“If all you talk about with customers is price, there is no price low enough for them.”

Reed Holden & Mark Burton

The software division of a large financial services company had developed exceptionally high value products and services, but was suppressing prices in order to sell against much lower-value competitors. We quantified the offering’s value to its customers, structured offerings to protect the high-value elements, and developed a methodology for setting and raising prices. After 18 months, revenues had grown more than 80% and margins had tripled.

A high-tech manufacturer, unable to precisely track deal results or competitor behavior, responded to market pressures with regular quarterly discounts. Our analysis helped the client launch a simpler pricing system, new incentives and other strategies that ended quarterly discounting. In the 12 months following our study, the client’s quarterly revenues rose 17% and operating income rose over 37%—over $300 million per year.

A client was locked in a fierce battle with a single industry rival, causing it to miss revenue goals and resort to price discounts to close major deals. We provided the rules and methods for adjusting prices deal-by-deal, and suggested special pricing for high-value products. Within 12 months, the client’s operating income turned positive and grew by over $450 million.

A hardware/software integrator needed a product offering and pricing strategy for its innovative new software system. We led a series of analytical workshops to design offering packages, pricing strategy, and value messaging that enabled them to become self-sufficient in structuring and pricing offerings.

A major semi-conductor manufacturer was struggling with declining margins in a global industry. We analyzed competitive price strategies in their sector, as well as internal sales trends, to develop a segment-based pricing model.

A manufacturer wanted to rein in sales of its product through unauthorized, or gray market, channels. We discovered how pricing practices were contributing to gray markets, and generated new pricing, channel management and rebate practices to dramatically lower gray market losses.

A leading international company was poised to launch a new product into a multi-billion dollar – but rapidly declining – medical device market. Despite having strong entrenched competitors, senior managers had committed to a large share of the market with the investment community. We advised the firm on using a premium-priced strategy instead, building strong value messaging and training the sales force on how to sell value.