Dollars and Sense: The Pricing Blog

Very funny Reuben and Clint liked it too! I will ...

2010-01-01T11:29:41.995-06:00

Very funny Reuben and Clint liked it too! I will send to my CSR's tonight.

Anyone clever enough to compose this poem must run...

2009-12-28T09:02:01.986-06:00

Anyone clever enough to compose this poem must run a heckuva company!

I Laughed Out Loud

2009-12-23T07:49:53.967-06:00

I Laughed Out Loud

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2009-10-17T18:10:00.383-05:00

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This is a very bad news. Though it is good that th...

2009-10-04T22:17:37.188-05:00

This is a very bad news. Though it is good that they placed justice on those people involved.

Anothony, I am not sure which paper you're seekin...

2009-08-24T10:17:52.396-05:00

Anothony,

I am not sure which paper you're seeking.

Best regarsd,
R

could you email me a copy of the paper you refer t...

2009-08-23T02:18:06.337-05:00

could you email me a copy of the paper you refer to? thanks

Many companies have applied Six Sigma techniques t...

2009-04-06T12:18:20.843-05:00

Many companies have applied Six Sigma techniques to their manufacturing processes, or even support processes, without putting a similar focus on pricing, although the bottom line rewards will be as great or greater.

Interesting to see manufacturers attempting to un-...

2009-02-10T15:11:00.000-06:00

Interesting to see manufacturers attempting to un-commoditize their products. The NYT had an article recently about a manufacturer trying to brand a hand-made high-end salt:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/world/europe/27salt.html?scp=1&sq=salt%20portugal&st=cse

I guess one way to survive in a commodity business is to de-commoditize it.

Great post Reuben . . . a long post, but important...

2009-01-21T22:11:19.805-06:00

Great post Reuben . . . a long post, but important. As these risk assessments are, all too frequently, a low priority for many companies when it comes to pricing decisions.

Without them at some level of detail, companies are really rolling the dice and potentially heading down a road that will significantly limit profit opportunities and cause financial harm that can take years to mend (sometimes brands cannot recover).

Yeah, it's a sad story . . . but what's really sad is mistakes that could have been prevented, lost market opportunities, dropping stock price, laying off key talent and the list goes on.

Hi,I always recommend that promotions have clear o...

2008-11-02T23:57:15.285-06:00

Hi,
I always recommend that promotions have clear objectives, defined not only in the positive sense, but also in the negative sense.

========================
John
Drug Rehab

Wow! Your article really explains this concept of ...

2008-10-28T14:09:16.535-05:00

Wow! Your article really explains this concept of pricing in a way that I can understand it.

I also believe that clients looking to get things "dirt cheap" or complaining that small prices are too much really aren't placing too much value on your products or service and they normally will not become your best customers. I now this firsthand.

I'm going to make sure I point my viewers to this blog!

Trina Newby
CEO/President
www.WomenAboutBiz.com

Invoicing mistakes definitely leave some impressio...

2008-10-21T08:23:32.277-05:00

Invoicing mistakes definitely leave some impression, but mistakes in the buyer's favor tend to be more easily forgiven. ;-)

Getting paid from the customer is magic. I consid...

2008-10-15T15:35:55.727-05:00

Getting paid from the customer is magic. I consider pricing akin to vapor, so there and so not there. You are right, their profit started draining the second the first note apologizing arrived.

Quick Survey - Did that isolated interaction effect the impression of the overall brand? I preach all the time that the front of house and back of house, equally share the responsibility to protect price premium.

I'm trying to imagine a situation where buying MOR...

2008-09-30T07:54:17.379-05:00

I'm trying to imagine a situation where buying MORE units of a product would drive a higher per-unit cost, and it might actually make some intuitive sense. But the only item I can come up with is maybe "high-class escort service". Two leggy blondes together (on your arms at a craps table, of course!) just might be more expensive than the total of each one in succession. (The mind boggles.)

This story is very useful. Really I like it. Here ...

2008-09-29T05:14:35.627-05:00

This story is very useful. Really I like it. Here we can find airline tickets. You can check it also http://www.globester.com

One of my favorite airline fee problems came as I ...

2008-09-05T15:50:29.450-05:00

One of my favorite airline fee problems came as I was trying to change an itinerary on the nwa.com website. Here's the message I got as the last step of the pricing process for the change:

We are unable to process your request and no changes have been made to your reservation.

* We are unable to price the requested itinerary
* Please contact Northwest Reservations at 1-800-225-2525 for assistance

Huh? You can't figure out how much to charge me? They definitely need pricing help.

Reuben,I had a similar experience at Los Angeles i...

2008-08-31T13:02:59.094-05:00

Reuben,

I had a similar experience at Los Angeles in 2002. My family and I were grilled as if we were terrorists, because we only had one-way fares. We were in fact relocating to Australia...which took much convincing.

Airlines like Jetstar do in fact rent out portable DVD players. I haven't flown on them, but I believe they can be pre-booked, along with a choice of bronze, silver or gold in-flight meals. Which, with their one-wa fares, makes cutomer segmentation all but impossible.

Finally, there is a lot of smarts that goes into where retail shops are located in terminals....to the extent that airport operators & airlines are almost at each others throats. Airlines want all the passengers in the gate lounges for a quick turnaround, while the airpot operators (certainly the one I'm familar with) take a percentage of turnover from the retailers, and want customers in the shops as long as possible, spending as much as possible.

Regards,
Jon

Here is just one quick and current example of how ...

2008-07-14T15:26:36.654-05:00

Here is just one quick and current example of how data can inform one's approach to better decision making (i.e. - timing) http://venturebeat.com/2008/07/14/iphone-advertising-app-maker-medialets-publishes-early-app-store-metrics/

Have a great day Reuben,
Chris

Pureum,Thank you for the comments. You can check ...

2008-07-14T11:54:16.111-05:00

Pureum,

Thank you for the comments. You can check out our Resources page. If you're anywhere near Boston, I'll be doing a workshop on software pricing on Thursday and Friday. Also, I'll be doing a webinar on SaaS pricing on July 30 with ZDNet's Phil Wainewright. Making the workshop might be tough, but if you're in the SaaS space or fighting SaaS competitors, I'd highly recommend the webinar.

Hello Reuben, Thank you for the great blog. As a ...

2008-07-07T23:37:12.973-05:00

Hello Reuben,

Thank you for the great blog. As a person working in an IT startup pricing is always extremely difficult. It gets even crazier when you don't have any data and you have to price your service for Launch. Again, thank you for your words of wisdom. I was just wondering if you could recommend me some pricing resources. Do you have books or papers that you would recommend? I have read Pricing With Purpose and Optimal Pricing Strategy. It would be great if you could suggest some pricing resources. Indeed, lot of pricing prowess comes from experience but I hope some can be overcome by researching. Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Pureum Kim

pureum@motioncloud.net

Well, it's certainly gratifying to be referenced A...

2008-06-24T13:53:00.133-05:00

Well, it's certainly gratifying to be referenced ABOVE the Harvard Business Review.

Thanks for the link!

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2008-06-18T07:38:30.120-05:00

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Thanks for the comment, Chris. The oil companies ...

2008-06-17T23:27:17.147-05:00

Thanks for the comment, Chris. The oil companies tried and tried to differentiate their gas ("Chevron with Techron") but no one cared. It's not about the value you think you have or that you advertise, it's about what your customers perceive. And customers figure that gas is gas.

Where gas stations differentiated themselves was by turning every gas station into a convenience store. At one point you could get gas, and, if you were lucky, the key to a dirty bathroom on the outside of the building. Now, most gas stations have clean, indoor bathrooms because they want you to come into the store and buy something.

A lot of tech companies are prone to this trap of thinking that the brilliant features they spent so much time engineering are differentiators, while frequently customers don't even use them.

Well put R.S. You have captured the nature of man...

2008-06-17T12:03:43.231-05:00

Well put R.S. You have captured the nature of many businesses and there is a ripple effect with either approach . . . one positive . . . one status quo (far from potential). Your article did a great job of making a case for focusing on being different. For a while there gasoline was being marketed as different . . . have you noticed their branding efforts have changed lately :)