PPS conferences mark the most important events in the year for all pricing professionals.
Apart from offering an insight into the pricing zeitgeist, the PPS conferences afford the opportunity to engage with the brightest minds in the industry, and the recently concluded Spring conference in Dallas was no different. As a long standing partner and sponsor of PPS conferences, Vistaar’s team was thrilled to attend the conference last week in Dallas.
In line with the economic realities, inflation, and the surrounding economic uncertainties dominated everyone’s mind space at the conference.
Speakers and panellists took to stage to share their experience and expertise with the pricing community on how to respond in the current economic scenario and the tools and tactics essential to navigate these times. Everyone recognized the strategic and pivotal role pricing can play in minimizing the negative impact of rising input costs and an economic downturn, on customer retention, revenue and most importantly margins.
Some of the broad themes that emerged from the experienced panel of speakers included:
Increased Pricing Transparency: Clear and open pricing, can help build trust with customers and demonstrate an organizations commitment to fairness. Moreover, it helps to eliminate any confusion or mistrust that may arise from hidden fees or unclear pricing structures. This, in turn, leads to better customer satisfaction and loyalty, as well as improved long-term business relationships. Speakers urged the group to prioritize pricing transparency initiatives as a key element to building and executing a customer-centric strategy.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: The keynote speakers Laura Preslan and Reed Holden highlighted the importance of cross-functional collaboration between sales, marketing, pricing, and product development especially in today’s uncertain economic environment, as crucial for attracting and retaining customers to ensure that a company’s pricing strategy is aligned with the needs and desires of its’ customers, while also reflecting the value and quality of its products and services. Such collaboration enables to identify and address any gaps or challenges in pricing strategy and execution, as well as adapt quickly to changing market conditions or customer demands. Additionally, this approach allows companies to offer tailored solutions and bundles that are more attractive to their customers, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Value-Based Pricing: By focusing on the unique value a company’s products and services bring to their customers, allows companies to better differentiate themselves from competitors and more importantly command a premium price. A value-based pricing approach ensures that companies are not leaving money on the table by undercharging for their offerings. Prasadkumar Dethe (Honeywell), Manoj Chopra (Cinemark) and Laurent D.F. Dosogne emphasized the importance of prioritizing a value-based approach to pricing in a recessionary environment, as customers become increasingly cost-conscious and demand greater value for their spend.
Dynamic Pricing Models: With the mainstreaming of AI, Big Data and growing relevance and accessibility of dynamic pricing models, companies can adjust their prices in real-time based on demand and other factors. However, it was emphasized that dynamic pricing must be implemented carefully to avoid alienating customers and damaging brand reputation. Companies must also ensure that their pricing strategies align with their overall business objectives. The speakers emphasized the importance of continuous learning and improvement in pricing. The industry is constantly evolving, and companies must stay up to date on the latest trends and best practices to remain competitive. Pricing professionals must be willing to embrace new technologies and techniques and be open to continuous learning and improvement.
Reflections
The PPS Spring 2023 Conference held in Dallas was an invaluable opportunity for pricing professionals to converge and exchange ideas and knowledge.
The topics discussed and presented at the conference not helped the pricing community to remain informed and adaptable to the ever-evolving landscape of the industry, but also provided a road map to pricing practitioners to achieve success through sound and proven pricing strategies and tactics, helping them deliver maximum value to their customers and organizations.
