The Last Mile of Pricing is not Selling but Buying
1. The Last Mile of Pricing is NOT Selling but Buying
I recently gave a one day workshop on at the Professional Pricing Society on “Value Creation and
Enhanced Pricing: Increase Profits through Right Customer Value Pricing at Orlando, Florida in October,
2012
One breakfast speaker stated that the Last Mile of Pricing is Selling. This shows that companies are still
inward looking and are not looking at the Customer’s buying propensities and the Value Customer
perceives
The moment you think the last mile of Pricing is Buying, you will start to look at the Value you are creating
for the Customer and the psychological and other barriers to buying and at neuro marketing. But because
pricing is normally a separate department (or silo), the pricing department does not have the support of
marketing, nor do they have the clout, nor do they have the knowledge of the Value the Customer
perceives (and often neither the sales and marketing department has this information in detail except
through satisfaction studies), nor do they have access to neuro marketing or psychic selling, and they
cannot influence much of what sales and marketing does. So they are forced to look at pricing from a
technical angle.
So, the first step in making buying the last mile of pricing is to break silos in companies. Breaking silos in
companies is also needed for creating Customer Value, and for innovation. Thus this alignment of
departments must become a corporate imperative.
The next step is to get an outside in understanding of what Customers think and perceive.
Then understanding what customers are willing to pay for and why they buy will help make buying the last
mile of pricing. This can be done through a Customer Value Added study. The relative weights (what is
important to a Customer) can help you price various components of your offering from a Customer’s point
of view and get you a better price. Soon, you will note that price is not everything, and as you create
Value, your price and profitability will go up.
Contact Customer Value Foundation for help
Gautam Mahajan
President
Customer Value Foundation
K-185, Sarai Jullena
New Delhi 110025
Mob: +91 9810060368
Tel: +91 11 26831226
email: mahajan.g@customervaluefoundation.com
website: http://customervaluefoundation.com
