Crossing the Pricing Chasm

THE EUROPEAN PRICING PLATFORM PAGE 1 OF 19
Crossing the Pricing Chasm
A guide to Pricing Maturity Development
October 2012
Author: Pol Vanaerde
Contributors: Richard Coppoolse and Nicolene Barnard

Many European based organizations have only
just begun to realize how significant the effect
of pricing on shareholder value creation really
is. Until now, the focus was mainly on innova-
tion, sales and marketing – and justly so. But
in today’s economic environment, also value
capturing (effective pricing) is increasingly being
discussed at the boardroom table as one of the
main shareholder value drivers.
Hence, the domain of ‘Pricing’ is in full develop-
ment and many companies install Pricing teams
who almost immediately realize successful mar-
gin improvement projects. These are the ‘quick
wins’ in the discipline of pricing.
The next step proves to be more difficult though:
embedding pricing knowledge in the organi-
zation, thus moving away from pure project-
driven pricing. European pricing professionals
have come to recognize that a lasting change
and full impact on profit optimization requires a
comprehensive approach. Crossing this chasm
is not an easy expedition.
As a result, many pricing practitioners, man-
agement teams and CEO’s are searching for a
structured approach to guide their organizations
towards higher pricing maturity, leading to profit
optimization.
They asked the EPP: where do we start and what
are the priorities? Who should we learn from?
Apple? Bose? 3M? Bayer? Audi? Microsoft?
Michelin? Hilti? The Rolling Stones? Is there a
proven path to superior pricing?
The answer is Yes! There is a proven pricing ma-
turity development path.
The maturity model concept, as a tool to enhance
organizational capabilities, was popularized by
the Carnegie Mellon University in the 90’s. Their
first Capability Maturity Model (CMM) was devel-
oped for IT management, but in the meantime,
nearly every management domain has maturity
models to draw upon. A maturity model defines a
set of structured levels that describe how well the
behaviors, practices and processes of an organi-
“Pricing maturity
management
effectively works at
Johnson Controls.”
Wim Beirens
Director Strategic Pricing
Johnson Controls Inc.
Why Pricing Maturity Development matters

zation can reliably and sustainably produce the
required outcomesi
. Maturity models have been
applied to almost all fields of management by
now, and also translated to the pricing discipline
(see references).
At the EPP, we have gathered a treasure of best
practices from the leaders in the field of pricing to
come to our own practical pricing maturity model
to support pricing practitioners in Europe. It is a
hands-on, pragmatic instrument, to support your
pricing maturity development, and it is our mission
to share it with you.
The emphasis of this white paper is to help you
identify where you are today in your pricing journey,
which areas you need to prioritize and improve
to lead your company to the next level of pricing
maturity (and profit optimization) – and perhaps
most important: how to cross the ‘Pricing Chasm’.
Beyond the low-hanging fruit
At first, pricing practitioners’ most important challenge
often is to demonstrate the impact of pricing on margin
improvement to top management.
The low-hanging fruit The quick and dirty way to get their attention is by means of picking the “low-hanging fruit”.
Those offer a fast return on investment, and show immediate margin impact.
The three most delivered margin improvement projects focus on:
1. Improving price setting of new products
2. Achieving overall margin improvement
3. Realizing cross-national (European) price harmonization
Premium quality fruit However, the low-hanging fruit is just that: easy to pick ... We can’t stop there. The most juicy,
rewarding fruits are the ones on the higher branches with the most exposure to sunlight. By pay-
ing attention to these premium quality fruits, the best pricing professionals build and maintain
superior pricing practices.
Harvesting time The EPP Pricing Maturity Model helps you set the right priorities and lead the organizational
change towards full profit optimization.

In the early stages of their pricing development,
organizations often focus first on margin im-
provement projects. These pricing projects (the
low-hanging fruits: see frame) bring the desired
visibility at board level, but pricing professionals
soon grasp that full value capturing is much more
complex and challenging.
Pricing audits always reveal weaknesses and
improvement opportunities in all building blocks
(...). They result in a long list of capability gaps
and organizational challenges. As a result, we
see top management often struggle to allocate
the right priorities in this list.
The EPP Pricing Maturity Model helps you de-
termine which level you are operating on, how to
prioritize your efforts, and how to cross the pric-
ing chasm to achieve full profit optimization.
Improvements do not come from better price
setting alone. You have to develop and align your
capabilities in all pricing building blocks.
We visualise this by means of the EPP Pricing
Framework. There are five core processes: Price
strategy, Price Policy & Setting, Discount Policy,
Execution and Monitoring – and two supporting
building blocks: Organization & Governance and
Tools & Systems.
The Pricing Maturity Approach
Figure 1: The EPP Pricing Framework
Price
Strategy
Price
Policy &
Price
Setting
Discount
Policy
Price
Execution
Monitoring
Organization & Governance
Tools & Systems

We consolidated real-life best practices and ad-
vice from Pricing leaders, experienced in pricing
maturity development across all industries, into
the EPP Pricing Maturity Model.
Under optimal conditions, it will take you at least
3 to 4 years to bring your organization from level
1 to level 3. It is essential that you have the full
cooperation and support of your most impor-
tant stakeholders in realizing the change: top-
The model consists of 4 stages which will be de-
scribed in detail in the pages to follow:
- Level 1: Price list maintenance
- Level 2: Gaining transactional control
- Level 3: Achieving full value capturing
- Level 4: Deploying full profit optimization
management, marketing, sales, finance (and IT).
Do the right things first and never walk alone; if
you keep these two key things in mind, the likeli-
hood of success in your pricing journey increases
sevenfold!
“Pricing is not just
a project, but a
change process.”
Figure 2: The EPP Pricing Maturity model
1. Price list
maintenance
4. Full Profit
Optimization
2. Take Transactional Control
3. Full Value Capturing
Time
DegreeofProfitOptimization
Run and align Fly and optimize
Y2-3 Y4+
Crawl
Start
Walk but
never alone
Y1
C
H
A
S
M

Organizations operating at this level are typically mainly focused on volume. Since
volume is one of the key performance drivers at this stage, they try to sell to (almost)
everyone at (almost) every price. Prices consequently vary widely across the customer
base, resulting in a very wide price band. Potential risks emerge as customers find out
about these large, difficult to explain price differences.
The Sales department deals with price problems on an ad hoc basis and feels that
Pricing is well-managed and under control. They see no need to implement any drastic
changes. At lower levels in the organization (e.g. regional level) this is often correct.
However, at a higher level (e.g. national or international), the wide price bands are likely
to lead to pricing conflicts eventually, which in turn result in increased price pressure
during negotiations.
At this basic level of pricing maturity, there is a huge threat of structural and con-
tinuous loss of profitability and value, because the organization does not fully realize
what’s happening, how it’s happening and least of all, why it is happening.
Price Strategy No clearly defined price strategy goals in place. Price strategy is implicit and ad hoc.
Product life cycle price management not in place. No price segmentation. In case of
multi-national, European countries price independently from one another.
Price Policy & Price Setting Prices are mainly the result of a cost-plus exercise, with some input from the sales
force regarding prices of direct competitors. List prices are set by product manage-
ment or marketing. Prices are adjusted periodically (once a year) and only triggered
by cost changes or as a reaction on price level adjustments by price leaders in the
market. Price/value mapping is not in use. Price elasticity analysis is not in use.
Discount Policy Discount structure is historical and often needs improvement. Since the organization
is mainly volume driven, the discount structure is driven by sales opportunism, trigger-
ing potential channel conflicts.
Price Execution Minimal or no authorization needed for deviations from general conditions of sales/
price structure. ‘Street prices’ are essentially controlled by sales. Deviations are not
monitored. Preparation of price increases is poor. Sales force sells on features, not
on value.
Monitoring Pure financial reporting is dominant at this maturity stage. Sales is monitored on
turnover and overall gross margin, no view on product, channel, segment or account
level. Cost to serve data is not readily available. Weak price reporting structures.
Many internal discussions on the quality of data (reported cost prices, margins, price
definitions). No systematic monitoring of competitor pricing & promotions. Little or no
monitoring of price adherence.
Level 1: Price List Maintenance

People & Organization There is no separate pricing function. Pricing function is generally dispersed through-
out the organization. Product Management or Administration controls the Price Lists,
while Sales take the final pricing decisions with a large degree of freedom during
their negotiations in the field. Little accountability when errors occur (no root-cause
analysis, nor corrective action).
Tools & Systems Sporadic, or no use of pricing research tools. No system offering an overview of ex-
isting price lists, while Sales department uses lists for different customers, countries,
etc. Discount grids don’t exist, or only exist in Excel sheets. No limitation for sales
force to overrule prices in system.
Level 1: Price List Maintenance (continued)

At this level the organizations become gradually aware that they are leaking profit and
they are committed to do something about it.
The discussions that take place during pricing maturity level 1 in the organization trig-
ger a gradual move towards activity based costing. Transparency on cost prices and
its components (products and services), net margins, and also the real cost-to-serve
customers become clear.
The organization is now monitoring what products are sold at which prices and to
whom (customer groups). They understand what’s happening (and why) when it
comes to pricing. Margin improvement projects have started.
At the same time, more strategic questions are being asked: when do we focus
on volume and when on margin? Where should we attack, defend or harvest? For
which segment do we choose which strategy? Is our discount structure aligned with
our go-to-market strategy and goals? It is now extremely important to get to a stage
where we can say ‘we’re in business’ and get involved in the marketing and sales
discussions: never walk alone from here!
Price Strategy Price strategy and goal setting are based on ‘general guidelines or targets’ e.g.:
increase margins by 3 percentage points. Limited degree of product life cycle price
management. Price segmentation criteria discussed by sales and marketing. For
strategic accounts, price harmonization across countries is considered when con-
flicts occur.
Price Policy & Price Setting Better insights into cost-to-serve and net margins drive margin improvement projects.
1. Still mainly cost-plus
Price setting and price changes are still mainly cost driven (or competition based),
but value components per segment are being explored.
2. Pricing analytics
Price analytics have been set up, providing a view on what’s happening. This leads to
active discussions with sales on how to improve margins and leads towards a number
of price- and portfolio optimization projects. Price elasticity is understood and used.
3. Pricing becomes a management topic
Several margin improvement projects (“quick wins” in pricing, the so called “low-
hanging fruit”) are successfully executed. This success results in a very important
boost in the trust of an organization’s pricing initiatives. Pricing now has a higher
priority on the management team’s agenda.
Level 2: Taking Transactional Control

4. Floor prices, target prices and price corridors
Floor and target prices per product line/customer group installed. European (global)
price corridors are installed to avoid cross-border selling. Price setting reviewed mini-
mum twice per year.
5. Price approval routing
Pricing approval process is being improved. Corrective actions and/or new price set-
ting have to be approved by a pricing committee.
Discount Policy The discount structure is now more ‘in control’ and adjusted to narrow the price
band. Although the discount structure is no longer triggering channel conflicts, it
typically still includes too many unconditional discounts and/or rebates.
Price Execution TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) models are developed and used to support the sales
process. Sales force starts to understand concept of value selling. Price segmenta-
tion discussions lead to more pricing alignment in the organization. Questions also
occur around value: do we really understand our value? Do we really sell our value?
How do our customers perceive our value? Is our value in balance with our price?
These questions trigger pricing research. Price increases are better prepared and
monitored on their effectiveness in the market. Win and loss analysis is put in place
and evaluated regularly.
Monitoring The organization now has transactional control: they understand what happens and
why when it comes to pricing. Pricing data is accurate and trustworthy. The over-
all portfolio margin is measured (whale curve), highlighting low performing portfolio
items. Margin improvement projects are monitored. List price deviation is monitored.
Effect of promotional (discount-) activities (also of competitors) are analysed. These
bring new insights in price elasticity and effectiveness of the different types of promo-
tional activities.
People & Organization Pricing function is embedded in the Finance and Control function. Team built around
pricing analysts. Pricing council/advisor in place to approve corrective actions and
act as sponsor for margin improvement projects. Sales, Product Management and
Marketing have followed a pricing seminar to create awareness about roles and add-
ed value of pricing.
Tools & Systems Research tools such as: conjoint analysis, Van Westendorp Price Meter, Brand/Price
trade-off, etc. are being explored and selected. These bring new insights in value
perception and provide great input for improved value propositioning. Specific Price
reports in addition to financial reports are now being generated. Price lists and dis-
count grids centralised and linked to ERP system, so that central reporting is possible.
Transactional price analysis leads towards a better understanding of price elasticity
and promotional effectiveness. Permission to overrule prices in the system is limited,
however, no monitoring in place yet.
Level 2: Taking Transactional Control (continued)

Level 2: Taking Transactional Control (continued)
Warning: Watch out for the Pricing Chasm
Once the margin improvement projects have been achieved with sufficiently successful
results, a new challenge presents itself: Top management might perceive the job as done,
in other words, they think they can move on to the next (non-pricing) priority on their list.
This means that Pricing is still perceived as a project, instead of a continuously evolving
process. This is the single, most commonly faced obstacle when attempting to move on to
the next level of Pricing maturity (level 3). This almost inevitably leads back to the status quo,
or even stagnation of the Pricing function. This gap between level 2 and level 3 is what we
have termed the “Pricing chasm”.

Crossing the pricing chasm ...
There is only one way across, and that is with
the direct and full support of top management, as
well as serious change management skills.
When organizations fail to cross the Pricing
Chasm, even though some of the initiated pricing
projects have been successful, the change stops
right there. If top management, marketing and
sales are not all aligned with the pricing team,
they will not succeed in creating the change. The
enthusiasm of the first adopters will wane and the
organization will continue to work as it did in the
past: relapsing into old, bad habits.
The most important reason for this regression is
common to all failed change initiatives: the key
stakeholders fail to successfully communicate
the next steps to be taken towards their goal.
Hence our statement, that crossing the chasm
demands substantial change management skills.
The vision and next steps have to be made clear
by the change leaders.
From literatureii
, and our own experience, we es-
timate that around 30-35% of organizations still
work at level 1, while another 30-35% are work-
ing hard to reach level 2 on the maturity ladder.
We estimate that around 10-15% of the com-
panies are working on level 2, but aspiring and
working to reach level 3.
Making the step towards level 3 in pricing matu-
rity however, is notoriously difficult.
Two Most Important Success Factors
The foundation of the EPP pricing maturity model is the recognition that im-
proving Pricing Maturity and pricing effectiveness is a “change process” and
not just a project. It requires a structured change approach. At each maturity
level we need to evaluate the impact on people, processes, tools & systems -
and the impact on both your sales and market(ing) approach.
The development of Pricing Maturity also impacts on – and needs to be aligned
with – your organizational capabilities. Successfully moving to the next level in
Pricing Maturity requires that all noses in your strategic departments are facing
in the same direction. Never walk alone. Especially ensure that the Pricing, Sales
and Marketing functions in your organization align perfectly with one another.
This is what makes it challenging.
Have an experienced change
manager on your team
Align organizational capabilities
and strategic direction
“Full value capturing
is not so easy. For this
you need to change
the whole global
organization and this
takes time. Change
management is the
key to all of it.”
Head of Marketing
at a German Life
Sciences Organization

After the optimization of transactional control on level 2, the organization is ready to
take full advantage of value capturing.
Everyone now understands and is aligned with where and how value is created and
perceived in the market chain. There is a common understanding of the chosen market
strategy. Everyone is comfortable with the chosen market segmentation and under-
stands the value attributes for each segment. The organization is ready to switch from
selling on features and product advantages towards selling (and pricing) on end-user
value and/or willingness to pay!
Without transactional control (established on level 2) and absolute trust in the avail-
able data (margins, cost to serve, etc.), level 3 maturity cannot be reached. Pricing
teams now use pricing software that integrates fully with the ERP systems of their
organization to support decisions. This allows all functions (Sales, Pricing, Marketing
and Finance) to instantly retrieve accurate and personalized pricing effectiveness
information.
Price Strategy Price strategy and goals are documented with specific pricing goals per segment - and
targeted price positioning versus competition. Product life cycle are part of the pricing
strategy. Price segmentation is deployed and customer database adapted/linked to
price perception/behavior. European price band installed and monitored – risk analysis
reported.
Price Policy & Price Setting Price setting is now driven by three factors:
1. Value based pricing per segment
Improved insights into market segmentation and value attributes now lead towards a
value based price setting per segment.
B2C
In B2C markets: improved insights into the value attributes and price elasticity of
demand lead to the introduction of new pricing models, bundling techniques, option
packs and improved option pricing.
B2B
In B2B markets: the portfolio is split between a low added-value portfolio (mainly
still cost-plus pricing) and the added value products (where value based pricing is
implemented now). Product life cycles are taken into account in the pricing strategy.
Price setting in B2B markets is at this stage increasingly focused on Economic Value
Creation (EVC) principles, based on a fair split of additional value creation versus the
next best alternative.
Level 3: Full Value Capturing
“Without transactional control
(established on level 2) and
absolute trust in the available
data (margins, cost to serve,
etc.), level 3 maturity cannot
be reached.”

Yield management
When capacity is a constraint (i.e. airlines, tourism, concerts, hospitality), Yield
Management is implemented. Through yield management, organizations capture the
best possible price at any given point in time, from every product unit.
2. Better alignment with go-to-market strategy
Secondly, better alignment around the chosen road-to-market strategy leads towards
optimization of the price strategy per product group (Where should we attack? When
should we go for volume, when for margin?).
3. New and improved segmentation
Thirdly, the new and improved market segmentation and the next best alternatives
within the segments, often lead towards a better understanding on behalf of the Sales
team when they were complaining about price pressure. The new insights often show
that it’s not only a price problem, but also very frequently a value or value communica-
tion problem. This awareness leads towards more innovation, new product develop-
ment and new business models (creating new channels or new service concepts, e.g.
operational excellence service models like Ryanair, Xiameter of Dow ...).
Discount Policy The channel discount system is aligned with the go-to-market strategy, resulting in
a performance based discount model which is reviewed annually. This usually takes
1 to 2 years to deploy. Sales force has a pre-defined set of contract terms to adhere
to. Exceptions need prior approval from Pricing manager.
Price Execution The organization as a whole is in transition. The concept of TVO – Total Value of
Ownership – now replaces the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) models.
1. Selling on value
Selling on value requires a very close collaboration and alliance between marketing,
product management, R&D, operations and sales.
2. Adapting offer to segment
Sales develops a new selling approach: they no longer sell on product features, price
or on ‘trust me’, but on a better understanding and communication of the value to a
specific customer group (segments and decision making units).
3. Price guidance available
B2B sales teams are now supported by pricing software to prepare offers and tenders.
Sales teams receive price guidance per segment, and their performance is monitored.
The tender process is revised and improved by the pricing department. Price increases
and corrections thoroughly prepared.
Level 3: Full Value Capturing (continued)

4. Support from Marketing
Marketing is learning how to support Sales in communicating and selling value. The
dream of every marketer is to be unique, to have no competition. They share this
dream with pricing managers. When there is close collaboration between pricing and
marketing, you often see the dream coming true. Look at the Apple iPad, or Yakult.
They realized the goal of creating a brand new product category with no competition
and no price anchors. Marketing also re-evaluates the channel strategy and brings it
in line with the new performance based discount structure.
5. Support from R&D
R&D is better connected with the pricing team. Pricing is now embedded in the earliest
stages of the new product development process.
Monitoring Pricing software makes it possible to generate automatic, personalized reporting on
price effectiveness. Sales monitored on volume and margin, per product group and/or
segment. Price guidance per segment is monitored, and individual sales representative
performance is now made visible. Price waterfall reports on customer, segment, and
channel level are available. The pricing team maintain a competition price watch and
perform regular price reviews together with sales/marketing to optimize prices. Correc-
tive actions are monitored. A Price Performance Indicators (PPI) dashboard is installed
with regular reporting to the commercial, financial and top management functions.
People & Organization For the chief pricing officer, this is an important moment in the change process. He
needs to take a good look at his team and ask some critical questions:
- Do we have the right people in the pricing team?
- Are they strong enough to accomplish alignment between the stakeholders
(Marketing, Sales, Finance, Product management, Top management team)?
- Are they strong enough to lead the change?
The importance of the right, experienced, person in the right place cannot be empha-
sized enough!
The Pricing function becomes embedded in the organization. A Chief Pricing Officer
or Revenue Manager is appointed to lead the Pricing team. Pricing no longer reports
to the Finance department, but to the Commercial director, who is accountable for
the price policy now. Everyone involved in pricing (Pricing cell, Sales, Marketing and
Product Management) have followed an in-company seminar on value pricing/selling.
Tools & Systems The Pricing team uses more advanced pricing tools (such as conjoint analysis), to
build better value propositioning, create better bundles and improve option pricing.
Economic value calculation is used to prove the value in hard euros. Price positioning
and perception is checked via research. Pricing software is managed by the pricing
team and used for effective reporting, monitoring, price guidance and deal making.
Permission to overrule prices in the system is very limited, and controlled/monitored
by price management team.
Level 3: Full Value Capturing (continued)

Once an organization has achieved a level of organizational alignment around ef-
fective value capturing as described under level 3, they are ready to go beyond the
offering of traditional (augmented) products and services.
Companies at this stage develop completely new business models with innovative
new pricing models: e.g. Michelin no longer sells tires, but kilometres per Euro, thus
taking away the hassle for fleet owners of figuring out which tire is best or cheapest.
Suez no longer sells pure engineering to install power plants, but offers complete
city heating and power development, including the maintenance and financing for a
period of time. The city buys security of energy delivery at lower (fair) prices.
Pricing is an essential and very strategic component of the new business model.
Price Strategy The pricing team is deeply involved in new solution- and new business/revenue model
development. Life Cycle pricing is used to discuss with customers to transfer to better
(higher value) solutions for them. Active phase out is applied through pricing tactics.
Customer reaction towards competitive price/value offers are anticipated and acted
upon. Directive guidelines added to European price bands. Deviations are minimal
and well monitored.
Price Policy & Price Setting Value creation at this stage of maturity is not realized in a vertical ‘chain’, such as in
the value chain of Porter. Now, more than ever, end-users and channel partners are
part of the value creation. New pricing models are developed, sharing this value fairly
between the partners. Pricing is fully based on the value delivered to specific custom-
ers and/or segments. Price comparison becomes difficult for the customer, because
the offer consists of a bundle made up of various value components. The organization
no longer prices a product or service, but each individual value component in order
to construct a customer specific price quotation. The organization no longer sells
products, it sells end-user value!
Discount Policy The performance based discount grid is revised annually. Sales force follows a pre-
defined set of fixed contract terms. Non-standard contracts or exceptions are very
unusual and are first reviewed by legal team.
Price Execution Price implementation is very strict and deviations no longer occur without previous
approval of change of strategy at pricing council level (CEO, CPO, CFO and CMO).
Strict monitoring of the value delivery performance is essential here. Continuous price
assessments are performed with regular feedback from consumers/end-users to
adjust value propositioning and price setting where necessary. Value argumentation
exists per end-user to help sales team. Monitoring of Value Capturing takes place at
Value Component level and no longer for products and services.
Level 4: Optimizing Value Creation and Profitability

Monitoring The organization understands exactly what happens, why and how to influence/
control it. They perform frequent what-if analysis. All possible pricing analytics are
performed regularly and proactively. Corrective action taken immediately. Competi-
tion pricing intelligence is fully developed. Several ready-to-implement competition
“attack” scenarios exist and are constantly updated with most recent information.
People & Organization A centralized pricing organization supports and influences not only the pricing model,
but also the whole business model, reporting directly to the CEO. Sales, Marketing,
R&D and Production work closely together in Account teams to understand the cus-
tomer requirements, to construct solutions and to deliver the required value at a fair
price. Everyone involved in pricing (Pricing cell, Sales, Marketing and Product Manage-
ment) have followed an in-company seminar on value pricing/selling.
Tools & Systems The pricing software is fully integrated in the ERP environment (with link to CRM) and
all Pricing influencers use it to add or extract the information that they need. Best
practices and pricing knowledge shared and applied within organization (local as well
as abroad). Profit optimization, price modelling and/or yield management systems
installed.
Level 4: Optimizing Value Creation and Profitability (continued)

Conclusion
Pricing Power is one of the key value drivers on the stock exchange. Higher pricing
maturity leads to sustainable value capturing which results in profit optimization based
on fair pricing and value sharing principles. Developing your pricing maturity takes
time and requires efforts, but is very rewarding.
The EPP Pricing Maturity Model is a practical, proven, roadmap for developing your
organization’s pricing maturity. It helps you to reflect, reframe and refocus your efforts
at every stage in your pricing maturity journey.
“Developing your pricing
maturity takes time and requires
efforts, but is very rewarding.”
Companies that begin the journey towards pricing improvement need to
understand that they are working towards a change process. Doing the right
things at the right moment is crucial. Priority setting is of utmost importance
and depends on your current pricing maturity level. Incorrectly identifying your
pricing maturity level can lead to poor Pricing team performances and a loss of
faith in the Pricing functioniii
.
Companies first pricing focus is to get a grip on transactional control resulting in
margin optimization projects. They go for the ‘quick wins’ to get management
support. It’s great, but if they stop their efforts there, they will have a limited effect
in time and value.
Crossing this “pricing chasm” requires extensive change management skills from
the Pricing team manager(s). But companies like Johnson Controls or Syngenta
who have followed the pricing maturity path can confirm its effectiveness.
Going beyond pricing projects, taking the next step towards full value capturing
(level 3), and embedding the role of pricing in the organization requires an align-
ment of organizational maturity development between pricing, marketing, sales
and finance.
“Continuous training, coaching, aligning and change management are important
drivers to reach the next level of pricing maturity”. Wim Beirens, Director Strate-
gic Pricing, Building Efficiency Europe & Africa, Johnson Controls Inc.
The whole organization is now focussed and aligned around value creation,
value communication and value capturing. Going through the pricing maturity
development process leads to a wide recognition in the organization that Pric-
ing is one of the key profit drivers and that everyone can and has to contribute.
Increasing your organizational pricing maturity results in improved profitability
and market (brand) positioning.
Developing your pricing maturity
is a change process
The thrill and danger of the quick wins
Crossing the chasm
What it takes
The impact

Want to evaluate your company’s pricing maturity?
The EPP developed a pricing maturity indicator to gauge your performance. This exploratory maturity assessment allows you to
discuss and define the gaps so that you can develop action plans to improve the pricing maturity in your organization.
For a customized company-specific pricing maturity assessment, we refer you to one of our expert pricing partners:
http://www.pricingplatform.eu/partnerzone/pricingexperts/pricingexpertdirectory.html
Contact Nicolene Barnard for more information on nicolene.barnard@pricingplatform.eu
Certified Pricing Manager®
Program (CPM®
)
Through its Certified Pricing Manager Program (EPP CPM®
), the EPP offers widely recognized skills and competencies based
on the capabilities needed to perform optimally on each pricing maturity level.
It provides extraordinary value and profit optimization opportunities to the companies who send their professionals to the
certification program as the successful completion of the program involves delivering concrete projects to improve current
pricing practises.
More info on the certification program:
contact Nicolene Barnard: nicolene.barnard@pricingplatform.eu – or visit www.pricingplatform.eu

Info
Pol Vanaerde is founder and chairman of the European Pricing Platform.
Richard Coppoolse is former Pricing Director of Philips Lightning and supports the EPP with pricing
and profit optimisation content development.
Nicolene Barnard is responsible for the CPM®
Program and content development at the Euro-
pean Pricing Platform. Nicolene is former Pricing Specialist at Picanol Group.
The EPP is Europe’s leading knowledge platform for pricing and profit optimization management.
They deliver Pricing content through a variety of on/off line media and interactive events: articles,
white papers, workshops, trainings, seminars and forums.
More on www.pricingplatform.eu
This work belongs to the European Pricing Platform (2012) – all rights reserved. Please direct
feedback about content or permission requests to: nicolene.barnard@pricingplatform.eu
About the author
About the contributors
About the European
Pricing Platform
Copyright info
i
For the history and evolution of the Capability Maturity Model by the Carnegie Mellon University, see http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/
The description of a maturity model comes from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_Maturity_Model
ii
Some relevant articles:
1. Published by Deloitte (2010): http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Belgium/Local%20Assets/Documents/EN/Services/Consulting/Pricing/dcom-be-en-building-pricing-sustainability.pdf
2. Published by OpenPricer: http://www.openpricer.com/best-practices/pricing-maturity-model/
3. Published by Pricing Solutions consultants: http://www.pricingsolutions.com/images/stories/the_journey_to_pricing_excellence.pdf
Pricing Solutions would like to inform you that the 5 Levels of World Class Pricing Maturity Model is the Intellectual Property of Pricing Solutions and cannot be used or copied without
previous authorization.
iii
The EPP will launch an European Pricing Maturity Benchmark in 2012 – first results expected in Q4/2012.

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