Monday, February 21, 2011

Warren Buffett Says Pricing Power More Important Than Good Management

Are you still having trouble convincing your C-Level of the value of pricing strategies and ongoing pricing training to your company’s profitability and growth?

Then maybe it’s time they listen to one of the most successful men in the world. Warren Buffett, the billionaire chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., told Bloomberg this week that he rates businesses on their ability to raise prices and sometimes doesn’t even consider the people in charge.
"The single most important decision in evaluating a business is pricing power. If you’ve got the power to raise prices without losing business to a competitor, you’ve got a very good business. And if you have to have a prayer session before raising the price by 10 percent, then you’ve got a terrible business."

Read the full article here. With the economy still in flux, it is increasingly important for pricers to stay ahead of the competition by controlling their pricing power. Many of this years Workshops, Breakout Sessions and Keynotes have been designed to address these concerns and give meaningful strategies for pricers to take charge of their pricing in the 2011 global economy. We hope to see all of you in Chicago!

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Friday, February 18, 2011

Pricing Strategies for Product Managers by Linda Gorchels

Question: How can organizations insure that they are leveraging pricing strategies and tactics across all functional disciplines to get bottom line results?

Answer: Begin by cross training individuals within the organization on the relevance and importance of pricing training in each department and equip management teams with a pricing toolkit: starting with the Product Manager.

In this course individuals will learn the role of the Product Manager in developing a pricing strategy as well as how to interpret upstream and downstream product pricing issues. Since pricing is the key to profitability and growth stimulation, product managers will be able to speak with their CFO’s about “true” product and customer costs and establish prices on a product line basis.



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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

PPS 22nd Annual Pricing Wokrshops & Conference - Chicago May 3-6 2011

On behalf of The Professional Pricing Society’s entire team, I am honored to present you our 22nd Annual PPS Spring Pricing Wokrshops & Conference in Chicago.

Our Spring Conference will get you updated on the strategies, tactics, tools and resources you need to improve profitability and boost your pricing career.

The complete program is outlined on this link www.pricingsociety.com/chicago2011 or in the video you can watch in this page. Please allow me to describe some exciting news for you:



A Full Day Added to the Program: Due to PPS Member demand, we have added an extra day to our event. For those new to pricing, we strongly recommend Kent Monroe’s “Core Pricing Skills” 2-day workshop. Another great option is Reed Holden’s 2-day “Pricing with Confidence” workshop, which will show give you the tools necessary to advance your pricing efficiency. In addition, Tim Smith will lead a 1-day workshop on Tuesday the 3rd entitled “Influencing Customer Price Acceptance” for those who want to concentrate on capitalizing on the value provided to their customers.

On Wednesday, May 4th, you have the continuation of the 2-day workshops plus your choice of four excellent day-long Pricing Training Workshops: Avy Punwasse – “Progressing to World Class Pricing,” Alice Warhol and Oliver Griebl – “Pricing to Stay Whole in Wholesale,” Frank Luby’s Consumer Products workshop,
and Reuben Swartz’s workshop – “Positioning, Pricing, and Profits for Better Performance.”

All of our workshops also grant credits to those pursuing the Certified Pricing Professional (CPP)designation.

Pricing Training for Any Level of Expertise: Whether you are relatively new to pricing and seeking basic information or you are experienced within the pricing discipline and are interested in fine tuning your skill set, we have a comprehensive workshop designed to fit your needs.

Responding to Your Needs: Our event continues on May 5-6th with a strong variety of
keynote addresses, expert opinions, interactive sessions and practitioner success stories all geared towards applicability in today’s market conditions. Charlie Peters, Executive VP at Emerson and Stephan Liozu, President & CEO of Ardex America will discuss strategic issues from a senior management pricing practitioner viewpoint.

Paul Hunt, Eugene Zelek, and Mark Burton also will discuss ways that you can improve your pricing skill set in keynote addresses.

So please join us for our expanded 22nd Annual Spring Conference in Chicago, where
you can reconnect with your peers and gain the knowledge needed to increase your pricing expertise, advance your career and company goals. We look forward to seeing you in Chicago!

Kevin Mitchell
President
Professional Pricing Society