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It's the end of product ownership as we know it. We're now addicted to subscription services like Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime. Even Ford and Caterpillar offer subscription models. So how can your business survive and thrive in this new economy? Tien Tzuo, is an industry leader, bestselling author and the founder and CEO of Zuora (NYSE: ZUO), and shared with FORBES, his thoughts about the current state of business. "There is a tipping point around the idea of subscriptions as the common currency for the relationship between the consumer, customer in B2B sectors, and the company and its products and services. Once we experience the whole thing, we start to question why we need to purchase it." Beginning in 2007, Tzuo evangelized the shift to subscription-based business models coining the phrase "Subscription Economy." To empower this new economy, Tzuo spent 10 years building an award-winning subscription management platform capable of powering any subscription business, and of solving the complex billing structures, they inherit. Before Zuora, Tzuo was one of the 'original forces' at Salesforce, joining as employee number 11. Read the full write-up on this industry thought leader in this FORBES article. We are moving to a subscription living style, so a subscription platform is going to be, essential too. As technology gets better and the social acceptance and the infrastructure gets better to support this model, the more likely it will happen everywhere. Think about Ford no longer talks about cars, but them being a mobility company. We can see how miles driven have gone up, and car sales have gone down. The basic paradigm of miles and car ownership has been eroded. The new model of personal vehicular usage for everything has been borne on the idea of the subscription economy." CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE Tien Tzuo will share riveting tales from the trenches detailing how your company can prosper during the Fall Pricing Workshops and Conference Virtual Event #PPSVirtual20!

In this guest blog written by #PPSVirtual20 Presenter Mark Garratt, Partner and Co-Founder of in4mation insights, learn about time-varying parameters (TVP) for price elasticity. TVPs are a method of letting many kinds of measurements change over time. For instance, we usually derive price elasticity from a model that includes 2-3 years of data. But what happens if we have a time like the present moment with COVID-19 when all kinds of metrics may be in flux? Models that use 2-3 years of data will treat the current moment as a rare outcome – on the tail of the distribution, whereas, in fact, we could well be shifting to a new regime. TVP is a way to let the KPIs that we use evolve with time and to see those evolutions the moment they happen. Usually when we need to keep track of fast moving KPIs such as trends, price or price gaps, we might shift to three month moving averages or “3MMs.” The problem with 3MMs, however, is that by shortening the period of the rolling average to get a read on near-term events, we may overfit the recent data resulting in less reliable predictions. There is a direct tradeoff between the near-term accuracy of the estimate and its variance. Fixing the variance problem by using either a model based on 2-3 years or data or by using a 12-month moving average results in estimates that are more stable but they may now be considered “out of date” because they put too much weight on the past. Dynamic Linear Models (DLMs) were designed to solve the problem of loss of accuracy as the estimate becomes more local in time. Time-varying parameters (TVP) – deliberately letting the estimate evolve over time - are a natural extension of DLMs. The aim of TVPs, then, is to achieve a statistically robust read of KPIs in near real time. The model is allowed to “wander” to fit the data, but it can’t wander too far without some persistence in the pattern of change. The example below shows a TVP for price elasticity: In this case, the blue line (top) shows the change in the price index from Dec 2016 to Feb 2019. Two big price increases happen in December of 2017 and 2018. The gray line (bottom), shows the price elasticity (PE) for a typical product and how it evolves over time. One thing that stands out right away is that the PE curve oscillates in a regular pattern. This turns out to be tied in with the unique seasonal cycle in this industry. The macro movement, meanwhile, shows a steady increase in absolute PE from Dec 2016 to Dec 2017, reaching a low during the Dec 2017 price increase. After that, however, the macro trend in PE stabilized for a year until the added shock of the Dec 2018 increase. Why did the price stabilize in 2018? One reason may have been the ramp up in media and consistent new product introductions during this time. The client learned a lot from these TVPs. Many people in the business did not think that demand was at all elastic. They thought that their protection and masking strategies were flawless. This analysis showed them that they were elastic – not using a single number out of a “black box” model but as a KPI moving over time with the pulse of their business. They also learned (not shown here) that some markets were more sensitive to price and others not sensitive at all. This enabled them to target their strategies to offset negative response to increased price. Finally, it led them to understand that their business had “sensitivity cycles.” If they were doing spot A/B tests they might get different responses depending on the time of year. Mark Garrett is a featured presenter at the Fall Pricing Workshops and Conference Virtual Event!

We're proud to have thousands of Certified Pricing Professional Designation Graduates around the world. We're more excited to feature their testimonies, career changes and professional developments! Watch as Carlos Hugo Barbery, CPP, CPO, Bolivia Retail S.A., shares his transformation as a recent graduate. *The full English translation is listed below. ;) "I highly value being part of the Professional Pricing Society, given the high degree of demand that represents being a certified professional by this institution. It has exceeded my expectations, not only by addressing quantitative approaches such as: discounts, incremental costs, margin analysis, in greater depth and rigor, but by incorporating qualitative approaches into the analysis from a more holistic view of prices such as: segmentation, hedonistic perspective of value, price management in turbulent markets, price management in competitive markets, etc. They are tools that make a substantial difference in the analysis, even in countries where there is high informality and rigidity in the regulations and as if it were not enough, now the COVID-19 puts a brake on the world with which it will completely change the perspective of the consumer. There is still a long way to go and above all a lot of path to discover in this exciting subject of prices." Greetings from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Learn more about the Certified Pricing Professional Designation HERE.

What does it mean to apply the 80/20 rule to pricing segmentation? Paul Hunt, Chairman of Pricing Solutions, and PPS faculty, recently shared a Blog and Keynote on this principle, including the core tenants, why 80/20 is so impactful, and how to apply 80/20 with value-based pricing to your business. The 80 /20 business model is not just about squeezing out the complex customers/product lines that only makeup 20% of your revenue. It is also about extracting more value out of those who make up the critical 80% with value-based pricing strategies. A Layered and Streamlined Approach to Pricing Is there such a thing as selling too many products or having too many customers? The resounding answer is ‘yes’! Many successful industrial manufacturing companies have proven it by using the 80/20 process developed and refined at Illinois Tool Works. 80/20 is a proven methodology for reducing complexity, which decreases costs and dramatically improves profits, but there is one area that 80/20 does not do a great job of addressing and that is pricing. For this reason, pricing is a major opportunity for companies using the 80/20 process to increase revenue and price effectiveness. First, let’s briefly review what the 80/20 process is and how it works. 80/20 is a process of sorting products and customers into two categories: those in the “80” category comprise 80 percent of the company’s revenue. Those in the “20” category include the remaining 20 percent of the company’s revenue. Read the full post HERE. Don't want to read? Check out this You Tube Teaser about applying the 80/20 rule to Pricing Segmentation: Paul Hunt also taught an exclusive PPS Online Pricing Course "Pricing During Turbulent Times"

This Guest Post was written by Nolwenn Godard, Director of Product Management at PayPal. Nolwenn Godard is a Director of Product Management at PayPal, where she helps teams build and scale products and platforms. She is passionate about harnessing technology for value creation and social impact. In the past five years, she has led a Pricing technology transformation, enabling the Pricing platform to price 12 billion payment transactions, generate over $ 17 billion in revenue and serve 305 million active accounts in more than 200 markets in 2019. Nolwenn was an honoree of the 2018 Silicon Valley Women of Influence. She earned her MBA from ESSEC business School in France Technology, in particular the digitization of the economy, is altering entire business ecosystems. Increased price transparency and choice are strengthening the negotiation power of customers. Data science, Artificial Intelligence and predictive analytics offer an unprecedented possibility for pricing intelligence and new disruptive pricing models. What does this all mean for the Pricing function at your company? Looking at our current reality and imagining the future, we can expect the five trends below to reshape our business landscape: Economic Digitization.  The digitization of the economy will have a profound impact on businesses. This is being fostered by ever-increasing processing power, big data and powerful algorithms along with greater access to technology globally. The global coronavirus pandemic only seems to accelerate and reinforce this trend, as many services and verticals – including commerce, education and communication – are now moving into the digital space. Greater transparency of interests, desires and behaviors. Due to massive data from social media and the Internet of Things and its interpretation by machine learning, customer interests and behaviors are more and more clear. The New Paradigm of “Proximity”.  Additive manufacturing, combined with cheap renewable energy on site (like solar) could revolutionize manufacturing, providing a just-in-time networked distributed production at an unprecedented magnitude. We‘ve started witnessing how additive manufacturing has been leveraged to “print“ ventilators as we respond to the global coronavirus pandemic. Automation and Robotics.  New intelligent operations like chat bots, personal assistants and automated credit scoring will have a profound impact on businesses. Cybersecurity.  Businesses will increasingly invest in cybersecurity as everything and everyone will be increasingly connected and hence vulnerable, exposed to fraud (money, intellectual property, trade secrets) and disruption (false data fabrication, denial of service). Even today, as we face a global pandemic, we’re seeing new fraud schemes emerge. What Does This Mean For Pricing? There will be a great opportunity to create and capture value. Rich insights about customer wants, behaviors and price sensitivity combined with the scale of technology will enable businesses to provide deeply personalized solutions (e.g. DNA-based medicine) at scale, hence increasing the value to customers and having the opportunity to capture some of that additional value. We can also expect increased, intensified competition from expanded global access to technology. Customers will have more choice and negotiating power, and companies will compete to capture customers’ attention and influence their actions, while facing price pressure. To survive, companies will have to study and outsmart their competition and flex their “business model agility” muscle, taking into account the new paradigm of reduced costs on the one hand (economies of scale from technology, cheap energy and labor substitution from automation) and massive investments in cybersecurity and digital assets on the other hand. Their models will need a robust proximity strategy (what does it mean if the competition is where the customers are and can serve them instantaneously?). Businesses will need to think in terms of “ecosystems” (for example, electric autonomous cars will not only disrupt the automobile industry but also the insurance industry and urban design). In the new world, their offering may become rapidly irrelevant and they may need to “pivot” constantly. Creating a “Business model lab” to experiment, learn, iterate and scale fast when a model works will be vital. Any new capability or new data will be an opportunity to review and change business models. This “adaptability” muscle is being tested every day in the midst of this global pandemic and it will be our opportunity to cultivate it after the crisis. Companies capable of automating and optimizing their operations will also have a competitive advantage. For example, they can leverage technology to provide automated price guidance to sales teams, get AI recommendations on the highest performing sales pitches, automate contracts creation and lifecycle and detect and prevent customer churn. These capabilities will enable faster go-to-market, real-time pricing adjustments, optimized costs and enhanced customer relations. With the global coronavirus pandemic, we see very clearly that when technology is able to replace humans in performing critical tasks, it can make a distinct difference in helping a company survive. The “brave new world” is coming. We are challenged to adapt.

This guest post was written by pricing and sales expert Joanne Smith, President, Price to Profits Consulting It’s inevitable – difficult times lay ahead. Economists are predicting a recession, yet they differ on their projections of the depth and length of this recession; from a few short months and a fast recovery, to many months and a recovery that lasts until a vaccine is available. Keeping in mind that a recovery phase means we are still in a down market – one that is on the upswing, yet still has not returned to normal times – either scenario is a long time for B2B businesses to weather. Like the downturn is inevitable, so is mounting price pressure. It will come from all sides. * Customer’s will demand price relief, * Competitors may begin discounting to retain, or worse, gain share * Management, worried about low revenue and still tied to their now unrealistic growth objectives set pre-recession, will encourage sales to gain volume * Sales, worried about their own compensation and maintaining good relationships with their customers, will begin to advocate for price discounts. You need to get ahead of this pressure fast. You need a Pricing Crisis Preparedness Plan as well as a sales force with the confidence and skill to navigate through these tough times. Based on my book “Pricing in a Crisis Playbook”, Your 5-step plan should include: * Monitoring, predicting and analyzing your market and pricing performance * Setting your proactive strategies and tactics * Building your communication plan * Tightening your deal approval process * Forming a pricing crisis management team and process. Doing nothing – waiting until the pressure has already affected your market price – is guaranteed to result in unnecessary price decline and significant loss of profits. Consider the pricing performance of DuPont, a $30 Billion company, for which I was leading the corporate pricing organization during the 2009 great recession and the 5 years prior to this recession. It was during this recession that I developed and deployed my 5-step Pricing Crisis Preparedness Plan– one that I have enhanced as I subsequently guided many businesses through tough times. During the great recession, DuPont had only 2 quarters where price declined and for the full year of 2009 we netted a positive $200 million of profits – over 2008 – from pricing. Now, let’s compare that to DuPont’s performance in much less severe times such as the 2001 mini-recession, the chaos of the 911 attack or the Asia crisis / 1997 market crash. During each of these milder market downturns, DuPont lost pricing for 5 – 7 quarters straight! We lost price through the crisis, the recovery and then some. Clearly being reactive to the market – essentially a victim of the tough times – brought far more dire price and profit declines. Yet, when we became proactive with a preparedness plan, we were successful in influencing our performance as well as the market towards much slower price declines. As the market recovered, we were quick to take advantage of these more favorable times. If you’re interested in learning more, refer to my new book Pricing in a Crisis Playbook: A Practical B2B Guide for Pricing with Confidence in a Crisis or Recession and explore my Pricing In A Crisis course for Sales and Marketing Professionals HERE.

This Guest Post was written by Patrick McCullough, Director with Holden Advisors, joins us to discuss the ways in which you can gain a deeper understanding of your customer’s business. Don’t be fooled, procurement continues to win the B2B negotiation game being played with your commercial teams. Market statistics validate procurements’ success in driving prices lower each year for the same products and services. I know that you are thinking, “my team is different,” but, is your team really different? Consider the average discount rates across your company. Don’t you think the discounts should be smaller? One of the primary actions that procurement uses to drive prices lower is to reverse the negotiation and turn your sales team’s focus inward. It is helpful to think about each negotiation as two smaller negotiations – the first being the negotiation between the sales team and the customer, while the second is the internal negotiation between sales and the pricing team. Using advanced tactics and gamesmanship, procurement has been taught to increase the pressure on sales and focus the sales team’s energy on negotiating with their own company. Thus, the pricing organization receives both the internal and external pressure to close deals at the customer’s desired price. Price with a New Perspective is a program that has been designed to change this paradigm. In learning unique ways to both identify and quantify value, pricing professionals can empower their sales team to defend their value. When pricing and sales work together in unison, it levels the playing field created by professional buyers and procurement. One of the first steps the pricing team can take to work more cooperatively with their sales team is to gain an in-depth understanding of their sales cycle. Unfortunately, pricing is typically brought into the process late in the sales cycle, which results in the internal negotiations previously mentioned. If the pricing team can partner with sales and advocate for earlier involvement, together they can craft a value proposition and agree on an appropriate price to protect their value and win the negotiation. Another step the pricing team can take is to better understand buyer types and how they behave in a negotiation. When both pricing and sales understand buyer types and better yet, how they behave, they naturally begin to act as a unified commercial team. One example is the creation of customer specific price-value tradeoffs that can be used in a negotiation to remove high value-add components of an offering and lower the price. We call these tradeoffs Give-GetsSM and they have proven to be an incredibly effective tool to uncover buyer tactics and determine what customers really care about. Negotiations in B2B markets are increasingly complex and pricing professionals must continue to adapt. Not only must pricing understand and quantify the value of their products and services, but they must also partner with their sales teams to defend that value. If you fail you do so, professional buyers are trained and ready to take away any profit you knowingly, or often unknowingly, concede. Hear more from Patrick during the Pricing In Crisis Virtual Summit event this June!

The Top Skills You Need to Lead Digital Transformation We're hosting a new, Pricing In Crisis Virtual Summit event June 24-25 to address the business concerns exclusive to the pricing industry. During this time of crisis, learn to leverage pricing strategies to navigate difficult discussions with stakeholders, customers and employees. Gabe Smith, Chief Evangelist with Pricefx, is a featured presenter during the Pricing In Crisis Virtual Summit sharing the benefits of digital transformation, how to set priorities, and gain organizational buy-in. In this article from Pricefx, uncover the top skills needed for a digital transformation. Digital transformation, put simply, is the integration of digital technology throughout all areas of a business. The goals of digital transformation are to launch or further push the business into the digital age, to alter processes to drastically improve performance, and to rejuvenate the business. However, as vital as digital transformation may be for your business, it is a huge undertaking that requires a large investment of money and time as well as a strong team to guide the business through this process. Whilst the benefits are numerous, digital transformation must be managed in the most efficient and careful way in order to maintain profitability. In this article, I will list the top skills required for digital transformation and how best to implement them into a business in preparation for this new era. 1. Communication Communication, a vital skill within any business, is absolutely at the top of the list when it comes to digital transformation technology skills. The process of digital transformation, as with any period of change, brings about numerous discussions on how best to proceed – whether the change is too risky or expensive for the business and many other valid opinions. Communication is a necessity in guiding a business through digital transformation in order to keep employees up to date on what is happening so that they can really understand the reasons why the investment is taking place. The long–term effects of communication can allow a business to safely transition through this period of change by ensuring that all employees buy into the idea and are on hand to see it through. 2. Collaboration Following directly on from the benefits of communication in digital leadership skills, collaboration is an incredibly important part of digital transformation. Within each team, department, and the business as a whole, everyone must work together in order to guarantee digital transformation’s successful implementation. This is never truer than with those in charge of the digital transformation itself. They must listen to employees and aid them in understanding their roles, effectively communicate through to the business the steps that are being taken, and, as such, act in a way that best benefits the business. 3. Leadership The natural progression of communication and collaboration comes from leadership. As a truly vital skill for any manager at any time, the same applies to those who are leading a digital transformation process. In regards to digital transformation roles and responsibilities, the figures who are leading the process have the most important tasks of all. A critical and analytical mindset will guide any leader in making decisions throughout digital transformation that will shape the business for the better – not only throughout the process but also in the long run. Just as much as it will allow those in charge to assess employees who have the necessary skills and mindsets to aid the leadership throughout digital transformation. It is highly advisable for any leadership to surround themselves with capable and dedicated people during the integration and to ensure that they are at the forefront. To read the rest, access the FULL ARTICLE HERE.

This Guest Post was written by Avy Punwasee, Principal, Revenue Management Labs, and featured presenter during the Pricing In Crisis Virtual Summit. Unprecedented in our lifetime? Yes. However, a global pandemic was, to some degree, inevitable in our increasingly interconnected world. If you're not in the business of online streaming services, cloud computing, e-commerce or pharma/healthcare, you're probably currently experiencing a downturn; you're drowning in requests for extended financing, cost concessions and improved servicing. Your focus has transitioned to supporting the top line, driving cash flow and maintaining whatever level of profit is realistic. But don't despair, industry experts are projecting that the post-COVID-19 recovery will begin in the third quarter of 2020. As we look forward, economies will once again stabilize. When that happens, it will be essential that businesses get back to basics with price housekeeping, and these are five main areas you should focus on to ensure a successful recovery. 1. Revisit Deals With Declining Customers Every dollar counts, and if you're investing with shrinking customers, you are underinvesting in growing customers. Go in for hard negotiations on customers that have experienced multi-year declines. Restructure deals to focus investment on growth. Optically, customers get the same dollars but based on their trajectory, you've just freed up resources. 2. Smaller Customers Pay A Premium Map out the size of each customer vs. net price (indexed to the biggest customer). If you have any customer segments defined, add them in as a third variable. Be sure to include all deals and customer investments to ensure you're getting a complete picture. You should see a downward-sloping relationship; as customers get larger, they enjoy a cost concession. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case, and substantial clean up is required. 3. You Should Never Be NOT Selling It's alarming how many companies have offerings that deliver negative margins despite having guardrails in place. These offerings often start as an exception or with assurances that they will be addressed in the future, but left unchecked, they balloon and become a drag on the financials. The best way to find them is to assess your offerings at the lowest level, offering by customer, and determine if you are making a variable profit. In cases where you have loss-leader offerings, ensure that the total basket is accretive to your portfolio and evaluate if a price increase on this item would result in the customer walking away. 4. Convert Non-Working (Fixed) Investments To Working (Variable) Working investments relate to spend that varies based on volume delivered (e.g. growth incentives) versus non-working remaining flat despite customer performance (e.g. lump sum marketing /promotion spends). Rank all customers based on the size of the business, percentage of non-working dollars and contract renewal dates. Set a target "percentage non-working dollars" and create an action plan against the top opportunities. Often non-working spend has been negotiated within customer contracts, so a multi-year plan to impact is usually required. 5. Start Developing The Sell Story Now Often, pricing strategies get stuck when you move to implementation. Building customer-relevant sell stories that can clearly define your message of value and fairness. Ensure that your sales team is trained to deliver this message to increase your probability of success. While presently there's doom and gloom in the news, there is also a silver lining. Price increase discussions are made more straightforward when the reasoning (pandemics, trade wars, recession, tariffs & cost pressures) are public knowledge. Be ready to leverage these turbulent times to pass through cost increases and right-size your portfolio pricing by getting back to these B2B pricing basics. Ask Avy your questions about how to Drive Mix Management During Market Upheaval during the 2020 PPS Virtual Summit on June 24-25.

During this uncertain time, many businesses are looking for the best revenue management strategies to maintain profits, improve customer service and sustain jobs. It's getting tough, and we understand. Companies that decide to leverage pricing during this time of crisis can improve their outcomes with the right business strategies. The Professional Pricing Society is here to guide your organization. We are gathering the brightest minds to share pricing best-strategies in real-time. Access to this LIVE event is FREE - member or not. Don't miss out on this two-day event, June 24-25, 2020. REGISTER HERE (or click the image below) All registrants will gain FREE access to the replay through June 26, 2020. After June 26, the Summit will be moved to our members-only vault. Our members enjoy access to 16 annual publications, unlimited replay of all prior webinars, and a community of pricers sharing their own best practices so that we can march forward together. So don't hesitate to become a PPS member and capitalize on the value! Register for the Pricing In A Crisis Virtual Summit and join the global tribe of PPS Members and Pricing Professionals.

CAPITAL PRICING CONSULTANTS: LYDIA DI LIELLO Lydia Di Liello, CEO & Founder of Capital Pricing Consultants, shares the story of her journey with us about how and why she started her company. As it turns out, a lot of businesses (particularly in manufacturing) struggle with getting or staying in the black because they may not have shrewdly or practically priced their products. There's a lot of data to take into account, – from client surveys to international tariffs, and beyond. Read the original interview HERE. Don't miss Lydia's presentation during the #PPSPricingInCrisis Virtual Summit event! Click the image below to learn more and register for the FREE event:

This guest blog post was written by Michael Stanisz is a Principal and Founder at Revenue Management Labs. Revenue Management Labs help companies develop and execute practical solutions to maximize long-term revenue and profitability. Throughout my career, I have worked in and consulted with companies implementing Revenue Management (RM) strategies (sometimes referred to as Revenue Growth Management (RGM) or Strategic Pricing). In this time, I have watched many companies begin the journey of revenue management⁠ with all the right intentions—selling the right product to the right customer at the right time for the right price⁠. However, when going from intent to execution, many firms have had their potential for success marred by one or a combination of, the following three scenarios: 1. The "Quick Win Fallacy" 2. Not adopting a Revenue Management change management strategy 3. Not being comfortable with discomfort 1. The "Quick Win Fallacy" The "Quick Win Fallacy" is the belief that achieving positive results in a short time frame will determine long-term success. This strategy, however, is highly ineffective. Don't get me wrong; I'm a big believer in leveraging quick wins as a way to show an organization's leadership that Revenue Management (RM) is a worthwhile endeavor - primarily when those wins can act as a motivator for enduring potential returns. However, for organizations that are entering the RM space for the first time, settling for quick wins as a business strategy, is short-changing your potential to reap the enduring benefits of a full Revenue Growth Management strategy. Rationalizing trade spend on low or negative margin captive customers, or leveraging a price increase on a product line that has not kept pace with market inflation, are easy to implement and quick to quantify initiatives, or in other words, they are "quick wins." Tasks of this nature are easily handled by a small team and act as a proof of concept that RM can be successful within an organization. However, the very nature of a "quick win" creates complacency and thus their undoing. Once the “quick wins” are executed, senior management will expect every Revenue Management solution to be: Quick, Require minimal resources and, Provide substantial benefit The reality is that no successful Revenue Management solution is truly quick or easy. Most are long, often arduous processes requiring multifunctional support across an entire organization to squeeze even the slightest benefit for the financial statement. The "Quick Win Fallacy" might see your organization experience immediate returns; however, it is not a sustainable growth strategy. 2. Not Adopting A RM Change Management Strategy The second scenario I've seen companies adopt that fails is not integrating a Revenue Growth Management mindset into their organization's DNA. It is crucial that when undergoing a Revenue Growth initiative, a change management strategy also be in place. It is not enough to hire a Manager, Director, VP or even an external resource for Revenue Management initiatives and functions and expect success to automatically follow. Achieving successful organizational change successful, people need to identify with the corporate objective. A Revenue Management Strategy means individual staff will often have to do their jobs differently, and it is the degree to which they change their mindset/behaviors and, consequently, processes that will determine the success of any newly implemented initiatives. Adopting an "RGM Mindset" begins with ensuring the entire organization understands and is living the culture of RGM: to squeeze every penny where possible. This mindset needs to be embraced by all staff, from the C-Suite down to Sales, Marketing, Finance and all other functional support groups. Challenging teams to improve profitability and over-achieve on targets and budgets needs to be engrained in the DNA of an organization to truly bring RGM to life. Otherwise, internal revenue optimization resources are on a desert island destined to starve, resulting in frustration, resignation and a needless waste of corporate resources. 3. Not Being Comfortable With Discomfort Being comfortable with being uncomfortable might sound like bad advice. However, it is vital for a successful Revenue Growth Management implementation and mindset. Too often, I've observed that leadership teams fail to have uncomfortable conversations with peers, staff, and customers, especially when it comes to pricing and profitability. Revenue Growth Management strategies often bring forward topics of discussion that are complicated and can trigger emotional responses from those affected. Navigating discussions around topics like: taking a price increase to customers, or renegotiating terms in a contract or identifying and closing budget gaps within a business (calling out underperformance) are inherently uncomfortable, but necessary. And while it can often be more comfortable to fold than to fight for what is right, I urge leaders to have these conversations, push through the discomfort, and encourage their staff to contribute towards the overall success of a revenue growth management strategy. The Final Word I hope these insights will allow you to avoid some of these more common pitfalls of Revenue Growth Management initiatives, including: 1. The "Quick Win Fallacy" 2. Not adopting a Revenue Management change management strategy 3. Not being comfortable with discomfort If you are considering bringing RGM into your organization, I encourage you to work with a partner who will ensure project efficiency and on track, in addition to helping you build your internal capabilities as required. Learn more about working with Revenue Management Labs HERE. About The Author: Michael Stanisz is a Principal and Founder at Revenue Management Labs. Revenue Management Labs help companies develop and execute practical solutions to maximize long-term revenue and profitability. Connect with Michael at mstanisz@revenueml.com or learn more about working working with the company: Revenue Management Labs. Become skilled at Core Pricing Solutions, check out the PPS Online Pricing Course!