Posts by: Tim J. Smith, PhD
Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) is “desheeting” its products to improve profitability. Weber Stephen Products LLC avoids price promotions and markdowns on their grills, and yet maintains a dominant market position. These are two rather disjointed activities but they both appear to fall afoul of the suggestions given in a recent Wall Street Journal article by Professor Ailawadi of Tuck and Professor Farris of Darden. Are Ailawad and Farris wrong, are the companies wrong, or can both pairs be right?
MoreHaving a long list of prospective buyers may be comforting for a salesperson, but a highly applied sales methodology for business markets suggests salespeople should only pursue prospects that fall within two out of four response modes. What are these response modes? How do they affect price performance? And why should salespeople only pursue two of them?
MoreCelebrate, Lament, Ignore. You choose how you respond to stimuli and situations. If your prospects are bad, create new ones. Don’t sell…
MoreTo graduates: Michael Dell (Dell), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Mike Lazaridis (RIM), and John Mackey (Whole Foods) all dropped out…
MoreSince childhood, we have heard about economics. Now that we are adults with jobs, it seems like using an economics for pricing would be wise. But, as grown-ups, we also know that things are never as simple as they appeared when we were kids.
More“Selling a product at a loss for market share is not a good business decision.” Jeff Fettig, Chief Executive, Whirlpool Costs and…
MoreCEOs Robert McDonald of P&G and James Craigie of Church & Dwight are facing off in the laundry soap business, and one of them is slinging mud. Recent executive comments and division performance reports highlight that the battle in the soap aisle isn’t just about soap, it’s about the fundamental purpose of businesses in competitive markets.
MoreWhich is a better price: $15.99 or $16.49? To answer this question, we have A/B testing and price optimization, but this approach doesn’t work all the time.
MoreJC Penney’s CEO Ron Johnson has had a tough go at it. Stock valuation is down roughly 40% since the time Johnson took over. Customer sales are down 20% from last year. Some are calling for his resignation. But before we chant “off with his head” with the Twitterati, let’s see if we can’t help him find a way out of his quandary.
MoreIn Freshman Land, economic price optimization can be done with simple models and equations. But Freshman Land doesn’t reflect reality, and hence we have to move to the next level. We have to have the right mental model of demand.
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