark - “Customers don't buy their products. They buy results or outcomes.” 

Key Takeaways: 

 "You need to be able to have a dialogue with a customer to understand their outcomes and to understand their business." –Mark Boundy  

"Help the customer understand that a high price is a low price to pay for the kind of outcome [you offer]." – Mark Boundy 

"It's the outcomes is the desirability outcomes, and it's built on the differentiation, the outcomes they get from you that they can't get anywhere else." - Mark Boundy 

People and Resources Mentioned

• The C-Suite Network
• Miller Heiman
• Bob Miller
• Microsoft Enterprise
• W. L. Gore & Associates
• Listen to Mark’s Impact Pricing Interview: Ep 15: Mark Boundy – Value Selling: How to Sell Value Rather than Price

Connect with Mark Boundy: 

• Email: [email protected] 
• Read his blog: boundyconsulting.com/blog 
• boundyconsulting.com 
• LinkedIn 
• Twitter 

Connect with Mark Stiving  

• Email: [email protected]  
• LinkedIn  
• Twitter  
• https://www.championsofvalue.com 

• Learn about why the accounting world, as well as the cars industry, are leaning towards subscription pricing these days 
• Discover why timesheets focus firm leaders on the wrong things especially in pricing and value setting 
• No Timesheets? Is it Possible? 

Ronald  J. Baker is the founder of VeraSage Institute, a reformed CPA and cost accountant who has changed his mind on the value of timesheets and cost accounting. His quest is to bury the billable hour and timesheets.  

He is also a radio talk-show Host, The Soul of Enterprise: Business in the Knowledge Economy heard on www.voiceamerica.com. 

In this episode, Ron articulated so well his arguments over not using timesheets in setting up pricing. He has refuted all defenses for use of timesheets. At the same time listen to him as he gives profound examples and explanations as to why certain pricing value and cost models are appropriate for particular industries. 

“If we took the time that we spend [or waste] doing timesheets and did after-action reviews instead. I think we'd be much further ahead.”

- Ronald J. Baker

Topics Covered: 

02:18 - Talking about four defenses for timesheets in relation to Pricing 

03:34 - Taking into consideration the Cost of Goods Sold in setting the price 

06:58 - Difference between a metric and measurement type of cost allocations 

09:16 - Of Opportunity Cost and Sunk Cost 

10:25 - Is time really considered in setting up pricing 

14:23 - Project management as a way of making better decisions in the future 

17:25 - The best advantage of niching your expertise on 

20:01 - The start of subscription pricing in the accounting world 

22:13 - Insurance classified as subscription pricing 

25:11 - What's the best thing about hiring an accounting firm rather than accounting staff for your business 

28:34 - His thoughts on cars leaning towards a subscription model 

Key Takeaways: 

“Prices to me are like agents. Why do sports stars and actors and authors have agents not because they like to pay these people 15% of their gross revenue, but because these people can get them higher prices and your prices are your agents. So even if you're a solo entrepreneur, have somebody else help you with pricing because it will put a spine in you and you won't give yourself away because I think all of us are terrible at pricing ourselves.” - Ron Baker 

“Keep in mind that I don't need to see timesheets to know your firm's costs. I need to know, I need to see your GL, your income statement and I need to know what your labor and all of that is. I'd much rather track revenue per person or labor cost per person, profit per person in a professional firm because that's a true measurement.” - Ron Baker 

“Even if they're just starting out as a sole solo. Don't have any employees. I still think they can put a price on things consistent with their opportunity cost and what they want, willingness to accept and function fine, and this is an integral part of this, as long as they step back after the job is completed and do an after-action review and learn from it.” - Ron Baker  

“If you're niched, if you specialize, it's much easier to know what something's going to take once you build up some experience.” - Ron Baker 

“A subscription model is a way to lock customers in for life. So in value pricing to Oh you're pricing, not the customer. And this is the subtle difference, but bear with me, you're pricing the relationship and your pricing the portfolio because you're looking at it as a portfolio rather than a project or just a customer. You're actually looking at the entire portfolio.” - Ron Baker 

“We're too busy. I think we confuse being busy with being effective and being profitable. And I'll see a correlation there.” - Ron Baker 

Links and Resources Mentioned: 

• Bain and Company 
• Mckinsey and Company 
• Porsche 
• Canvas + Fair 

Connect With Ron Baker: 

• Verasage Institute 
• LinkedIn 
• Twitter 
• Email: [email protected] 

Connect with Mark Stiving:   

• Email: [email protected]   
• LinkedIn   
• Twitter   
• https://www.championsofvalue.com 

• Learn about why the accounting world, as well as the cars industry, are leaning towards subscription pricing these days 
• Discover why timesheets focus firm leaders on the wrong things especially in pricing and value setting 
• No Timesheets? Is it Possible? 

Ronald  J. Baker is the founder of VeraSage Institute, a reformed CPA and cost accountant who has changed his mind on the value of timesheets and cost accounting. His quest is to bury the billable hour and timesheets.  

He is also a radio talk-show Host, The Soul of Enterprise: Business in the Knowledge Economy heard on www.voiceamerica.com. 

In this episode, Ron articulated so well his arguments over not using timesheets in setting up pricing. He has refuted all defenses for use of timesheets. At the same time listen to him as he gives profound examples and explanations as to why certain pricing value and cost models are appropriate for particular industries. 

“If we took the time that we spend [or waste] doing timesheets and did after-action reviews instead. I think we'd be much further ahead.”

- Ronald J. Baker

Topics Covered: 

02:18 - Talking about four defenses for timesheets in relation to Pricing 

03:34 - Taking into consideration the Cost of Goods Sold in setting the price 

06:58 - Difference between a metric and measurement type of cost allocations 

09:16 - Of Opportunity Cost and Sunk Cost 

10:25 - Is time really considered in setting up pricing 

14:23 - Project management as a way of making better decisions in the future 

17:25 - The best advantage of niching your expertise on 

20:01 - The start of subscription pricing in the accounting world 

22:13 - Insurance classified as subscription pricing 

25:11 - What's the best thing about hiring an accounting firm rather than accounting staff for your business 

28:34 - His thoughts on cars leaning towards a subscription model 

Key Takeaways: 

“Prices to me are like agents. Why do sports stars and actors and authors have agents not because they like to pay these people 15% of their gross revenue, but because these people can get them higher prices and your prices are your agents. So even if you're a solo entrepreneur, have somebody else help you with pricing because it will put a spine in you and you won't give yourself away because I think all of us are terrible at pricing ourselves.” - Ron Baker 

“Keep in mind that I don't need to see timesheets to know your firm's costs. I need to know, I need to see your GL, your income statement and I need to know what your labor and all of that is. I'd much rather track revenue per person or labor cost per person, profit per person in a professional firm because that's a true measurement.” - Ron Baker 

“Even if they're just starting out as a sole solo. Don't have any employees. I still think they can put a price on things consistent with their opportunity cost and what they want, willingness to accept and function fine, and this is an integral part of this, as long as they step back after the job is completed and do an after-action review and learn from it.” - Ron Baker  

“If you're niched, if you specialize, it's much easier to know what something's going to take once you build up some experience.” - Ron Baker 

“A subscription model is a way to lock customers in for life. So in value pricing to Oh you're pricing, not the customer. And this is the subtle difference, but bear with me, you're pricing the relationship and your pricing the portfolio because you're looking at it as a portfolio rather than a project or just a customer. You're actually looking at the entire portfolio.” - Ron Baker 

“We're too busy. I think we confuse being busy with being effective and being profitable. And I'll see a correlation there.” - Ron Baker 

Links and Resources Mentioned: 

• Bain and Company 
• Mckinsey and Company 
• Porsche 
• Canvas + Fair 

Connect With Ron Baker: 

• Verasage Institute 
• LinkedIn 
• Twitter 
• Email: [email protected] 

Connect with Mark Stiving:   

• Email: [email protected]   
• LinkedIn   
• Twitter   
• https://www.championsofvalue.com 

• Discover why value capture is the most important business idea your business should know about 
• Find-out where should the pricing function reside in your business? 
• Learn why your pricing strategy should be a team effort 

Tim J. Smith is the Founder and CEO of Wiglaf, a dynamic and growing advisory firm, where thought leaders in pricing, marketing, sales, and business strategy help firms achieve improved pricing and help executives manage price better.

Tim is also an adjunct professor at DePaul University where he is an Economics and Marketing Professor specializing in Pricing Strategy. He authors books, Pricing Strategy and Pricing Done Right. 

In today’s episode, Tim shares the pervasiveness of pricing in a company. He stressed a point on how each key role in the company should have knowledge about pricing concepts to come up with a team effort on value capture.

“Don't go for the cheapest customer. Go for your best customer and set your price there.”  

- Tim J. Smith

Topics Covered: 

01:28 - What paved the way for him  into Pricing 

02:36 - Why did he name his company Wiglaf 

04:04 - What's the big thing about Pricing today 

04:50 - Getting deeper into Pricing being a verb piece 

06:32 - Pricing being a team effort 

08:59 - Who is a Pricing Person 

09:58 - A product manager role in pricing 

13:13 - What should really be expected of Pricing people 

15:26 - What does it mean when you say "pricing should get involve" 

17:20 - Pricing is not a person, it is a verb 

18:38 - His company's, Wiglaf, big projects 

21:53 - Some more problems and concerns in Pricing and clients today 

22:51 - His valuable Pricing advice that would have a big impact in business 

Key Takeaways: 

“Don't go for the cheapest customer. Go for your best customer and set your price there.” - Tim Smith 

“I do want to point out that I did mean HR because I see pricing also having a role in structuring sales incentives and other incentives about value capture and value communication.” - Tim Smith 

“ Putting the plan to study, adjusting the Deming constantly, and constant improvement cycle,  putting these into your commercial policy and your pricing enables you to make this continual improvement in value capture.” - Tim Smith 

“Salespeople need tools to communicate value. If you're going to expect those salespeople to capture any, people also need to know what segments of the market is likely to purchase so that they don't waste the time on customers that are out of the market.” - Tim Smith 

Links and Resources Mentioned: 

• Symantec 
• 3M 
• Wiglaf Pricing 

Connect with Tim Smith

• LinkedIn 
• Wiglaf Pricing
• https://wiglafpricing.com

 Connect with Mark Stiving  

• Email: [email protected]  
• LinkedIn  
• Twitter  
• https://www.championsofvalue.com

• Discover why value capture is the most important business idea your business should know about 
• Find-out where should the pricing function reside in your business? 
• Learn why your pricing strategy should be a team effort 

Tim J. Smith is the Founder and CEO of Wiglaf, a dynamic and growing advisory firm, where thought leaders in pricing, marketing, sales, and business strategy help firms achieve improved pricing and help executives manage price better.

Tim is also an adjunct professor at DePaul University where he is an Economics and Marketing Professor specializing in Pricing Strategy. He authors books, Pricing Strategy and Pricing Done Right. 

In today’s episode, Tim shares the pervasiveness of pricing in a company. He stressed a point on how each key role in the company should have knowledge about pricing concepts to come up with a team effort on value capture.

“Don't go for the cheapest customer. Go for your best customer and set your price there.”  

- Tim J. Smith

Topics Covered: 

01:28 - What paved the way for him  into Pricing 

02:36 - Why did he name his company Wiglaf 

04:04 - What's the big thing about Pricing today 

04:50 - Getting deeper into Pricing being a verb piece 

06:32 - Pricing being a team effort 

08:59 - Who is a Pricing Person 

09:58 - A product manager role in pricing 

13:13 - What should really be expected of Pricing people 

15:26 - What does it mean when you say "pricing should get involve" 

17:20 - Pricing is not a person, it is a verb 

18:38 - His company's, Wiglaf, big projects 

21:53 - Some more problems and concerns in Pricing and clients today 

22:51 - His valuable Pricing advice that would have a big impact in business 

Key Takeaways: 

“Don't go for the cheapest customer. Go for your best customer and set your price there.” - Tim Smith 

“I do want to point out that I did mean HR because I see pricing also having a role in structuring sales incentives and other incentives about value capture and value communication.” - Tim Smith 

“ Putting the plan to study, adjusting the Deming constantly, and constant improvement cycle,  putting these into your commercial policy and your pricing enables you to make this continual improvement in value capture.” - Tim Smith 

“Salespeople need tools to communicate value. If you're going to expect those salespeople to capture any, people also need to know what segments of the market is likely to purchase so that they don't waste the time on customers that are out of the market.” - Tim Smith 

Links and Resources Mentioned: 

• Symantec 
• 3M 
• Wiglaf Pricing 

Connect with Tim Smith

• LinkedIn 
• Wiglaf Pricing
• https://wiglafpricing.com

 Connect with Mark Stiving  

• Email: [email protected]  
• LinkedIn  
• Twitter  
• https://www.championsofvalue.com

• Learn when to use pricing metrics and pricing models 

• Learn how and which pricing model to use to fit your customers’ needs and to  align towards their cost and revenue goals 
• Learn about how he closed a $200-million dollar deal without having to reduce its price despite the customer’s feedback of such price being triple as the one offered by another vendor  

Kota Sarma is a Certified Pricing Professional and passionate Pricing Leader with over 25 years of experience in Pricing of Products, Software and Services, Subscription Pricing, Advanced Pricing Models, Commercial Analysis & Analytics, Business Planning & Modelling in Telecommunications, Polymers, Natural Gas industries. 

In today’s episode, Kota shares with us his expertise in pricing especially in terms of using pricing metrics and pricing models which best suit customers’ needs.  Also, learn about how not to reduce your pricing by switching pricing models and setting up price structures that meet customers' cost and revenue goals. 

“In some situations, I've seen, the business model itself is a totally new model and customer is not sure of the success. What happens? Customers will try to get the best price from you, which means the lowest price from you. Instead of dropping your price, you can change your total price model, a price structure and see that it needs a kind of risk-sharing model. You can propose your risk-sharing model where you grow with the customer.”  

- Kota Sarma 

Topics Covered: 

02:02 - How did he start his career in Pricing 

03:34 - How is a gas transportation sector priced as compared to an ordinary commodity 

04:09 - Should you be doing a lot of cost-plus pricing in a regulated commodity 

05:12 - Who sets the price in a gas transportation sector 

05:45 - Is the cost of raw materials included in the pricing for polymers 

07:13 - What are the pricing differentiators for polymers 

07:44 - Conjoint analysis and customer value index 

08:44 - The different pricing models he uses and how it works 

14:01 - Of price metrics and price models 

15:00 - Structuring your price based on customer need  

19:26 - How to manage to offer different customers with different price models 

21:02 - The immense value of a salesperson who does value conversation 

24:12 - Pricing advice that will give impact to one’s business 

Key Takeaways: 

“Anything is possible but if you cannot measure it, then there is no use in using that price metric. It has to be measurable, number one and it should align with a customer revenue model. That is important.” - Kota Sarma 

“If their revenue model is per user, I cannot have per usage. I cannot charge them per usage it has to be aligned with their revenue model.” - Kota Sarma 

“Price levels are obviously different depending on the value, the scope and configuration, the time. There are so many terms and conditions and in a way each transaction is unique.” - Kota Sarma 

“Don't let your salespeople approve your pricing. They should be aware of their proposals, they should propose a price and somebody else has to approve.” - Kota Sarma 

Links and Resources Mentioned:  

• Gallup, Inc 

Connect with Kota Sarma  

• LinkedIn  

Connect with Mark Stiving   

• Email: [email protected]   
• LinkedIn   
• Twitter   

• Learn when to use pricing metrics and pricing models 

• Learn how and which pricing model to use to fit your customers’ needs and to  align towards their cost and revenue goals 
• Learn about how he closed a $200-million dollar deal without having to reduce its price despite the customer’s feedback of such price being triple as the one offered by another vendor  

Kota Sarma is a Certified Pricing Professional and passionate Pricing Leader with over 25 years of experience in Pricing of Products, Software and Services, Subscription Pricing, Advanced Pricing Models, Commercial Analysis & Analytics, Business Planning & Modelling in Telecommunications, Polymers, Natural Gas industries. 

In today’s episode, Kota shares with us his expertise in pricing especially in terms of using pricing metrics and pricing models which best suit customers’ needs.  Also, learn about how not to reduce your pricing by switching pricing models and setting up price structures that meet customers' cost and revenue goals. 

“In some situations, I've seen, the business model itself is a totally new model and customer is not sure of the success. What happens? Customers will try to get the best price from you, which means the lowest price from you. Instead of dropping your price, you can change your total price model, a price structure and see that it needs a kind of risk-sharing model. You can propose your risk-sharing model where you grow with the customer.”  

- Kota Sarma 

Topics Covered: 

02:02 - How did he start his career in Pricing 

03:34 - How is a gas transportation sector priced as compared to an ordinary commodity 

04:09 - Should you be doing a lot of cost-plus pricing in a regulated commodity 

05:12 - Who sets the price in a gas transportation sector 

05:45 - Is the cost of raw materials included in the pricing for polymers 

07:13 - What are the pricing differentiators for polymers 

07:44 - Conjoint analysis and customer value index 

08:44 - The different pricing models he uses and how it works 

14:01 - Of price metrics and price models 

15:00 - Structuring your price based on customer need  

19:26 - How to manage to offer different customers with different price models 

21:02 - The immense value of a salesperson who does value conversation 

24:12 - Pricing advice that will give impact to one’s business 

Key Takeaways: 

“Anything is possible but if you cannot measure it, then there is no use in using that price metric. It has to be measurable, number one and it should align with a customer revenue model. That is important.” - Kota Sarma 

“If their revenue model is per user, I cannot have per usage. I cannot charge them per usage it has to be aligned with their revenue model.” - Kota Sarma 

“Price levels are obviously different depending on the value, the scope and configuration, the time. There are so many terms and conditions and in a way each transaction is unique.” - Kota Sarma 

“Don't let your salespeople approve your pricing. They should be aware of their proposals, they should propose a price and somebody else has to approve.” - Kota Sarma 

Links and Resources Mentioned:  

• Gallup, Inc 

Connect with Kota Sarma  

• LinkedIn  

Connect with Mark Stiving   

• Email: [email protected]   
• LinkedIn   
• Twitter   

• Learn about account-based marketing’s role in pricing your service 

• Know how to lead an effective pricing strategy and sales enablement by working closely with stakeholders 

• Discover how to effectively deliver strategic product marketing to your target market that increases your win rates 

Natalie Louie is the Director of Product Marketing at Hired where she leads pricing strategy, and sales enablement while working closely with stakeholders to ensure alignment and executional excellence.  

With over 20+ years of experience in Silicon Valley and Wall Street, Natalie delivers strategic product marketing and pricing expertise. Prior to Hired, Natalie was in PMM at Responsys and during the Oracle acquisition and was Head of Cloud Pricing Operations at the Oracle Marketing Cloud. She also serves as an advisor for Impact Pricing. Natalie currently loves living in the Bay Area with her husband and 3 children. 

In this episode, Natalie shares her pricing expertise, deep knowledge, and specialties on improving operations, revenue, profits, integrations, partnerships, managing, SaaS pricing and packaging, product marketing, planning, and development. She also digs deeper into what account-based marketing is all about, how it is related to pricing and product marketing, also the different cross-functional duties of the organization in order to close deals and increase win rates. 

“The trend is that marketing actually has a seat at the revenue table. Because with things like marketing automation, where we can impact top of the funnel leads coming in, we now have a direct lever that impacts revenue.”  

– Natalie Louie 

Topics Covered: 

00:46 – Natalie’s path into pricing 

01:52 – Her big AHA moment at the PMM Summit, pricing’s trend in relation to product marketing 

03:46 – Accelerate Your Subscription Business: Your Blueprint to Packaging & Pricing for Growth Course’s impact, the outcome on the actual on the pricing session that she did at the PMM Summit event 

05:04 – Account-based marketing, what is this all about in relation to product management 

08:37 – Looking at all the different personas inside an account, why you should dig deeper into it 

09:54 – Creating conversations whose role is it, sales or marketing, or both? 

10:16 – Keeping an eye on what’s happening on accounts and how people are interacting with the different digital and in-person touchpoints 

11:31 – Personalizing content for your target market as a sample of account-based marketing making sure that the content you create is based on the company that you’re going after, and the actual people that are in the market 

16:12 – Account-based marketing going hand in hand with pricing strategy 

16:44 – What Portfolio Marketing is all about, tracking buyer personas to make sure that you know, there are results that have a good impact on the business 

18:51 – Watching potential customers or buyers touchpoints – what do they care about, what kind of solutions should you be presenting to them or what should you be talking to them about 

19:53  – Cross-functional coordination, why is this important, how daily stand-ups help your team strategize to win deals 

22:00 – Product Marketing and sales enablement 

22:31 – Natalie’s one piece of pricing advice that she thought could have a big impact on people’s business? 

Key Takeaways: 

“I see a lot of product marketers now focusing on pricing, on the packaging, on revenue much more, because now marketing can influence every revenue bucket.” – Natalie Louie 

“Ideal portfolio marketing is not just one group or one team it’s everybody working together, being on the same page to make sure that we’re giving the customer what they want.” – Natalie Louie 

“What we do is we bring in people from different cross-functional groups to come into our meetings and tell us what’s happening. And so the more alignment there is, we find that the better we are able to react and deliver what our customers want.” – Natalie Louie 

• PMM Summit San Francisco 
• Ep9: Natalie Louie – Product Marketing and Pricing Expert 
• Product Marketing Alliance
• Pragmatic Marketing
• Salesforce
• Oracle
• IBM
• https://www.championsofvalue.com

Connect with Natalie Louie 

• LinkedIn 

Connect with Mark Stiving  

• Email: [email protected]  
• LinkedIn  
• Twitter