What Are the Best Practices in Pricing Organization Design?

With more companies valuing pricing’s strategic importance, they increasingly look for insights on how to best organize their pricing function and resources. Pricing has been elevated from an informally managed, fragmented function to a rigorous business discipline with an acknowledged need for an organizational infrastructure to manage it.

How should your company’s pricing function be structured and organized?

The design of the pricing function has to be accomplished in light of the right decision authority, reporting relationships, centralization vs. decentralization, skill requirements, governance and key performance metrics. Understanding the role that culture plays in structuring a pricing function is vital, as is establishing the right types of roles and responsibilities.

Learn to identify the core competencies and skills required for a successful pricing organization

During the Beyond the Organization Chart: How to Structure and Organize Your Company’s Pricing Function workshop at the PPS 25th Annual Pricing Conference in Chicago, Larry Montan (pictured top left) and Maggie Laird (pictured bottom left) will explore how to diagnose common issues and barriers to pricing function performance. Workshop attendees will also learn how to manage pricing talent and future trends in pricing organization structure.

When Is the Price Right? Frank Luby Talks Pricing with CBS

Congratulations to Frank Luby for his recent interview with CBS! Frank gives insights into pricing strategies and consumer pricing decision making - read the article here: "When Is the Price Right? Jill Schlesinger on How Consumers Make Irrational Choices When Purchasing"

And, don't miss Frank's new workshop at the Spring PPS Conference in Chicago: "Consumer Pricing: Approaches to Manage Today’s Pressures and Uncertainties"

This interactive workshop will help those involved in pricing decisions for consumer products – from brand managers to research and finance analysts to marketing directors – to gain approaches, frameworks, insights, and techniques for pricing products sold at retail.

Get more details about the workshop and conference registration information here!

CPP Updates: New Workshops and CPP Bundle Packages

It's been awhile since I initially told you about the online CPP Certification through PPS. We now have eleven cutting edge pricing education workshops available online (with two more coming this Fall) from leading minds in the pricing field.

Additionally, PPS has assembled the NEW CPP Pricing Training and Certification Packages with you in mind! Here are some of the key benefits of buying these packages:

- You SAVE a significant amount of money
- You only have to ask for ONE APPROVAL from your boss and company
- You can now SCHEDULE your training at your convenience and get your CPP designation.

Check out our available CPP Bundle Packages:

Single CPP Package

Provides the courses, study guide, and Accreditation Exam that a pricer needs to achieve the CPP designation at is/her own convenience:

• 6 Online Courses - This covers all necessary prerequisite courses for taking the CPP Accreditation Exam.


• CPP Study Guide & Exam Prep Sessions - Extensive 300 page study guide covering 14 topics and online test prep sessions.


• CPP Online Accreditation Exam - The rigorous, 4-hour Accreditation Exam required to achieve the CPP designation.

Cost: $3,795 for current PPS Members

Team CPP Package

Provides the courses, study guide, and Accreditation Exam that a pricer needs to achieve the CPP designation at is/her own convenience:

• 24 Online Courses - This covers all necessary prerequisite courses for taking the CPP Accreditation Exam.


• 4 CPP Study Guides & Exam Prep Sessions - Extensive 300 page study guide covering 14 topics and online test prep sessions.


• 4 CPP Online Accreditation Exams - The rigorous, 4-hour Accreditation Exam required to achieve the CPP designation.

Cost: $10,995 for current PPS Members

(See a complete listing of online courses here)

Current Courses:

• "Decisions in Add-on and Versioning Price Structures" - PRESENTER: Tim Smith, Ph.D., Managing Principal, Wiglaf Pricing


• "Best Practices in Designing and Implementing Value-Based Pricing Strategies" - PRESENTER: Andreas Hinterhuber, PhD., Partner, HINTERHUBER & PARTNERS, Visiting Professor Bocconi University


• "Price Certainty in Uncertain Times: 10 Ways to Stop Leaving Money on the Table" - PRESENTER: Mark Burton, Co-Author Pricing with Confidence: 10 Ways to Stop Leaving Money on the Table


• "Core Pricing Skills" - PRESENTERS: Mark Billige, Senior Consultant, Simon-Kucher & Partners and Stephan A. Butscher, Partner, Simon, Kucher & Partners


• "Implementing Price Changes In Competitive Markets Strategies & Methods for Making Them Stick Inside and Outside the Firm" - PRESENTER: Richard Lancioni, Ph.D., CPP, Chair Department of Marketing, Temple University, Fox School of Business and Management


• "Pricing During Turbulent Times" - PRESENTER: Paul Hunt, President, Pricing Solutions


• "Avoid the Commodity Trap: Pricing Services in a Recession" - PRESENTER: Reed K. Holden, D.B.A., Founder, Holden Advisors


• "The Psychology of Buying at Higher Prices in a Down Market" - PRESENTER: Scott Sorrell, CEO of Sales Adrenaline


• "Bundling's Impact on Profits" - PRESENTER: Tim Smith, Ph.D., Managing Principal of Wiglaf Pricing


• "How to Achieve Pricing Excellence This Year" - PRESENTERS: Jim Saunders, Partner, Pricing Solutions and Avy Punwasee, Senior Consultant, Pricing Solutions


• "Best Practices in Pricing Analytics" - Practical Things You Can Do Tomorrow (and in the Future) - PRESENTER: Reuben Swartz, Lecturer, Consultant and Author of "Dollars and Sense: The Pricing Blog."

PPS Online Courses – Coming Soon: Fall 2009

• "Pricing: Making Profitable Decisions" - PRESENTER: Kent B. Monroe, J.M. Jones Professor of Marketing, Emeritus


• "Pricing Cases in Latin America" - PRESENTER: Frederico Zornig, Founder and CEO, Quantiz Pricing Solutions, Brazil

Have you attended one of our online courses? We love to hear how these courses have benefited pricers. Please send us your feedback!

Warmly, EM

What's New for the Annual Fall Pricing Conference in Orlando

This year has been challenging for pricers.

At PPS, it is our job to bring you the most up to date and applicable knowledge available to help you thrive in your career, especially in these challenging economic times. That is just what we have designed for Orlando this year!

We are bringing together the largest gathering of pricing experts, leaders and professionals ever assembled. Whether you are active in pricing or are just beginning your career in the exciting pricing industry, we are offering multiple, specialized education programs to give you the pricing knowledge you need to take your career to the next level, no matter what your pricing proficiency.

This year, we have more than fifteen (15) different and specialized sessions divided into three proficiency tracks: the Pricing Practitioners Track, the Pricing Experts Track and the Tools and Techniques Track.

And that's just the start:

• We have designed a special program for Executives who need to be more in-tune with new and complex pricing trends and methods - the Inaugural Pricing for Executives Summit



• After the successful inaugural event, we have the 2nd Annual Pricing for Latin America Symposium for those with pricing responsibilities in this thriving and unique region of the world



• Plus 35 speakers and sessions, including the world's top pricing experts delivering our General Sessions.

Get all of the conference information and itineraries here or click here to register. Can't wait to see you in Orlando! Warmly, EM