Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
WOMEN IN PRICING LUNCHEON 2011
PPS is proud to announce the first Women In Pricing Luncheon. Hosted at the 22nd Annual Spring Pricing Conference in Chicago on May 5, 2011. Featuring Susan Lee and Rita Kathpalia of Simon-Kucher & Partners. Don't Miss It! www.pricingsociety.com/CHICAGO2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
PPS 22nd ANNUAL SPRING CONFERENCE HOTEL DEADLINE APRIL 12, 2011
You have until April 12, 2011 to take advantage of the PPS Conference Hotel Room Discounts in Chicago. Book your room today at the special rates for conference attendees. Don't delay!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
JOIN RON BAKER FOR A LIVE BOOK CHAT APRIL 7, 2011
PPS IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE ITS FIRST LIVE BOOK CHAT...Implementing Value Pricing by Ron Baker
APRIL 7, 2011..Register NOW...Don't Miss Out!
http://members.pricingsociety.com/webinar_details.asp?WID=270&elq=1e0fdc1b6a15454d96ee9d6d720f9a65
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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
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
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
McKinsey & Company Pricing Expert Craig Zawada Joins PROS Executive Team
New Senior Vice President of Pricing Excellence brings world-class expertise to help customers drive profitability and growth
Houston, Texas – December 14, 2010 – PROS Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PRO), a world leader in business-to-business pricing and margin optimization software, announced that Craig Zawada has joined the company as senior vice president, pricing excellence. In this role, he will provide customers with expert-level insight into pricing best practices and strategies, contribute his expertise to product development, sales, and marketing organizations within PROS, and actively work with other PROS executives on the strategy for the continued growth of the company. Zawada will report to PROS President and CEO, Andres Reiner. Zawada is a well-known expert in the area of pricing strategy whose experience spans a wide range of both B2B and consumer products. Over the past 17 years he has developed innovative pricing concepts and ideas in the areas of market strategy, post-merger pricing, Internet pricing, pricing in distribution, price implementation and pricing infrastructure. Zawada is also a widely-published author, whose articles have been featured in many highly-esteemed publications, such as the Harvard Business Review, Mergers and Acquisitions and the McKinsey Quarterly. He has been interviewed and quoted in Fortune, Canadian Business and Industry Week. He is perhaps best known for his role in coauthoring both the first and second editions of the book, “The Price Advantage,” which has been recognized as one of the most pragmatic books on pricing strategy available. As a frequently soughtafter presenter, Zawada has spoken on pricing strategy at industry conferences in North America, Europe and South America.
“We are thrilled to have Craig Zawada join PROS,” commented Reiner. “Craig is recognized around the world as one of the preeminent thought leaders in the area of pricing and profitability, and we’re excited to offer his expertise to our customers. His experience as a consultant and advisor to senior executives fits nicely with the pragmatic and prescriptive approach we’ve always taken to helping our customers achieve their pricing objectives.”
As Senior Vice President of pricing excellence, Zawada will further strengthen PROS commitment to customer success by providing meaningful insight and direction throughout their pricing journey. He will also provide customers guidance and expertise to ensure they maximize the value of their PROS solutions, which have proven to increase profitability, defend market share, and improve operational agility. Zawada’s years of experience working with many marquee companies on pricing will also serve as invaluable input as PROS continues to advance its software and services suite.
“I am excited to join PROS, which I’ve always considered the distinctive market leader in pricing software,” stated Zawada. “This is a pivotal time for the pricing market, as it has evolved to a point where manufacturers and distributors simply must invest in pricing software to remain competitive.
Pricing is now far too complex and the speed of business far too rapid to rely on anything other than advanced pricing technology to find and capture pricing opportunities. I am convinced that PROS prescriptive solutions, relentless focus on successful customer implementation and change management, and remarkable record of impact make us uniquely positioned to address this growing and substantial need.”
Zawada joins PROS from McKinsey & Company, where he served as a partner in the firm and coleader of the North American Pricing Practice. While at McKinsey, Zawada was focused exclusively on the pricing profession for more than a decade, assisting clients on pricing issues as well as conducting 3100 Main Street, Suite 900, Houston, TX 713.335.5151 www.prospricing.com NYSE:PRO research and development in the pricing field. Prior to this, he was a Senior Associate with a boutique consulting firm specializing in pricing. Zawada received a master’s degree in business administration in 1993 from the Schulich School of Business, York University in Ontario, Canada. He resides in Kimberley, British Columbia.
Houston, Texas – December 14, 2010 – PROS Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PRO), a world leader in business-to-business pricing and margin optimization software, announced that Craig Zawada has joined the company as senior vice president, pricing excellence. In this role, he will provide customers with expert-level insight into pricing best practices and strategies, contribute his expertise to product development, sales, and marketing organizations within PROS, and actively work with other PROS executives on the strategy for the continued growth of the company. Zawada will report to PROS President and CEO, Andres Reiner. Zawada is a well-known expert in the area of pricing strategy whose experience spans a wide range of both B2B and consumer products. Over the past 17 years he has developed innovative pricing concepts and ideas in the areas of market strategy, post-merger pricing, Internet pricing, pricing in distribution, price implementation and pricing infrastructure. Zawada is also a widely-published author, whose articles have been featured in many highly-esteemed publications, such as the Harvard Business Review, Mergers and Acquisitions and the McKinsey Quarterly. He has been interviewed and quoted in Fortune, Canadian Business and Industry Week. He is perhaps best known for his role in coauthoring both the first and second editions of the book, “The Price Advantage,” which has been recognized as one of the most pragmatic books on pricing strategy available. As a frequently soughtafter presenter, Zawada has spoken on pricing strategy at industry conferences in North America, Europe and South America.
“We are thrilled to have Craig Zawada join PROS,” commented Reiner. “Craig is recognized around the world as one of the preeminent thought leaders in the area of pricing and profitability, and we’re excited to offer his expertise to our customers. His experience as a consultant and advisor to senior executives fits nicely with the pragmatic and prescriptive approach we’ve always taken to helping our customers achieve their pricing objectives.”
As Senior Vice President of pricing excellence, Zawada will further strengthen PROS commitment to customer success by providing meaningful insight and direction throughout their pricing journey. He will also provide customers guidance and expertise to ensure they maximize the value of their PROS solutions, which have proven to increase profitability, defend market share, and improve operational agility. Zawada’s years of experience working with many marquee companies on pricing will also serve as invaluable input as PROS continues to advance its software and services suite.
“I am excited to join PROS, which I’ve always considered the distinctive market leader in pricing software,” stated Zawada. “This is a pivotal time for the pricing market, as it has evolved to a point where manufacturers and distributors simply must invest in pricing software to remain competitive.
Pricing is now far too complex and the speed of business far too rapid to rely on anything other than advanced pricing technology to find and capture pricing opportunities. I am convinced that PROS prescriptive solutions, relentless focus on successful customer implementation and change management, and remarkable record of impact make us uniquely positioned to address this growing and substantial need.”
Zawada joins PROS from McKinsey & Company, where he served as a partner in the firm and coleader of the North American Pricing Practice. While at McKinsey, Zawada was focused exclusively on the pricing profession for more than a decade, assisting clients on pricing issues as well as conducting 3100 Main Street, Suite 900, Houston, TX 713.335.5151 www.prospricing.com NYSE:PRO research and development in the pricing field. Prior to this, he was a Senior Associate with a boutique consulting firm specializing in pricing. Zawada received a master’s degree in business administration in 1993 from the Schulich School of Business, York University in Ontario, Canada. He resides in Kimberley, British Columbia.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Zilliant Named An Innovative Software Company To Watch for 2010
Another exciting announcement from PPS Member Company Zilliant:
Zilliant Named An Innovative Software Company To Watch for 2010
Leading market research firm recognizes Zilliant’s price optimization technology as a visionary information access solution
Austin, TX – October 5, 2010 – Zilliant, the leading provider of price optimization and margin management solutions for B2B manufacturers, distributors, high-tech, and industrial service companies, today announced the company was named as a recipient of IDC’s Innovative Information Access Companies To Watch Under $100M1. Zilliant is recognized for their technology’s ability to help sales teams improve decision processes by providing pricing guidance directly to the point-of-sale.
"Smart pricing is one of the most potent competitive strategies a business can deploy in today's intelligent economy," the IDC report highlighted. "[Zilliant’s] software-as-a-service offering provides pricing guidance to sales professionals at the point of a deal negotiation...and drives measurable improvement in performance."
“It is an honor for Zilliant’s technology to be receive this award from IDC—especially with their commitment to recognize companies that have demonstrated real-world customer benefit,” said Rafe VanDenBerg, vice president of strategic marketing at Zilliant. “Numerous in-market validation studies conducted over the past five years have consistently demonstrated that our pricing science and technology helps companies win more sales at higher margins.”
Zilliant's Margin Maximizer optimizes prices, reduces risk in the marketplace, minimizes over-discounting in the field, and drives dramatic improvements to operating margins. As the only B2B solution capable of calculating accurate, segment-level price sensitivities from readily-available transaction data, Margin Maximizer is proven to help businesses win sales without going too far or giving-up too much. Zilliant’s analytics solution, Margin Insight, delivers deep visibility into over-discounting patterns, quoting errors, cross-selling opportunities, off-invoice margin erosion, and cost-to-serve variances.
IDC’s “Innovative Companies Under $100M to Watch” reports are a qualitative evaluation of a set of vendors within a specific market—they are not a stack ranking nor do they represent an exhaustive evaluation of all companies in a segment or a comparative ranking of the companies in the report. IDC solicited entries from vendors of less than $100 million that exemplify specific key trends (selected by analysts) that are driving change in a specific software market. Vendors then submitted case studies that exemplified one of the trend used as the basis for the award. These case studies were evaluated individually and independently by related market analysts across several pre-determined criteria. The teams then met to review the scores. The case studies submitted for review had to demonstrate that the technology was available, able to be implemented and provided real-world benefits to the customer.
Zilliant has been recognized in the Manufacturing Business Technology Top 40, S&DCE 100, Red Herring 100, Red Herring 200, Austin Business Journal’s Fast 50, and the prestigious Deloitte Texas Technology Top 50.
To keep on top of Zilliant developments, news, events and happenings please subscribe to Zilliant’s RSS Feed.
Zilliant Named An Innovative Software Company To Watch for 2010
Leading market research firm recognizes Zilliant’s price optimization technology as a visionary information access solution
Austin, TX – October 5, 2010 – Zilliant, the leading provider of price optimization and margin management solutions for B2B manufacturers, distributors, high-tech, and industrial service companies, today announced the company was named as a recipient of IDC’s Innovative Information Access Companies To Watch Under $100M1. Zilliant is recognized for their technology’s ability to help sales teams improve decision processes by providing pricing guidance directly to the point-of-sale.
"Smart pricing is one of the most potent competitive strategies a business can deploy in today's intelligent economy," the IDC report highlighted. "[Zilliant’s] software-as-a-service offering provides pricing guidance to sales professionals at the point of a deal negotiation...and drives measurable improvement in performance."
“It is an honor for Zilliant’s technology to be receive this award from IDC—especially with their commitment to recognize companies that have demonstrated real-world customer benefit,” said Rafe VanDenBerg, vice president of strategic marketing at Zilliant. “Numerous in-market validation studies conducted over the past five years have consistently demonstrated that our pricing science and technology helps companies win more sales at higher margins.”
Zilliant's Margin Maximizer optimizes prices, reduces risk in the marketplace, minimizes over-discounting in the field, and drives dramatic improvements to operating margins. As the only B2B solution capable of calculating accurate, segment-level price sensitivities from readily-available transaction data, Margin Maximizer is proven to help businesses win sales without going too far or giving-up too much. Zilliant’s analytics solution, Margin Insight, delivers deep visibility into over-discounting patterns, quoting errors, cross-selling opportunities, off-invoice margin erosion, and cost-to-serve variances.
IDC’s “Innovative Companies Under $100M to Watch” reports are a qualitative evaluation of a set of vendors within a specific market—they are not a stack ranking nor do they represent an exhaustive evaluation of all companies in a segment or a comparative ranking of the companies in the report. IDC solicited entries from vendors of less than $100 million that exemplify specific key trends (selected by analysts) that are driving change in a specific software market. Vendors then submitted case studies that exemplified one of the trend used as the basis for the award. These case studies were evaluated individually and independently by related market analysts across several pre-determined criteria. The teams then met to review the scores. The case studies submitted for review had to demonstrate that the technology was available, able to be implemented and provided real-world benefits to the customer.
Zilliant has been recognized in the Manufacturing Business Technology Top 40, S&DCE 100, Red Herring 100, Red Herring 200, Austin Business Journal’s Fast 50, and the prestigious Deloitte Texas Technology Top 50.
To keep on top of Zilliant developments, news, events and happenings please subscribe to Zilliant’s RSS Feed.
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