Tag Archives: Price

Are You Pricing with Your Customer’s Profitability in Mind?

Are You Pricing with Your Customer’s Profitability in Mind?How do you determine your pricing?  It’s probably a rigorous process, but is it science or art?

Do you start with your profitability and go from there? Or do you start with the market price and let your profitability fall wherever it may?

Neither approach alone will help you win in the marketplace. Because neither approach puts your customer‘s profitability into the picture.

Use a pricing strategy that considers your customer’s profitability

Use a pricing strategy that considers your customer’s profitabilityDelivering a market price to your customer will certainly be geared toward improving your top line. Here the logic is that your customer will be looking closely at a few high volume, highly competitively priced products to evaluate your overall pricing proposal.

If you price those product “footballs” correctly, everyone seems to wins. You get the business and they get the pricing they need to be competitive in the marketplace.

But that strategy embodies the whole point of pricing – that your customer is competitive in the market. If they are making the money they need to be successful, you will stand out.

But are you making the money you need to stay in business?

Take a P&L approach to pricing

Take a P&L approach to pricing

It’s no surprise that there’s no one sure way to approach pricing. It really is part science and part art.

But do you approach the science part with a fact-based strategy? To do that, you need to be able to answer a few simple questions:

  • What is the product’s market price?
  • What is the customer’s margin % expectations
  • What can we make?

As one senior leader recently commented to us about pricing: “If you manage pricing from only your profitability – you’re going to be dead.”

Which is why pricing is art as much as science.

Inside of a company, pricing is really a continuum

How do you determine your pricing? It’s probably a rigorous process, but is it science or art?The sales team is, understandably, all about making the sale. They want a price that will help them achieve that goal.

On the other hand, the product marketing team is looking to get credit for the innovation they are bringing to the marketplace. They want to get paid a premium.

Straddling both sides of the fence is channel marketing (also called trade or customer marketing depending on the company). Channel marketing sees both sides of the fence, is grounded in reality, and keeps perspective throughout the process.

Having a group like channel marketing manage your pricing is the secret sauce. They have perspective, collect all the facts, and keep the customer’s profitability balanced with your own profitability.

For other Channel Instincts posts on pricing, see What Does “Your Price Is Too High” Really Mean?, Is Pricing Making You Go Bananas? and Are You Pricing for Volume or Profit?

Good Selling!

 

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Are You Your Customer’s Biggest Fan?

Are You Your Customers Biggest Fan?Ever buy something that costs less than the thing you really wanted because it looked all right and somebody said it would work just as well?

Then, when it didn’t live up to your expectations, did you tell yourself you’d gotten what you paid for?  We’ve all done it.

Stop selling on product and price!

Yet, people continue to buy based on appearances and price…and to make them comfortable about products that can’t be tried before they’re bought, both makers and sellers issue liberal promises. Those promises are on the web, in advertising and sales literature. They are repeated by sales people, and reinforced by warranties.

But, customers sold on unfulfilled promises can be lost forever once they are unsold. The web and social media give these unhappy customers a megaphone to declare their disappointment, frustration and, occasionally, raw bitterness.

There is a way, however, to beat the price game, still make the sale, and keep the customer satisfied. The answer is to add value to your product lines.

Tthe way to do that is to stand out from the competition.

The real key to unlocking growth with your customers is to align your business with their needs

Key to unlocking growth with your customers is to align your business with their needsTruth is, having the right product at the right price and an acceptable level of service are the cost of entry today.

You have to stop selling product features and specifications.

You need to start selling

  • Service
  • Relationships
  • Customer success

Your customers, like all of us, are bombarded with thousands of messages everyday…family stuff, business, the news of the day, social media, advertising, email, sales promotion, publicity. The trick is to avoid having your message lost in the daily clutter. So your customers know who you are, what you have to offer, and that you care when they’re ready to buy.

Looking beyond products

Looking beyond productsIt’s the “care” part that makes you different.

You have to guarantee their satisfaction. Your sales people must be knowledgeable. You have to offer the best products available in every price range…best for the money, best for the application, best for builder, best for remodeler and homeowner satisfaction.

You’re an expert at what you do. That means you need to look up from the day-to-day business long enough to identify market problems and turn them in to advantages.

Do this customer by customer with the goal of being the supplier who is most committed to their success. Leverage your strengths as the marketplace expert and resource.

Why adding value is good for your business

Good for your businessThe end result? You will stand out in your customer’s minds. You will make your competition irrelevant because all they are selling is product. And if they are using price as their primary sales tool, this strategy makes price less important.

That’s why adding value is good for your business.

Because aligning to customer needs benefits you with…

  • Increased customer loyalty
  • Less price sensitivity
  • Higher sales

And, that helps you stand out in a crowded marketplace, beat the market’s economic swings and pitfalls, and increase sales profitability.

For other posts on value from Channel Instincts, see Are You Ready For A Dog Eat Dog World? and  Are You Delivering Real Value to Your Customers?

Good Selling!

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Are You Ready For A Dog Eat Dog World?

Let's talk about competitionWith that in mind, let’s talk about competition. To paraphrase Sara Lee, “Nobody doesn’t have competition.” We do, you do, everybody does. Do I hear you asking what’s the point?

Simple. Since having competition is a given, it’s what you do with it that counts.

What do you do with it? Ignore it? Hope it will go away? Bad mouth it?  Or do you learn from it? Do you make improvements to keep ahead of it?

For many of us, a big part of our current competitive situation boils down to one word. Price.

There are always small companies cherry-picking chunks of the market with lower prices on selected product knock-offs.  Do they offer anything else? Uh-uh. They can’t afford to. Have they embraced the very important concept of customer support that is key to a successful marketing effort?

The low price competitor is historically short on value

The low price competitor is historically short on value

As we’ve watched price-based competition come and go over the years, we’ve learned that your customers demand more than low price. They want comprehensive programs that include new product development, technological innovations and easily understood differences.

They also want merchandising support that really helps them sell. And, of course, they want service…before, during and after the sale. Moreover, they want it from pros who know their products, their markets and their needs.

It’s impossible to separate price and value

Your customers also know that it’s impossible to offer a comprehensive package loaded with value and always offer the lowest price in the market. But, they’re not searching for a shortcut to a quick buck. Like you, they’re in this for the long haul.

Dog Eat Dog World of CompetitionIf this support list describes what you provide to your customers, you should be able to weather just about any competitive storm. Your customers should recognize that in this industry, it’s impossible to separate price and value. A successful distributor-based business needs both.

The low price competitor is historically short on value. And, in this dog eat dog world, value is the thing on which we and you keep our incisors sharp.

For more on value, see the Channel Instincts posts Are You Delivering Real Value to Your Customers? and Are You Your Customer’s Biggest Fan?