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Many business-to-business companies have a major opportunity to improve their standing on price. Bain & Company conducted a global survey of senior executives at more than 1,700 companies to gather their self-rating of 42 pricing capabilities and outcomes. Our analysis shows that top-performing firms, as measured by strong outcomes and increased market share, are more likely than their peers to do three things:
- Employ truly tailored pricing at the individual customer and product level
- Align incentives for frontline sales staff with the pricing strategy, encouraging prudent pricing through an appropriate balance of fixed and variable compensation
- Invest in ongoing development of capabilities among the sales and pricing teams through training and tools
The payoff: Among the companies that excel in all three areas, 78% are top performers, vs. just 18% of companies that excel in none of the three.
Ron Kermisch and David Burns are partners with Bain & Company’s Customer Strategy & Marketing practice. Kermisch is a leader of Bain’s pricing work, and Burns is an expert in building pricing capabilities. They are based, respectively, in Boston and Chicago.
Is Pricing Killing Your Profits?
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