How to Secure and Maintain Internal Buy-In

and Support for Your Pricing Projects

MARKETING your PRICING INITIATIVES

for SUCCESS

Pricing Initiatives Are Among the Most Challenging... • The status quo is very powerful.

• Pricing and discounting is a source of power for many.

• Pricing decisions impact peoples’ pocketbooks.

• Pricing is not understood... yet everyone is an expert!

CAUTION

Effective Internal Marketing Can Make a Big Difference... • Proactively address peoples’

concerns and issues.

• Eliminate uncertainty and fear around “something new”.

• Demonstrate broader support and maintain momentum.

• The act itself sends a message.

Internal Marketing Is Similar to External Marketing...

OBJECTIVES

AUDIENCES

HOT-BUTTONS

STRATEGY

TACTICS

ADJUST

Get Clear About Objectives and Desired Outcomes... • What strategic objectives will

this initiative support?

• What factors are creating the need for the initiative?

• What problems and issues are you trying to avoid?

• What does success look like?

Identify and Prioritize the Internal Audiences... • Which roles and functions

will have similar concerns?

• Are there sub-segments with different attitudes?

• Who are the influencers?

• Which segments are most impacted, most influential, or represent a bottleneck?

Identify Each Segment’s Concerns and Hot-Buttons... • Understand the issues people

are really passionate about.

• Work to uncover the unspoken issues and latent concerns.

• Use 1-on-1 interviews and small groups to gather intelligence.

• Leverage personas to document and describe the segments.

“This will all go out the window at the first sign of a drop in revenue.”

“If I don’t have control over pricing, I’m just a glorified order-taker.”

“They must not trust me to make the right decisions anymore.”

“It’s great in theory...but our salespeople will never allow it to happen.”

“Our prices are just fine...salespeople just need to stay in line and comply.”

“The market controls the price...all we can really do is lower our costs.”

Develop Effective Strategic Messaging Platforms... • Develop the “umbrella” themes

related to the overall initiative.

• Then develop segment-specific messages to address hot-button issues and latent concerns.

• Leverage the principles of influence---consistency, social proof, authority, etc.

Identify and Execute the Appropriate Tactics... • Match your communication

tactics to the preferences of the audience and the nature of the information itself.

• Leverage key influencers and managers for additional scale.

• Start as early as possible and move quickly to the segment-specific messaging.

• Delivering information to managers ahead of the rest of the team. • Sharing sensitive information in a private forum and exchange. 1-on-1 Meetings

• Delivering segmented information to entire departments or groups. • Leveraging champions or key influencers to lend support to the effort. Small Meetings

• Delivering umbrella messaging to a broad audience – i.e. company meetings. • Demonstrating executive commitment and support for the effort. Large Meetings

• Delivering timely answers to questions and addressing concerns. • Providing major news and milestone event information. Targeted Emails

• Delivering umbrella messaging to a broad audience – i.e. internal newsletters. • Demonstrating executive commitment and pointing to deeper resources. Broad Emails

• Delivering relevant hard-copy information – case-studies, reports, etc. • Demonstrating the relative importance of the information itself. Mailstop Drops

• Sharing both broad and specific information in a “drillable” fashion. • Gathering timely feedback and providing much greater detail “on demand.” Intranets & Blogs

Gauge Progress and Make Necessary Adjustments... • Continue with the 1-on-1’s to

gather feedback and identify areas for improvement.

• Questionnaires can provide trends and indicators.

• Be open and willing to adjust your approach---you’ll build credibility in the process.

Sooner is better to get ahead of speculation

Do the homework before jumping into tactics

Executives and influencers are often different

Don’t sidestep the naysayers...prioritize them

Avoid corporate speak and pricing esoterica

Continually reinforce the big picture “why”

Set expectations that there will be problems

Use case studies and real-world examples

Always provide a way for people to save face

Do not underestimate the power of an FAQ

Price Elasticity in B2B Making Sense of the Most

Powerful...Yet Underutilized... Measure in B2B Pricing

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