Top 6 – July 2007
Published July 1, 2007
Value First, Cost Second
- Price is not the competitive equalizer. Value is. Consider how to communicate your value proposition properly.
- Communicating the value isn’t a once-off thing. Repeat your message and leverage multiple communication vehicles.
- Internet surveys are inexpensive and quick, but that doesn’t make them all-purpose solutions.
- Match the market research tool to the accuracy requirements and decision making information requirements.
- Before matching a competitor’s lower price, calculate the cost and evaluate the gain.
- While branding may drive consumer markets, enterprise markets are driven more on value. Understand your value and communicate it.
About The Author
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.