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During every Pricing Workshop and Conference around the globe, we pride ourselves on selecting the best hotel in the city! We want our attendees to have the most amazing experiences, and spectacular stays. This fall, during #PPSSF we invite you to stay at the beautiful, newly renovated, host hotel, The Palace Hotel San Francisco. We have FIVE reasons to book a room NOW: 5. Exclusive Afternoon Tea -Enjoy afternoon tea in the Garden Court, one of the most beautiful settings for dining and holiday events in San Francisco. Since the early 1900’s, guests have enjoyed elegant Garden Court tea service - where families and friends have enjoyed this magical experience. Immerse yourself in the romance and charm, and delectable menu offered during the turn-of-the century grandeur and heritage experience. 4. Sunday City Brunch - The new Garden Court à la carte brunch highlights the unique, indigenous elements of San Francisco with a locally sourced menu, live entertainment, city chic cocktails and sparkling wines. Offered Sundays from 10:00AM to 1:30PM, a reservation is essential for this award-winning Brunch. 3. Fitness Center & Hotel Pool - the fitness center and indoor pool have been completely renovated - and it's breathtaking. The soaring sky lit ceiling opens the space to natural light and showcases the San Francisco cityscape. A neutral palette, stone tile surround and stainless accents create a serene environment. Chaise lounges, comfortable seating and whirlpool welcome relaxation. No need to visit anywhere else to upgrade your wellness experience while in San Francisco! 2. Award-Winning Guest Suites - Remodeled, timeless architecture, detailed molding and trim, and fashionable interiors evoke supreme luxury in every room of the gorgeous Suites. Designed to evoke a feel of chic, private residences in beautiful downtown San Francisco, the eleven foot ceilings and expansive windows are truly one-of-a-kind, perfection. And it’s waiting just for you They are designed to feel like Select from Grand Deluxe, The Deluxe, or the Superior Room for the ultimate options in comfort. 1. Location - The Palace Hotel is conveniently located near San Francisco's premiere shopping areas! Within walking distance are the biggest names in designer, luxury shopping (including Barney's, Gucci, YSL, Cartier, etc.). Only minutes away from the lobby, guests will find iconic things to do in the city such as visiting the Embarcadero Ferry Building, Chinatown, Union Square, cable cars, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and much more! We are so excited about the upcoming stay in historic luxury. Address: The Palace Hotel 2 New Montgomery Street San Francisco, California 94105 BOOK A ROOM BY CALLING PPS! *Currently our Main site, PricingSociety.com is experiencing technical difficulties. However, you can STILL register for our upcoming Fall Pricing Workshops and Conference in San Francisco #PPSSF! Reach us directly: Call – 770.509.9933 or Email: Cherica@PricingSociety.com. We look forward to speaking with you and apologize for the temporary inconvenience.Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook for more #PPSSF updates! All photos credit - The Palace Hotel San Francisco

"What is pricing?!" "How does pricing work with my business structure?" Pricing opportunities are everywhere, yet they sometimes seem to be completely ignored when they could easily make or break a business. Everywhere I look, I see these opportunities. My dry cleaner uses pen and paper for its order tracking system, and I wonder why they don’t offer price/product differentiation. Instead of a single price offered to get clothes dry cleaned, they could offer a tiered service at a premium. My gym next door is usually empty on weekdays at 10am, so they could offer a weekday 8-5 membership at a discounted rate. Consider the travel industry, where PROS has many airline, hotel and cruise customers. Larger hotels leverage revenue management solutions to better their business, but boutique hotels can take advantage of this too. Online travel agencies or global distribution systems all have access to these boutique hotels’ inventory information. Why haven’t they offered to handle their revenue management needs for a fee? There are many opportunities within various industries to leverage the power of pricing solutions, but many do not. Why? A primary reason is the concern about complexities of pricing education. That can be quelled with knowledge about education offerings and the many available pricing solutions. Small changes in price can lead to huge increases in profitability, which has been demonstrated and well documented numerous times. What is the risk involved in offering a better product at a higher price? You can also estimate the potential gain from offering speedier dry cleaning services for a fee by gathering information about customers who request quicker turnaround times. In the case of the gym membership, it should be very easy to observe from check-in data that your gym floor is fairly empty on weekdays. Understanding the value in mitigating risk may require investing in new technologies and pricing education, but the investments reap large rewards in the end (revenue increase). Companies only need vision, a continued interest in the changing technologies and data analysis, and the understanding that pricing is a critical component in business success. How is your company levering the power of pricing? Leave us a comment below! About Kevin Mitchell: Kevin Mitchell is President of The Professional Pricing Society (PPS) and Publisher of The Pricing Advisor monthly newsletter and the quarterly Journal of Professional Pricing. Kevin is a frequent speaker at pricing conferences and events in North America and Europe, where he often discusses trends and demographic changes within the pricing discipline. Before joining PPS in 2007, he worked for 11 years in various financial management fields with Colgate-Palmolive and General Electric. He earned an MBA in marketing from The William E. Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester, and a B.A. in economics and english from Duke University. Mitchell resides in Atlanta. His hobbies include music, cooking and sports.

Our Workshops provide the best forums to gain exclusive pricing knowledge that will increase business performance. Choose from several offerings including the following: There are (4) 1-Day Workshop offerings during #PPSSF. View the October 20th lineup below and learn more about the featured Speakers. Identifying Pricing and Profitability Leakages in Your Organization: Step-by-Step Approach How To Improve Everyday Pricing Performance With Anton Malygin and Chethan Sharma, Directors, Pricing and Profitability Consulting Practice at PwC Understand the benefits of addressing everyday pricing and profitability leakages. Identify the key areas for pricing and margin improvement, learn analysis needed to identify improvement opportunities and learn how organizations implement effective every day price management. Attendee Takeaway: The value of every day price management Key benefits and opportunities areas for price management improvement How analytics can be leveraged to provide transparency and generate one consistent “single source of truth” view using information about customers and products at the transaction level Requirements to effectively execute price management improvements in an organization and how to make it sustainable Pricing and Corporate Strategy: The Pricing Decision Framework Proven Successful by the World’s Most Profitable Companies for Getting Pricing Done Right With Tim Smith, Ph.D, CPP, Founder and Managing Partner Wiglaf Pricing & Adjunct Marketing Professor at DePaul University List prices, discounting, new product development, account management, and international variations are just a short list of key pricing challenges facing modern corporations. How should corporations manage? Learn how leading firms are integrating different pricing and price management techniques throughout the corporation to maximize both growth and profitability. Attendee Takeaway: The nature of a good price The impact of price concessions on profitability How to connect product development to pricing decisions How to connect customer account development to pricing decisions How to connect international contingencies to pricing decisions A proven framework for integrating pricing into strategic corporate development Gaining Profit - And Making it Stick With Diana Zuzek, President and CEO and Craig Alcock, Senior Partner of Beanstalk Revenue Management Well-designed governance and infrastructure components enable organizations to generate ongoing and consistent results. Instead of unreliable or “spikey” outcomes, performance becomes predictable and routine. This workshop will examine infrastructure and governance from a strategic perspective, discussing how business objectives and market realities shape the application of infrastructure and governance paradigms. Also, presenters will discuss basic price performance metrics and review the interdependence of good performance measures and quality governance and infrastructure outcomes. Attendee Takeaway: The components of infrastructure and governance How these components can amplify price performance Get Started Toolkit - How to assess your organization’s current governance and infrastructure capabilities How to pragmatically deploy or enhance existing models How to measure and monitor price performance Bullet-Proof Your Price Increase With Sales With Chris Mitchell, VP of Global Initiatives, and Alison Yama, Senior Dir. of Holden Advisors Pricing technology makes implementing the mechanical aspects of price increases an easy task. The real challenge most organizations face is not "getting to a number," but rather developing an effective communications plan and a sound value rationale that the sales force can embrace with confidence and that aligns the organization around targeted price increase. Any inconsistencies in logic, messaging, or the responses of executives, sales, and customer service staff will immediately be exploited by hard-negotiating customers fighting to roll back the pricing increase. Attendee Takeaway: How to develop credible tools and training for all customer-facing staff to lead and defend price increase How to create an effective communications plan with rationale for leading a price increase How to use formal and informal communication channels to build momentum How to prepare for difficult conversations with customers that challenge the price increase Learn more about our Workshop offerings during the 26th Annual Fall Pricing Workshops and Conference in San Francisco and register your team TODAY! *Currently our Main site, PricingSociety.com is experiencing technical difficulties. However, you can STILL register for our upcoming Fall Pricing Workshops and Conference in San Francisco #PPSSF! The deadline to book a discounted rate at The Palace Hotel San Francisco is THIS FRIDAY! Reach us directly: Call - 770.509.9933 or Email: Cherica@PricingSociety.com. We look forward to speaking with you and apologize for the temporary inconvenience. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook for more #PPSSF updates!

On 8.27.15 PPS hosted another great #PricingChat! Featured guest host Frederic Puech, Director of Pricing Analytics at Pricing Solutions, provided great insight into data-driven strategies that can improve revenue. Frederic, highly experienced at utilizing pricing strategies, he has managed, consulted & implemented advanced pricing optimization for over 25 years. We discussed why businesses should make using pricing strategies a priority and how data-driven strategies can limit inaccurate reporting. View the full RECAP below: Join PPS every other Thursday for an all-new #PricingChat! Our next #PricingChat is on 9.10.15 at 1:30 PM EDT. Join the conversation!

Everyone in business knows it’s all about maximizing profits. And nothing has as much potential impact on the bottom line than smart pricing; the majority of incremental revenue from a price increase flows directly to the bottom line. Indeed a one percent increase in price for most companies often results in a 10% or greater increase in profits. Yet most companies fail to give pricing consideration the time and dedication needed for optimum effect. We believe there are three reasons why many companies give pricing decisions insufficient attention: They often wrongly believe there is not much flexibility in price decision making; that they need in almost all cases either to match competitive pricing or mark-up a fixed percentage from cost of goods to meet pre-set gross profit goals. Many companies have a built-in inertia and resistance to innovative pricing thinking, as well as a lack of awareness as to what tools and techniques are available for measurability and smart decision-making. Companies with strong sales-driven cultures often, by default, place paramount importance on revenue and unit volume to the detriment of profitability. This is typically because sales quotas are based on revenue and volume, not profitability. Sales people can often aggressively push through their points of view in the absence of a smart strategic-pricing dialogue. Consumer marketing thinking infects B2B pricing decisions. Many firms in all types of industries recruit marketing talent from large “academy” consumer marketing giants. These companies typically market commodity products like soap or diapers with unique brand narratives. These high turn, heavily advertised products generally are more sensitive to pricing swings and operate in a more complex environment involving coupons, premiums etc. It’s a far different world than most B2B environments, and the pricing experience to higher ticket or service businesses may not translate well. So what can be done to create the right environment that will support optimal pricing decisions in B2B companies? It begins with leadership from the top, of course, and a good place to start is with the creation of a senior position dedicated to pricing strategy. Some firms already have this position, but a high majority of companies with under $500 million in sales don’t. This person would make himself knowledgeable on the very latest pricing tools and strategies, and serve as a counterpoint to the three pitfalls noted above. Enrollment in regular pricing industry conferences — such as those produced by the Professional Pricing Society — is a good place to start. There the pricing executive could share experiences with hundreds of other dedicated pricing professionals and become well versed in leading-edge diagnostic tools that can monitor the impact of pricing changes in real time. He or she could also learn how to segregate different market segments for optimal pricing and profitability. And perhaps most importantly he could learn interpersonal tactics on how to change corporate culture with regard to pricing, without ruffling too many egos. Short of attending a conference there are webinars, case studies and white papers to be devoured and digested. Pricing is too important to get passed over. While some companies have more latitude than others, you don’t have to have the brand cache of an Apple to get the maximum value for your products. What’s needed first and foremost is a respect for the benefits of an optimal pricing strategy, a curiosity for the latest pricing tools, and the willingness to affect change in your company. Paying attention to pricing can have a profound effect on profit, without the cost or risk of adding new product lines or entering new markets. About Kevin Mitchell Kevin Mitchell is President of The Professional Pricing Society (PPS) and Publisher of The Pricing Advisor monthly newsletter and the quarterly Journal of Professional Pricing. Kevin is a frequent speaker at pricing conferences and events in North America and Europe, where he often discusses trends and demographic changes within the pricing discipline. Before joining PPS in 2007, he worked for 11 years in various financial management fields with Colgate-Palmolive and General Electric. He earned an MBA in marketing from The William E. Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester, and a B.A. in economics and english from Duke University. Mitchell resides in Atlanta. His hobbies include music, cooking and sports.

"What is pricing?!" "How does pricing work with my business structure?" Pricing opportunities are everywhere, yet they sometimes seem to be completely ignored when they could easily make or break a business. Everywhere I look, I see these opportunities. My dry cleaner uses pen and paper for its order tracking system, and I wonder why they don’t offer price/product differentiation. Instead of a single price offered to get clothes dry cleaned, they could offer a tiered service at a premium. My gym next door is usually empty on weekdays at 10am, so they could offer a weekday 8-5 membership at a discounted rate. Consider the travel industry, where many airline, hotel and cruise businesses share similar customer numbers. Larger hotels leverage revenue management solutions to better their business, but boutique hotels can take advantage of this too. Online travel agencies or global distribution systems all have access to these boutique hotels’ inventory information. Why haven’t they offered to handle their revenue management needs for a fee? There are many opportunities within various industries to leverage the power of pricing solutions, but many do not. Why? One reason is the concern about complexities of pricing education. That can be quelled with knowledge about education offerings and the many available pricing solutions. Small changes in price can lead to huge increases in profitability, which has been demonstrated and well documented numerous times. What is the risk involved in offering a better product at a higher price? You can also estimate the potential gain from offering speedier dry cleaning services for a fee by gathering information about customers who request quicker turnaround times. In the case of the gym membership, it should be very easy to observe from check-in data that your gym floor is fairly empty on weekdays. Understanding the value in mitigating risk may require investing in new technologies and pricing education, but the investments reap large rewards in the end (revenue increase). Companies only need vision, a continued interest in the changing technologies and data analysis, and the understanding that pricing is a critical component in business success. How is your company levering the power of pricing? Leave us a comment below!

We discuss pricing industry strategies, expert insights, the latest news and more in our bi-monthly #PricingChat series on Twitter. View the RECAP from a previous #PricingChat by scrolling through the Storify image below:

What is Configure Price Quote (CPQ)? Configure price quote (CPQ) is an industry term for software solutions that help companies to streamline some of their core processes around the prices that they set for customers. CPQ software can help companies configure products or services in the most optimized way, pricing according to internal factors such as cost, discounting, etc. CPQ software can measure external factors such as competition and other economic conditions in order to produce accurate highly configured quotes. As companies and their product/service lists grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage product pricing, identify great upsell opportunities, and keep track of deals being offered by your competition. Often, sales reps aren’t provided up-to-date pricing information on products, which can lead to lost opportunities and slower quote times. Configuring a quote can be a time-consuming task, especially when critical data is not easily accessible in real time. What are potential benefits of CPQ software solutions? Configure price quote software may help companies achieve faster sales cycles, improve data accuracy, and opportunities to upsell, cross-sell. Also, bundle product/service offerings may be captured more frequently. Pricing products can vary based on factors such as: Costs associated with production Local/ global economic factors Competition/ industry CPQ software addresses these variables by allowing companies to come up with accurate price quotes sans errors. With built-in analytics, your reps can discount smarter in order to stay ahead of the competition no matter how complex your business becomes. These solutions may offer additional margin protection, control discounting, enable faster quote preparation and approval turnarounds. CPQ software can eliminate these problems by speeding up sales cycles, ensuring pricing data accuracy, and identifying and opportunities to upsell and bundle. At the same time, a company can prepare orders faster without increasing the potential for error. As pricing data is more streamlined, the workflow is streamlined, time is saved and more sales can be made. Large companies that manage thousands of products and SKUs due to discontinued items or discounts, or sales teams that may not have the data needed to provide accurate, up-to-date sales quotes (for bundles or upsells) are great business examples of when to use CPQ software. Also, companies that operate on a global scale and need to provide quick and accurate pricing data to dozens or hundreds of stores may find CPQ software most effective at managing pricing discrepancies. Companies can lose a lot of money with a lack of accurate sales quotes. According to the Aberdeen Group, the sales cycle can see a 28% reduction with CPQ, thereby positively impacting sales rep productivity. Remember to Analyze Sales Performance: Get visibility into real-time activities of your sales reps with analytics. Meet sales goals by tracking product & pricing trends. CPQ turns limited visibility into real-time data/analytics for sales reps. Meet sales goals by tracking product & pricing trends. CPQ makes the journey from quote-to-contract much easier by connecting contract and sales process, so you can win deals faster and sell more. So, when do you know that your CPQ should be evaluated? Sales reps utilize traditional methods of configuration to create price quotes The business/organization offers various products/services The business/organization continues to grow Difficult monitoring competition, industry changes, sales, etc. Learn more about CPQ and core pricing skills in Dallas, Texas this Fall for the 29th Annual Fall Pricing Workshops and Conference event! Master skills in-person including core pricing and CPQ strategies. Attend the Workshops and pass the course tests to receive credit towards your CPP Designation. Click to learn more! Companies use CPQ in business to maximize pricing impact and strategic solutions. How does your company use CPQ?

The Professional Pricing Society Launches “Biggest and Most Comprehensive” Pricing Conference Ever During The Fall Pricing Workshops & Conference In San Francisco, California Annual Fall Conference Event, October 20-23, 2015 Marietta, Georgia -The Professional Pricing Society (PPS) is pleased to announce a new educational Track offering during the 26th Annual Fall Pricing Workshops & Conference in San Francisco, California. The Sales Operations / Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) Track, will highlight the challenges and benefits impacting Sales and Sales Operations utilizing CPQ software. Track Offerings Include: Accelerate Pricing and Quoting Excellence with Elliott Yama, Vice President, Apttus Corporation Pricing and CPQ Transformation: Combining and Sequencing of Two Initiatives with Joseph Lackner, Partner – Advisory Services, Ernst & Young LLP Crossing the Great Divide, Perspectives from a Sales Executive that Deployed Pricing Technology and Turned Pricing into a Career with Kevin Wholey, Sr. Vice President Americas Sales, PROS Building Successful Deals Desks with Amit Dhir, Director, PwC This will be PPS’s largest conference - loaded with interactive workshops and keynote presentations from world-renown pricing and revenue management experts. This year features a Pricing for Executives Summit with presentations from a variety of industry leading thought leaders. “I have attended more than 20 PPS conferences. If you are in pricing and don't go to PPS (conferences) you may be missing the one contact or the one idea that will literally transform your company or your career.” -Previous attendee, Augustin Manchon We're ALSO offering 3 Months of FREE PPS Membership! For a limited time, we are extending a SPECIAL OFFER! Become a PPS member and your annual membership will be extended to 15 months for the price of 12 months! That’s an additional 3 FREE months, or 25% savings! ACT NOW as this special promotion is available only until 31 August 2015! Membership Benefits Include: Access to all live and on-demand webinars PPS’s monthly newsletter & quarterly journals filled with exclusive pricing content Members-only discounts to our conferences across the globe Cutting-edge continuing education & training Networking opportunities with peers in your industry To become a member please visit: http://www.pricingsociety.com/home/become-a-member. Once you have joined, please send us an email and include the promotional code - PPST3. All members are added to our database to receive up-to-date pricing information and communication. Become a member of The Professional Pricing Society - one of the best decisions for YOUR career! For more information please visit PricingSociety.com. Questions: contact Cherica Spann - 770.509.9933 or cherica@pricingsociety.com.

Every other Thursday, PPS hosts a #PricingChat on Twitter! Our topics include pricing industry knowledge, business strategies, and more. The #PricingChat provides an opportunity to learn and engage with fellow pricing professionals. Catch up on the pricing information shared during last week's #PricingChatNext Level Pricing Analytics with Alison Yama of Holden Advisors. View the RECAP below: Please follow us on Twitter (@PricingSociety)! Don't miss the NEXT #PricingChat, Thursday August 13, 2015 @ 1:30 PM.

Driving Customer Performance Through Discounts and Rebates With Simon Kucher & Partners When: Monday September 14, 2015 @ 12PM- 1PM EDT Webinar Details: In many B2B companies, discount and rebate structures are inconsistent and do not have a clear function. This frequently leads to situations where money is left on the table. The solution lies in the smart management of discounts and rebates. In recent years, many companies have adopted systems that rely less on the skills of the sales force and create a more objective link between price reductions and customer performance. Designing and implementing functional discount and rebate systems is not an easy task, but typically best in class companies increase profits by 1 to 4 % points in EBITDA. Philip Daus, Senior Director, with Simon-Kucher & Partners, will lead a webinar answering the following objectives: Discount and rebate management systems that are aligned with strategic company objectives that help to increase sales and reduce costs (Re)gaining discipline, consistency and control in customer discounting Best practices for transitioning to an optimized discount and rebate system Our webinars are FREE and open to the professional public. REGISTER TODAY!

Every-other Thursday afternoon, PPS hosts a #PricingChat at 1:30 PM EDT on Twitter. We share pricing education, chat with experts, provide industry insights, and more in real-time on Twitter with our audience. Learn more about the #PricingChat and how to stay engaged during the chat HERE. Last week's #PricingChat topic was Building A Strong Business Case For A Change In Pricing and featured Vendavo Executive Alex Hoff. View the FULL Recap (scroll for more): SUBSCRIBE to The Pricing Authority blog and never miss an update!