Top 6 – March 2013
Published 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 conquers the world, The Economist (July 7, 2012).
- Every firm has different goals and needs. Don’t try to emulate Google’s strategy; create a better one.
- There is no one silver-bullet fix for every company. Become the Grand Canyon, not the Köprü Dam.
- Thinking outside the box is great, just make sure you’re still connecting all the lines.
- Your team has to be on the same page. If your marketers have a different vision than your salesforce, the result is chaos.
- However brilliant your ideas are, if your customers don’t buy in, they aren’t smart ones.
- If you don’t know what your customers want, ask them.
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.