The world's foremost expert on pricing strategy shows how this
mysterious process works and how to maximize value through pricing to
company and customer.
In all walks of life, we constantly make decisions about whether
something is worth our money or our time, or try to convince others to
part with their money or their time. Price is the place where value and
money meet. From the global release of the latest electronic gadget to
the bewildering gyrations of oil futures to markdowns at the bargain
store, price is the most powerful and pervasive economic force in our
day-to-day lives and one of the least understood.
The recipe for successful pricing often sounds like an exotic cocktail,
with equal parts psychology, economics, strategy, tools and incentives
stirred up together, usually with just enough math to sour the taste.
That leads managers to water down the drink with hunches and rules of
thumb, or leave out the parts with which they don't feel comfortable.
While this makes for a sweeter drink, it often lacks the punch to have
an impact on the customer or on the business.
It doesn't have to be that way, though, as Hermann Simon illustrates
through dozens of stories collected over four decades in the trenches
and behind the scenes. A world-renowned speaker on pricing and a trusted
advisor to Fortune 500 executives, Simon's lifelong journey has taken
him from rural farmers' markets, to a distinguished academic career, to
a long second career as an entrepreneur and management consultant to
companies large and small throughout the world. Along the way, he has
learned from Nobel Prize winners and leading management gurus, and
helped countless managers and executives use pricing as a way to create
new markets, grow their businesses and gain a sustained competitive
advantage. He also learned some tough personal lessons about value, how
people perceive it, and how people profit from it.
In this engaging and practical narrative, Simon **** leaves nothing out
of the pricing cocktail, but still makes it go down smoothly and leaves
you wanting to learn more and do more--as a consumer or as a business
person. You will never look at pricing the same way again.
