We had a lot to cover in our subscriber-only training seminar, “Navigating the Pricing Technology Landscape.” Because it’s such a meaty topic, we took the entire hour and ran out of time to answer questions from the audience. Of course, if we don’t get to attendees’ questions live, we follow-up with them via email.
However, one question really got my attention…
Don’t better quoting tools improve price quality by forcing compliance?
There’s that word: Compliance.
It’s all-too-easy to view enforcement and compliance as the real pricing problems to be solved. And, it’s really easy to believe that your struggles would end and the profits would rain down, if only those renegade salespeople would get in-line and stick to the prices they’ve been given!
But here’s the thing…
Discounting in the field is not always a sign of renegade, out-of-control salespeople. Sometimes it’s an accurate reflection of the different segments that actually exist in the marketplace. And as a result, strict enforcement of an inaccurate pricing model or a bad pricing policy can have all sorts of unintended consequences.
So unfortunately, the answer to the original question is, “It depends.”
If you’re 100% confident that your underlying pricing models are spot-on reflections of true marketplace dynamics, then yes, more effective enforcement and greater compliance in the field should improve the quality of your realized prices.
On the other hand, if your pricing models are relatively simplistic or they’re not based on the real differences that exist in the marketplace, maximizing compliance in the field could actually cause more harm than good.
