A few times each year, members of the Professional Pricing Society community gather in person to network, learn, and train together. Last week in Atlanta, we met with thought leaders across industries to discuss the latest trends, technologies, and approaches for impacting commercial profitability.
Below are a few standout themes from the week and potential implications for teams and organizations as they seek growth through volatile markets.
1. The next era of value-based pricing
Change is happening faster and faster across markets, competitors, and discrete customer needs. The target is always moving, and what is most valuable to customers today may look significantly different in the future.
Companies are placing new bets on what that value will look like. How will customers be making decisions tomorrow, next quarter, three years from now? What will be most important to them? And the linchpin: How can the pricing function break down siloes between sales, marketing, product, and R&D teams to ensure they’re providing that value?
2. AI: Doing more with more
We all know we “should” be incorporating AI into more of our systems. Many are well on their way with the use of platforms like Zilliant, Pricefx, or PROS. For those moving mountains early in this journey (bless you), or perhaps are somewhere in the middle: What’s a pricer to do?
As value drivers evolve, generative AI can be a tool to help monitor changes. Once the source of value is identified (whether it’s increased revenue, decreased cost, or mitigated risk), teams can lean on AI to help inform price adjustments, product updates, or feature/packaging changes.
3. Building pricing power and CXO influence
Pricing has always been more than just setting a number. But many pricers have experienced that pigeonholing of their function at one point or another – and it can prevent teams from building long-term momentum with their pricing power.
While executive support is not always a given, we know it can be created, and it’s essential for success. The first step is building trust.
As you pursue broader impact across functions:
- Identify key markets or products to pilot, test and learn from before broad-scale implementation
- Include sales from the beginning and stay connected over time – no handoffs
- Measure everything and be transparent with any failures
Pricing power is achieved through an entire company’s efforts, and trust is the glue for these initiatives to properly take off and move companies from siloed thinking/processes into long-term strategic plays.
Looking forward to the next conference as this community works to elevate and advance the pricing profession together. Thank you for a great week, PPS!
