A hit TV show that came out over the holidays in the UK has shined a new light on this frustrating scandal. If you haven’t heard about it, here’s some background. In 1999, the UK Post Office rolled out a new computerized accounting system called “Horizon.” The new software handled transactions and accounting in post offices all across the country. It was designed to streamline and standardize financial processes, as well as to identify potential instances of fraud.
There was just one problem: Horizon didn’t work.
Within just a few weeks of the software roll-out, British subpostmasters (independent franchisees who run local post offices) began complaining about bugs in the software. The totals reported by the computer differed from the totals calculated by hand, often showing that the local post offices were short by significant sums of money.
Those complaints fell on deaf ears.
The Post Office insisted that its system was reliable. And based solely on electronic evidence from the Horizon system, between 2000 and 2014, it convicted 736 sub-postmasters of fraud.
The Horizon system and the resulting convictions had devastating impacts on those accused of crimes. Many spent years in prison. Some lost their houses to bankruptcy. Others went through divorces. Addictions. Health crises. At least one committed suicide.
Since the truth about the faulty software came to light, the courts overturned many convictions. And thanks to the new spotlight from the TV show, more reparations are in the works.
So what can pricing practitioners learn from this scandal. At least three things:
- It can seem like pricing is working well when it really isn’t. In the same way that computer systems can sometimes malfunction, the pricing systems your organization uses (whether computerized or not) might not be working the way you intended. While it’s usually pretty easy to tell when prices are too high (because sales decline), it’s a lot harder to tell when prices are too low. After all, customers aren’t going to call you up and tell you that they are willing to pay more. Check out Why You Can’t See Your Biggest Pricing Problems for more insight on why this is so and what you can do about it.
- Minimize risk before rolling out a new pricing strategy or initiative. It’s hard to convince others in management and sales to adopt a new pricing initiative. But life will be far, far harder if the program you roll out ends up not working well. That’s why we recommend starting with a pilot program. That way you can work out the kinks ahead of time. It also helps convince others that the program can be trusted and has value. Watch the webinar on Pricing Pilot Programs for more advice on how to do a pilot.
- Don’t blindly trust the pricing processes you put in place over time. It’s easy to believe that a pricing process that once worked well is still working. But price segmentation models that were created months or years ago may no longer accurately reflect the market. You can’t trust a stagnant pricing model. Instead, set up processes that allow you to regularly test your models. If you need help, try this quick way to test your segmentation model.
For more tips on how to avoid common mistakes, check out these resources:
- Diagnosing Pricing Problems
- Tales from the Trenches in B2B Pricing
- 21 Questions About Your Price Segmentation
Pricing Pilot Programs
How do you get your company to accept new pricing approaches while maximizing your odd of success? In this session, learn how to leverage pilot programs and in-market trials to accelerate your progress.
Diagnosing Pricing Problems
When companies stop at a default diagnosis of, “Something’s wrong with the pricing,” they never identify and fix the true root-causes of the issues. In this on-demand webinar, learn how to identify the real root-causes behind pricing performance issues.
Tales from the Trenches in B2B Pricing
Pricing improvement in B2B can be a messy affair. In this on-demand webinar, glean insights from ten cautionary case studies so you don't repeat the same mistakes and miscalculations.
21 Questions About Your Price Segmentation
It can be difficult to know if your price segmentation model is as effective as it should be. This 21-point diagnostic assessment helps you measure how good your model really is and uncover potential areas of improvement.
