In the PricingBrew Journal training seminar, Marketing Pricing Initiatives for Success, we talked about how to secure and maintain internal buy-in and support for pricing projects and initiatives.
Along the way, we covered the process for developing an effective internal marketing strategy and tactical plan, how to identify and prioritize the various internal audiences, and the top ten “lessons learned” from our research.
It was one of our most popular training sessions to-date and it was great to see so many new subscribers in attendance. But we ran short on time and couldn’t cover some of the attendees’ questions in the live session. I found one question particularly intriguing:
Isn’t this overkill for a mandated strategic initiative?
It’s a great question that points to one of the biggest misconceptions about change management and internal marketing…
That a “mandate” from upper management will somehow eliminate all internal resistance, nullify all human responses to change, and force everyone in the organization to join hands and sing Kumbayah in support of a new initiative.
Don’t get me wrong, management support is indeed a necessary thing for a major pricing initiative to be successful. But a “mandate” is nothing more than a strong demonstration of that support. And by itself, it does little to combat the natural resistance to change that is inherent to any established organization.
Now, that may be a kick to the ego for managers and executives who think they can just make things happen through sheer force of will, but nonetheless, it is reality.
So the answer is “no”—going through the process of developing an effective internal marketing strategy and tactical plan is not overkill for mandated initiative. Because even though management support is an important thing, it’s not even close to being the only thing.
