Impact Pricing

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on June 30, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/product-market-fit-is-overrated-for-pricing/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at mark@impactpricing.com.  Now, go make an impact.   Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/  

John Norkus is the founder of chiefpricingofficer.com and has led pricing transformation teams at several large consulting companies including Deloitte and KPMG. He started his career as an aircraft engineer before transitioning into business, bringing his analytical mindset to understanding the behavioral economics of pricing decisions. In this episode, John makes a compelling case for why pricing professionals deserve a seat at the executive table, exploring the disconnect between pricing's impact on enterprise value and its typical organizational placement. He discusses his new platform designed to unite senior pricing professionals and elevate the discipline to C-suite recognition.   Why you have to check out today's podcast:  Discover why pricing professionals are typically buried 2-3 levels below the CEO despite controlling one of four key profit drivers. Learn the difference between traditional pricing roles and true chief pricing officer responsibilities. Understand how to position pricing as enterprise value creation rather than just cost management.   "Pricing may be part marketing, part analytics, part behavioral, part external, part internal, but it is the piece that aligns us on how we're actually squaring off against the market."  – John Norkus   Topics Covered:  01:43 – John's journey to pricing transformation: From aircraft engineer to behavioral economics and CRM to pricing strategy  05:18 – Positioning pricing as organizational connective tissue: Why pricing deserves equal footing with volume, cost, and mix initiatives 08:01 – The pricing control dilemma among departments: How sales, marketing, finance, and operations all claim ownership of pricing decisions  12:24 – Defining the Chief Pricing Officer's role: Executive alignment versus operational pricing work and transformation implementation  15:45 – Pricing strategies in business: Inside-out versus outside-in approaches and competitive intelligence versus customer willingness to pay  16:32 – Critical senior alignment in pricing projects: Why CEO buy-in as a top-3 initiative determines transformation success or failure  19:39 – Pricing and enterprise value analysis: Demonstrating 2-7% bottom-line impact within 12-18 months to justify executive investment  23:35 – The activist CFO and enterprise value: Finding CFOs who understand value creation beyond cost reduction and margin improvement  29:29 – Pricing as organizational alignment: How pricing serves as the ultimate test of market positioning and competitive strategy   Key Takeaways: "If the pricing transformation of the pricing program isn't number one on the CEO's list of one, two, or three most important thing they can do this year... then quite frankly, it's not as important and it doesn't have the kind of alignment that you thought it did." – John Norkus "Organizations who get it are the ones that we should be engaging with... change comes from within. And if somebody believes that this is the right thing to do and they just need somebody to help them do it and somebody who has done it before, that's where people like you and I actually succeed." – John Norkus "I consider 20% of everything we do in pricing to be analytics or data and objective based, and the other 80% to be about behaviors, either internal behaviors or external behaviors that need to be captured and understood." – John Norkus   People / Resources Mentioned:  Professional Pricing Society (PPS): Established organization for pricing professionals and education  Simon Sinek Four Drivers of Enterprise Profit: Volume, Cost, Mix, and Price - and their typical organizational reporting structures   Connect with John Norkus:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmnorkus/ Email: john@chiefpricingofficer.com  Website: https://www.chiefpricingofficer.com/    Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/  Email: mark@impactpricing.com  

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on June 23, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/when-pricing-becomes-sleazy-manipulation/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at mark@impactpricing.com.  Now, go make an impact.   Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Steven Forth is the founder and CEO of Ibbaka and by far Impact Pricing's most frequent guest. He's currently developing ValueIQ, a set of agents for pricing and value advisory work that will soon be available for broader use. In this episode, Steven discusses his recent research comparing agent strategies across four major pricing software companies, explores the fundamental question of how many agents is optimal, and reveals how AI is transforming both the buying and selling process in ways most companies aren't prepared for.   Why you have to check out today's podcast: Learn how the four major pricing software companies (Pros, Vendavo, Zilliant, PriceFX) approach agent development differently. Discover the key difference between role-based and task-based agent design strategies. Understand how AI will fundamentally change B2B buying processes and what that means for pricing.   "Start using AI to get a deeper understanding of how your customers are buying. Because if you don't understand how your customers are buying and buying using AI, you're not going to be able to price properly." – Steven Forth   Topics Covered:  02:07 – ValueIQ introduction: Steven's new agent platform for pricing and value advisory work  06:34 – Defining agents: The difference between true agentic AI and wrapped LLM functionality  10:49 – Sales agent complexity: Breaking down the many tasks salespeople perform and agent granularity 12:35 – Pricing agents vs. features: How to decide between individual pricing and bundling strategies  15:55 – The future of pricing models: Why "good, better, best" packaging may disappear in 2-3 years  21:05 – AI's role in B2B buying: How AI intermediaries will transform RFP processes and vendor selection  25:06 – Understanding AI-powered customers: Why companies must learn how their buyers use AI in purchasing decisions   Key Takeaways: "When I saw that PriceFX announced that it had more than 125 agents... I thought, huh, that's kind of a jaw-dropping number. I don't think I could generate 125 agents for pricing software." – Steven Forth "The role of AI in the buying process is more important than the role of AI in the sales process." – Steven Forth "You're going to be creating more content, not less. But that content is primarily going to be consumed by AIs." – Steven Forth "I think that many of the common packaging assumptions such as good, better, best are going to dissolve away over the next two or three years." – Steven Forth   Resources Mentioned: Michael Mansard's 14-factor model: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmansard/    Connect with Steven Forth: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenforth/  Email: steven@ibbaka.com   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com  

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on June 16, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/the-secret-link-between-market-segments-and-the-will-i-decision/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at mark@impactpricing.com.  Now, go make an impact. Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

In a fascinating conversation, Ashish Gupta, founder and CEO of ScaleUp Exec, shares his entrepreneurial insights and pricing strategies. He discusses how he transformed vendor partnerships by positioning his company as a marketing ally, securing free products rather than just being a retailer. Ashish emphasizes the importance of identifying a specific target audience willing to pay premium prices and explores the dynamics of subscription models for deeper customer relationships. His unique approaches offer actionable strategies for growing businesses.

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on June 9, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/why-pricing-ai-is-so-hard/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at mark@impactpricing.com.  Now, go make an impact.   Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/  

Craig Wilson, Director of Pricing and Packaging at Moody's Analytics, brings extensive experience from major financial services companies including S&P and Experian. Starting his career in financial analysis at a Scottish car retailer after his soccer dreams didn't materialize, Craig discovered his natural strengths in numbers and analytical tools, leading him to specialize in pricing across subscription products, deal desk operations, and information technology services. In this episode, Craig explores the dual challenge of AI in pricing: how to monetize AI-enhanced products and how to leverage AI tools for pricing decisions. Drawing from his experience at Moody's, he discusses why traditional pricing principles still apply to AI products while acknowledging the fundamental disruption AI creates for per-user models. Craig shares practical insights on using AI as a pricing coach and the critical importance of early involvement in product development.   Why you have to check out today's podcast: Learn why AI pricing follows traditional value-based principles but requires new approaches to pricing metrics and value capture. Discover practical ways to use AI tools like Microsoft Copilot for pricing strategy, stakeholder communication, and sales enablement. Understand the critical timing of pricing involvement in AI product development to influence monetization strategies from the ground up.   "Get involved in the product development process as early as possible, particularly in the era of Gen AI and agentic AI."  – Craig Wilson   Topics Covered: 01:30 — Craig's pricing journey: From Scottish car retailer to Moody's Analytics pricing leader 04:15 — Why AI pricing fundamentals haven't changed: Still about value creation and capture 06:30 — The consensus problem: No clear patterns yet in AI pricing 08:45 — Use case example: using AI to do pricing 11:15 — Using AI as a pricing coach: Daily conversations with Microsoft Copilot for strategy development  14:30 — Communication enhancement: Translating pricing concepts for different business personas 16:45 — Sales enablement evolution: AI-powered guidance for complex solution positioning 19:20 — Trust and validation concerns: The information vs. agentic AI distinction 21:45 — Economic value estimation: How AI can finally make this pricing holy grail practical 23:30 — The monetization investment gap: Companies building AI capabilities without pricing strategies   Key Takeaways: On Early Involvement in Product Development:  "Get involved in the product development process as early as possible, particularly in the era of Gen AI and agentic AI." – Craig Wilson On Per-User Pricing's Death:  "In the world of particularly agentic AI solutions, the per-user model is becoming obsolete. I can't see a place for it." – Craig Wilson   Resources and People Mentioned: Moody's Analytics: https://www.moodysanalytics.com/  Tom Nagle: "Strategy and Tactics of Pricing" book: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315266220/strategy-tactics-pricing-thomas-nagle-john-hogan-joseph-zale  Steven Forth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenforth/  Kyle Poyar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/  Stuart Wintertere: LinkedIn thought leader on AI value  Microsoft Copilot: Daily AI coaching tool    Connect with Craig Wilson:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-wilson-5857ba4a/  Email: craig.wilson@moodys.com   Connect with Mark Stiving:   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/   Email: mark@impactpricing.com  

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on June 2, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/jobs-to-be-done-vs-problems-and-results-whats-more-useful-in-b2b/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at mark@impactpricing.com.  Now, go make an impact.   Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Steven Forth has been a frequent guest on Impact Pricing and is a co-creator of the COMPASS framework. Michael Mansard is the Principal Director of Subscription Strategy at Zora. He's an investor in and mentor to several startups, and he started his career in consulting at companies like Deloitte and SAP, so he knows a lot. In this episode, Steven and Michael dive deep into the COMPASS framework for evaluating pricing metrics in the age of AI and agentic systems, exploring how traditional SaaS economics are being turned upside down and why companies need to move away from user-based pricing models.   Why you have to check out today's podcast:  Learn why AI pricing fundamentally breaks the traditional SaaS model of "expensive to build, cheap to run". Understand the COMPASS framework's 14-question assessment for selecting optimal pricing metrics. Explore the accelerating cycles of pricing complexity and simplification across technology waves.   "I think that most people are clueless and do not want to admit that they're clueless. And I think admission is key because admission leads you to a scientific approach to pricing and enables you to accept, to try smaller samples, especially in the age of AI."  – Michael Mansard   Topics Covered:  02:08 – How Michael got into pricing  03:12 – Defining business models vs. pricing models vs. pricing metrics  06:22 – Introduction to the COMPASS framework and why it exists  07:25 – How AI flips traditional SaaS economics on its head 08:03 – The gym membership paradox in AI pricing 11:05 – Steven's perspective on whether pricing fundamentals have changed  24:20 – Pricing evolution cycles and their accelerating speed  27:39 – How COMPASS captures competitive differentiation  34:28 – Michael's pricing advice on embracing iteration and admitting uncertainty   Key Takeaways: "I've seen more change in my part of the technology world in the last six months than I've seen in my entire lifetime." – Steven Forth “If you price it per user, the more a user uses it, the worse margin it would yield. And that's a problem, right? So I call that the gym membership paradox." – Michael Mansard "We need to change the metric. Now the billion dollar question is what metric? And the raison d'être of that framework is exactly that. It's to help people navigate, hence the notion of COMPASS." – Michael Mansard   People / Resources Mentioned:  COMPASS Framework: 14-question assessment for pricing metrics: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/compass-agentic-ai-pricing-metric-framework-your-2-part-mansard-f9qqe  Roger Martin Strategic Choice Cascade: Framework for aligning pricing with business strategy: https://rogermartin.medium.com/decoding-the-strategy-choice-cascade-475d40555eb1 John Maeda's "The Laws of Simplicity": Design principles applicable to pricing models: https://lawsofsimplicity.com/  Karan Sood: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soodkaran/  PriceFX: Company introducing 125 agents: https://www.pricefx.com/ and https://lp.pricefx.com/agents_trial.html   Connect with Steven Forth:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenforth/  Email: steven@ibbaka.com   Connect with Michael Mansard:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmansard/    Connect with Mark Stiving:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/  Email: mailto:mark@impactpricing.com