Archives tagged: rebates

Economics of Tariffs

By Tim J. Smith, PhD September 3, 2025

Tariffs are a macroeconomic shock to the global economy. Polls of economists reveal that 93% of economists believe tariffs leave the economy…

Pricing Transformations Are Political Culture Changes. Manage with Care

By Tim J. Smith, PhD August 16, 2019

A major driver behind undertaking a pricing transformation effort is the acknowledgement that price negotiations both take too long and also lead…

Strategic Movements: May 2019

By Tim J. Smith, PhD May 24, 2019

Tesla Model 3 sales volume underwhelmed expectations in Mid-April. SpaceX capsule was damaged in weekend engine tests, spewing smoke.  How to respond?  Elon Musk touted the future of self-driving cars and his strategy for deploying them.  If the truth is unpleasant yet you have fan followers, can he simply change the narrative by talking about a brighter future, again?

Retroactive Rebates: Decision Inexactitudes

By Tim J. Smith, PhD April 30, 2019

Since rebates are accrued and paid to customers later, one could state that all rebates are “retroactive” in that they impact the effective pocket price captured after the invoice is issued, and generally are issued after the invoice is paid. But that is too broad of a definition of “retroactive rebates.”

Shaping Customer Behavior Through Commercial Policy

By Tim J. Smith, PhD October 18, 2017

There are two basic approaches businesses take to managing commercial policy. For most, the default approach is tactical decision making. For some, they take the leap and add strategic decision-making.

Give-Get

By Tim J. Smith, PhD August 24, 2017

I have seen three or four multinationals, and four to six local suppliers sell the same core product in the same country, at roughly the same price. Because there is so much competition in these markets, customers ask for discounts and drive suppliers to bid against each other to win their business. It is hard to make a stable supplier business in these situations. How can one win? And, what does value-based pricing have to contribute to these markets?