AHA-Moment
My personal Aha-moment was a conversation about a customer order received without any discussion after the supplier gave him his highest uplift when quoting. The company owner was surprised because he didn’t understood why the customer is buying at that high price. Obviously he didn’t understand that the customer isn’t simply buying his product.
It’s not the obvious
Customers often do not just buy the product itself. They see a value unfortunately companies are not necessarily aware of. Companies often assume that their customers are not willing to pay for extra performance, higher quality or services. It might be true a customer is not looking for these features. But you need to understand that the product is offering value to a specific customer group but you won’t be able to convince each and every one.
Experiences
During my time with a huge US company I accepted a position in pricing. This changed my view on price and performance drastically. Depending on the customer different aspects of a product mean additional value to him. The key for a successful pricing strategy is the understanding and communication of those values. Price performance ration means that the price is reflection the value the customer is buying.
Different perspectives
Before pricing I went through supply chain, customer service, sales controlling and business development. Due to that I am able to combine different company targets for the best pricing strategy. It’s one of my strength to structure the current to bring up the best possible future scenario including different company targets. To see the development during those projects from reservations first hand but finally being able to convince them that the new project is going to be something great. Moving things forward is my motivation. Being part of the innovative process that enable continuous improvements and secure the future of the company and its employees drives me forward.
Price confidence
Colleges sometimes called me „capitalist“ who’s purpose is to increase prices only. It was more of a joke but is an example of the common perception of what pricing is about. When anyone phased price increases in his private environment they used it to talk about it with me. We had many discussion about what is cheap and what is reasonable priced. Here the idea started to develop. I wanted to share knowledge for a bigger community. Large companies hire experts. But with some knowledge and the right mindset customers as well as small and medium sized companies could be able to make sustainable and confident pricing decisions. With awareness they will create a price that values the features and becomes a fair price for both customer and company.