Posts by: Tim J. Smith, PhD

Top 6 – March 2013

By Tim J. Smith, PhD April 1, 2013

“If there is a Volkswagen Way, it is to be determined, diligent and attentive to detail, with a glint of ruthlessness.” VW…

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Understanding Velocity-Based Pricing – A Preliminary Investigation

By Tim J. Smith, PhD March 4, 2013

In the age of big data, sales velocity has become a metric for guiding pricing decisions. Pricing software vendors all cite sales velocity as an important factor in guiding pricing decisions. Fortune 500 and mid-tier firms alike are known to practice it. But what does velocity-based pricing mean? Why should sales velocity influence pricing decisions? How should firms use sales velocity to inform pricing? And are there serious pitfalls to this approach, or is it a sound business practice?

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Top 6 – February 2013

By Tim J. Smith, PhD March 4, 2013

A customer checks you out … How did he know you existed? What brought him to you? How do you get more…

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Economic Price Optimization with Locally Measured Elasticity of Demand — Unreliable

By Tim J. Smith, PhD March 4, 2013

Theoretically, if you know the elasticity of demand you can optimize the price through economic price optimization. You may think that this approach would give the best price in practice as well since the word “optimal” is implied in its name alone. But dig beneath its sexy title you will generally find an ugly mess. So what do we do with it?

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Top 6 – February 2013

By Tim J. Smith, PhD February 4, 2013

Why do Americans generally get paid more to do business than to do engineering or science? Is it that there is greater…

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Apple Takes a Beating — What Did You Expect?

By Tim J. Smith, PhD February 4, 2013

Apple has had a beating both in the market and the press lately. Despite record quarterly profit, they lost their number-one stock spot to Exxon Mobil. By some prognostications, Samsung is rising in the smartphone market, and Huawei is taking a stronger foothold on the price-sensitive emerging-market field, while Apple is stumbling. Well, for those who failed to sell Apple at above $700 prices and now see it below $450, what did you expect?

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Economic Price Optimization with Globally Linear Demand — Both Useful and Useless

By Tim J. Smith, PhD February 4, 2013

Economic price optimization has a lot to tell us, but not necessarily the price which optimizes the firm’s profits. Economic price optimization relies on a defined demand curve. Unfortunately, defining the demand curve with sufficient precision and reliability for decision making can be done for only a subset of challenges. So if this method is not useful for pricing in many cases, what use is it?

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Top 6 – January 2013

By Tim J. Smith, PhD January 7, 2013

“We’re looking to make progress quickly, either fail fast or succeed fast.” Daniel Hullah, Venture Capitalist Most businesses fail, but some succeed…

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What Are Firmographics?

By Tim J. Smith, PhD January 7, 2013

Firmographics are descriptive attributes of firms that can be used to aggregate individual firms into meaningful market segments. In an analogy, firmographics are to businesses and organizations what demographics are to people. Firmographics describe businesses, non-profits, and governmental entities.

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Top 6 – December 2012

By Tim J. Smith, PhD December 3, 2012

Somewhere between blunt and precise lies communication. Go too far in either direction and you lose them. When sales people manage information…

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About The Author

timjsmith
Tim J. Smith, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Wiglaf Pricing, an Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Economics at DePaul University, and the author of Pricing Done Right (Wiley 2016) and Pricing Strategy (Cengage 2012). At Wiglaf Pricing, Tim leads client engagements. Smith’s popular business book, Pricing Done Right: The Pricing Framework Proven Successful by the World’s Most Profitable Companies, was noted by Dennis Stone, CEO of Overhead Door Corp, as "Essential reading… While many books cover the concepts of pricing, Pricing Done Right goes the additional step of applying the concepts in the real world." Tim’s textbook, Pricing Strategy: Setting Price Levels, Managing Price Discounts, & Establishing Price Structures, has been described by independent reviewers as “the most comprehensive pricing strategy book” on the market. As well as serving as the Academic Advisor to the Professional Pricing Society’s Certified Pricing Professional program, Tim is a member of the American Marketing Association and American Physical Society. He holds a BS in Physics and Chemistry from Southern Methodist University, a BA in Mathematics from Southern Methodist University, a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chicago, and an MBA with high honors in Strategy and Marketing from the University of Chicago GSB.