Pricing Newsletter No. 82 (2024): The Price Question: Who Knows the Market Price?
When setting their own prices, many companies are guided by the so-called market price. A rather vague term that raises many questions, as this newsletter makes clear.
Pricing-Newsletter No. 77: Mastering the Complexity of the Product Portfolio: Pricing Categories as a Silver Bullet at Sartorius.
Sartorius boasts an extensive and specialized product range, presenting a significan complexity for pricing. In this edition, I had the opportunity to discuss the solutions employed by the publicly listed bio-pharmaceutical specialist with Dorian Rieger, Head of Marketing Operations at Sartorius in Göttingen since 2022. Sartorius has been collaborating with UNICconsult in the Pricing domain since 2017.
I hope you will have an interesting reading and will gain many new insights. I look forward to reading your comments and feedback.
Best regards, Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof
To read this newsletter (pdf) please klick here:
https://www.unicconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Riekhof-on-Pricing-No-77-en-Mastering-Portfolio-Complexity.pdf
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https://www.unicconsult.com/pricing-newsletter-no-77-2023-komplexitaet-des-produkt-portfolios-beherrschen-lernen-pricing-kategorien-bei-sartorius/
Pricing-Newsletter No. 75 (2023): The 11 Most Common Strategic Pricing Mistakes
For over 20 years, I have been focusing on questions relating to strategic and operational pricing from very different perspectives. As a Business Unit Manager at an international corporation I negotiated priced and developed pricing strategies, as an Marketing Director I influenced the pricing strategy principles of business activities, as a professor for general business administration I have conducted more than 10 empirical studies on pricing processes in companies, and during this time I and my team have advised international corporations, companies listed on the German stock exchange (DAX) and medium-sized enterprises on pricing.
Here comes an admittedly subjective, condensed summary of the mistakes in pricing that I believe are still prevalent in many companies.
I hope you will have an interesting reading and will gain many new insights. It would be a pleasure reading your comments and feedback.
Best regards, Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof
To read/download this newsletter (pdf) please click here:
https://www.unicconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Riekhof-on-Pricing-No-75-en-The-11-most-common-strategic-pricing-mistakes.pdf
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https://www.unicconsult.com/pricing-newsletter-no-75-2023-die-11-haeufigsten-fehler-im-strategischen-pricing/
Pricing-Newsletter No. 70 (2023): How to Succeed in Commodity Pricing – Escaping the Commodity Trap.
The „commodity trap“ is something you don’t want to fall into – and it’s worth to avoid. In short, commodities as a term typically designates raw material such as coffee, cotton, copper as ell as electricity, gasoline or hydrogen. Products, which are largely standardized and therefore interchangable. „In our business, price is the decisive factor. We are operating in a commodity market without any chance of differentiation from competitors“. These kind of statements I repeatedly hear from my seminar participants. Of course, there are highly price-sensitive markets where these thoughts hold true 100 %. However, not all companies have to accept this situation. As a matter of fact there are ways to escape the „commodity trap“.
To read/download this newsletter (pdf) please click here:
https://www.unicconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Riekhof-on-Pricing-No-70-en-How-to-Succeed-in-Commodity-Pricing.pdf
You would like to read the german version?
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https://www.unicconsult.com/pricing-newsletter-no-70-2023-wie-gelingt-das-commodity-pricing-die-auswege-aus-der-commodity-falle/
Pricing-Newsletter No. 65 (2022): Do You Have a Handle on Your Rebate Strategy?
Do You Have a Handle on Your Rebate Strategy?
We observe it again and again: for many companies, it is not immediately transparent how high – differentiated by customers and product groups – the actually granted rebates are and how much company profit is possibly lost at which point. In this newsletter, I will examine the topic of rebate strategy in more detail and explain some rebate principles.
Read/Download this newsletter in english language (pdf):
https://www.unicconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Riekhof-on-Pricing-No-65-en-Managing-Rebate-Strategies.pdf
Pricing-Newsletter No. 59 (2022): When Sales Incentives make Price Strategy Implementation impossible
Many well-conceived pricing strategies often fail because incentive systems in sales hinder their implementation. Corporate leaders should pay much closer attention to this issue. In our Pricing Newsletter No. 59, we explain where the greatest opportunities lie in aligning pricing strategies with incentive schemes of your sales team.
I identified six main reasons why strategy implementation does not work, so we are going to focus on implementing Pricing Strategies, based on six execution levers. We recommend, the top management should use them for a review when the implementation of strategies shows limited success.
Best regards, Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof
To read this newsletter (pdf) please klick here:
https://www.unicconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Riekhof-on-Pricing-No-59-en-Sales-Incentives-and-Pricing-Strategy.pdf
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Pricing-Newsletter No. 59 (2022): Wenn die Anreizsysteme die Umsetzung der Preisstrategie verhindern
Pricing Newsletter No. 49 (2021): Strategic Pricing for Spare Parts: Reviewing the Price Architecture
Imagine picking up your company car after a service appointment. You glance at the invoice (if it isn’t sent directly to the internal “Company Vehicles” department) and notice that, in addition to labor hours, a longer list of spare parts is itemized.
Have you ever wondered whether these parts must be genuine BMW or Mercedes components, if an original Bosch part instead would be acceptable, whether it could be a dealer’s own brand that meets OEM standards, or even a used part for expensive parts?
Spare Parts need a clear focus on a pricing strategy on it’s own. This newsletter will show you, how to deal with this matter.
Read/Download this newsletter in english language (pdf):
https://www.unicconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Riekhof-on-Pricing-No-49-en-Pricing-Strategies-for-Spare-Parts.pdf
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https://www.unicconsult.com/pricing-newsletter-no-49-2021-strategisches-pricing-fuer-ersatzteile/
Riekhof on Pricing No. 48 (2021): Creating Pricing Categories for Your Products
Ever thought of creating pricing categories? How differentiated are your company’s guidelines for the strategic pricing of products and product groups? Does your company even have a strategic pricing structure in place for your product range?
How you can create such a structure, such pricing categories, along with some options and practical examples, that’s the subject of this Pricing Newsletter No. 48.
Read/Download this newsletter in english language (pdf):
https://www.unicconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Riekhof-on-Pricing-No-48-en-Creating-Pricing-Categories.pdf
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https://www.unicconsult.com/pricing-newsletter-no-48-2021-pricing-rollen-fuer-ihre-produkte-schaffen/
Pricing-Newsletter No. 42 (2020): Can the Sales Team Be Utilized for Pricing Research?
When companies seek to understand how market prices are evolving, they can often rely on comprehensive reports from market research institutes, especially in the B2C sector, particularly in cases where substantial marketing budgets of international corporations are being planned based on clear market analyses. In the medium-sized sector the situation is different, especially in the realm of B2B. Extensive market studies do not prove cost-effective here because markets tend to be smaller and highly segmented. In the absence of external studies, it’s essential to explore alternatives. Why not harness your own sales team for market and pricing research? This is the subject of today’s newsletter.
I hope you will have an interesting reading.
To read/download this newsletter (pdf) please click here:
https://www.unicconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Riekhof-on-Pricing-No-42-en-Pricing-Research-via-Sales-Teams.pdf
You would like to read the german version?
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https://www.unicconsult.com/pricing-newsletter-no-42-2020-aussendienst-fuer-das-pricing-research-nutzen
Best regards,
Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof
Riekhof on Pricing No. 39 (2020): Is Centralization the Way Forward in Pricing?
Those who work close to and together with customers (hopefully) know best what customers need, how fierce the competition is and how much people are willing to pay. So it may come as something of a surprise that in this newsletter I want to share some thoughts with you on the topic of centralized pricing. That’s what this newsletter is about.
Discussions with several executives of medium-sized companies have lead me on addressing this issue.
Read/Download this newsletter in english language (pdf):
https://www.unicconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Riekhof-on-Pricing-No-39-en-Centralizing-the-pricing-process.pdf
You would like to read the german version?
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https://www.unicconsult.com/pricing-newsletter-no-39-2020-zentralisierung-des-pricing/