pricing strategy for mid-market companies

©2010 ShortTrack CEOwww.ShortTrackCEO.comwww.ShortTrackCEO.com

Pricing Strategy for Mid-Market

Companies

http://www.shorttrackceo.com/

©2010 ShortTrack CEOwww.ShortTrackCEO.com2

SYSTEM FOCUS


• Sales force

• Good skills • Profitability

• Product / service

Foundation Market

PeopleOperations

Company

Value

• Purpose

• Culture

• Marketing strategy

• Brand strategy

• Competitive

positioning

• Cash flow

• Productivity

• Capacity

• Motivation

• Hiring success

• Accountability

MARKET QUADRANT REQUIRES PLANNING


Are you influencing your

market or is your market

influencing you?

Does the validated

assessment of your

people guarantee you’ll

achieve your public and

private agenda?

Do you have the right

balance between

investing in today and

investing in tomorrow?

Even if your

foundation was viable

yesterday, will it be

viable tomorrow?

F M

POOO

GOAL IS TO INFLUENCE MARKET


• Who buys from you– Competitive positioning

– Competitive advantage

– Brand strategy

– Distribution strategy

– Pricing strategy

PRICING REINFORCES YOUR POSITIONING

©2010 ShortTrack CEOwww.ShortTrackCEO.com

PRICING

6

• What is your pricing strategy?– Cost plus?

– Match competition?

– Undercut competition?

– Don’t have one?

• Pricing is one of classic “4Ps” of marketing– Product, Price, Place, Promotion


PRICING

7

• Pricing strategies can be complex– Can support or “fight” your brand

and positioning

• Key is to align pricing strategy with – Value proposition

– Competitive positioning

– Brand strategy


PRICING

8

• Alignment creates “harmony”– Price is final piece of brand puzzle

in most buyers’ minds

• Price creates value

perception– Grey Goose vs. Smirnoff


PRICING

9

• Changing pricing is important– Parker Hannifin CEO defined its

strategy

• Pricing alignment with brand strategy– Product leadership = higher

prices

– Operational excellence = lower prices

– Customer intimacy = midrange to higher prices


PRICING

10

• In B2B, how do salespeople damage brands?– Always lowering prices to “get

the sale”

• Devalues offering unless value proposition is operational excellence– Give other incentives instead of

just lowering price


PRICING

11

• How does pricing affect

revenue and profits?– Price sensitivity, or “elasticity”

affects volume

• For non-economists,

shows slope of demand

curve– Flat means market not

sensitive to price changes

– Vertical means market very

sensitive


PRICING

12

• What is the easiest way for most mid-market companies to increase profits 5%?

• Raise prices– Evaluate first

– Should We/Can We™ will reveal impact

• People involved– Sr. mgmt/CEO

– Sales and marketing teams

– Finance


PRICING

13

• What might a pricing audit reveal?– Raise some prices

– Keep some same

– Lower some

• Will make right choices if – Match pricing to strategy and

understand elasticity


PRICING BOARD RESULTS


• Add completed reports to strategy binder

• Will use for next module

PRICING

15


• Download our eBook for More

16

– http://www.shorttrackceo.com/mid-market-ceo-ebook/

http://www.shorttrackceo.com/professional-ceo-ebook/








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http://www.shorttrackceo.com/mid-market-ceo-ebook/

pricing strategy for mid-market companies

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