Posts by: Tim J. Smith, PhD

unsplash default post photo-350px

Renault Got It. GM Didn’t. Business Philosophy Matters.

By Tim J. Smith, PhD May 4, 2012

Renault’s small car segment is led by Arnaud Deboeuf is earning above 6% profit margins on €7,700 cars. GM’s Opel loses $630 on every car sold in Europe. How does Renault do this and why can’t Opel?

More
unsplash default post photo-350px

Celebrating 10 Years, 500 Articles, and 250,000 Readers

By Tim J. Smith, PhD May 4, 2012

10 years ago, the first Wiglaf Journal published. What have we accomplished and where are we going?

More

Top 6 – April 2012

By Tim J. Smith, PhD April 1, 2012

Trust is composite belief based on Honesty, Competence, and Benevolence. If you want to build trust … deliver on all three. Honesty:…

More
unsplash default post photo-350px

SPIN Selling and Value-Based Pricing – Friends or Foes?

By Tim J. Smith, PhD April 1, 2012

Is pricing out of touch with the market? Are salespeople frittering away profits? Are these two groups really at war with each other? Or, are they aiming for the same goal but language differences are preventing proper teamwork? Let’s review SPIN Selling from a pricing perspective.

More

Top 6 – March 2012

By Tim J. Smith, PhD March 1, 2012

Giving up is living suicide. I choose life. The responsibility for ensuring your customers care about your differential value is yours. The…

More
unsplash default post photo-350px

Pricing Strategy Defined in Three Questions

By Tim J. Smith, PhD March 1, 2012

There are three key questions that must be asked for every pricing problem. Each must be asked from the customer’s perspective, not your own. Number 1: What is the alternative? Number 2: Are you better or worse? And Number 3: Why should I expletive care?

More
unsplash default post photo-350px

It’s My Own Damn Fault

By Tim J. Smith, PhD March 1, 2012

The question some suppliers constantly ask is “How did we get into a situation where the only thing that seems to matter to our customers is price?”  It’s an important question, and one where the unfortunate answer often is, in the words of Jimmy Buffett, “It’s my own damn fault”.

More

Top 6 – February 2012

By Tim J. Smith, PhD February 1, 2012

Progress can’t make itself. Make it. If you want to win, you have to be in the game. Who is your target…

More
unsplash default post photo-350px

Business Selling: Choosing the Right Methodology

By Tim J. Smith, PhD February 1, 2012

How should salespeople sell? Yes, they need to be well groomed (presentable), have a good people skills and a tough skin, and have an orientation towards action and winning. But assuming they have these basic skills, what specifically should they do?

More
unsplash default post photo-350px

Sales vs. Pricing and Large Account Management

By Tim J. Smith, PhD January 4, 2012

Prices are too high for our customers. Sales is giving away our product. We have heard these claims. Many times. These arguing points between the professionals who manage customers and those who manage prices have been fought over for aeons. Yet which group is right?
To address the issue of pricing and account management, let us leverage the research by Miller and Heiman into the creation of thought leadership in pricing.

More

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.