Starting a new pricing transformation or implementation project can seem daunting, especially if you don’t know what to expect or where to start. In this article, Dan Cakora, Business Consultant at Vendavo, and Corey Schroeder, our Vice President of Product Management, share the most important things they want others to know about pricing implementation to keep the process as seamless as possible.
Embarking on a pricing implementation project is a journey filled with both excitement and challenges. We asked two of our pricing experts this question:
What do you wish somebody would have told you about your pricing implementation project before you got started?
And they delivered.
Let’s explore some wisdom from seasoned professionals who have been on both sides of the table – as customers looking to implement pricing strategies and Vendavo experts leading ambitious teams through pricing transformation.
Here are some of the valuable lessons they’ve learned along the way.
1. Embrace Imperfection: Launch and Learn
Projects are rarely perfect from the start, so you need to embrace imperfection. Waiting for perfection can hinder progress and impede the learning process. Instead, seize the opportunity to launch, gather user feedback, and make incremental improvements.
Dan Cakora
Business Consultant at Vendavo
“The best line I ever heard about project rollouts went something like this: ‘If you’re not a little embarrassed by what you launched, then you waited too long to go live.’”
Early fixes are not only manageable but also prevent the accumulation of long-term issues. The sooner you identify a problem, the quicker you can address it.
2. Simplicity Beats Complexity
While building complexity into the pricing process may seem tempting, it often leads to increased confusion, costs, and effort. That results in suboptimal pricing capabilities.
Corey Schroeder
Vice President of Product Management at Vendavo
“A simple pricing process will help drive change. When people don’t understand how something works, adoption falls off very quickly.”
Emphasize the power of simplicity. A straightforward pricing process fosters understanding and facilitates change adoption. Pricing solutions that are centered around preparing for rare edge cases can create unnecessary complications and elevate costs, but a focus on simplicity can help alleviate this.
That’s because people are more likely to embrace and engage with a solution if they comprehend how it works.
3. Modernize Without Replicating
When you’re setting up your pricing system, resist the temptation to replicate existing manual procedures. A successful implementation doesn’t mimic outdated processes but rather improves them.
Corey Schroeder
Vice President of Product Management at Vendavo
“Improve and modernize the pricing processes. Don’t try to replicate an existing manual procedure within a system. The product should make it easier and better to execute pricing, not mirror something that needed replacement in the first place.”
The product should simplify the execution of pricing, and that often means implementing modern solutions that will make the process easier for all involved. A system that relies on legacy solutions like spreadsheets and manual input is prone to errors and difficult to keep current.
Modern solutions may take time to implement, but they also take manual operations off the table, automate much of the process, and streamline efficiency and effectiveness.
Key Tips to Keep in Mind for Your Pricing Implementation Project
Incorporating these takeaways into your pricing implementation project will help you navigate challenges more effectively and set the course for a successful and efficient pricing strategy. Recent research has found that 53% of respondents consider their pricing strategies very effective, while 34% say they are extremely effective.
- Don’t wait for perfection. Launch your pricing project early to gather user feedback.
- Early user feedback allows for quick fixes and prevents issues from accumulating.
- Embracing imperfection leads to continuous improvement.
- Avoid building unnecessary complexity, as it can lead to confusion and increased costs.
- Build pricing solutions around common scenarios, not rare edge cases.
- A simple pricing process promotes change and adoption.
- Modernize pricing processes and resist replicating outdated manual procedures.
Embarking on a pricing implementation project demands courage, simplicity, and a forward-thinking approach. Reach out to Vendavo to set up a demo or speak with an expert about your pricing transformation project today.
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