So here we go, let's leverage the brains of the pricingnerd community to set a price for an automated analytics platform. We will share the methodology and write about the progress in subsequent posts hoping we can all learn something new. In short, we hope this serves as a great way to peak under the covers and glean some insights into how a we can tackle a price setting challenge for a new solution.
To my network of pricing, product, sales and marketing pros:
The goal is to help my client launch a solution that has unique differentiation and delivers measurable customer value using a customer-driven methodology. This research will help the product launch effort by establishing a solid understanding of customer value needed to support a pricing strategy that will capture a fair portion of the value being created by the solution. As we all know, when value is well understood then pricing becomes a lot easier.
What is fascinating about this project is that at a high level the target market we are focusing on is business professionals that seek to make more data-driven decisions but are overwhelmed by data and analysis challenges. Since many pricers are strong users of data and analytic solutions like Excel, BI tools like Tableau and even more sophisticated platforms offered by consultants and pricing solutions like Pros, Zilliant or Vendavo, any new solution targeting this space would have to be unique and differentiated so your feedback will be immensely valuable.
Step 1. Test Your Hypothesis
At the moment we have 3 core hypothesis that we would like to test with pricing pros to determine if these are in facts challenges that if solved could add value and therefore would entice pricing professionals to be willing to pay for a new breed of analytic solutions.
Hypothesis # 1: Successful pricing professionals develop and work with a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that help them track the key aspects of their business. To make data-driven decisions these KPI's are monitored at varying levels of frequency. (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly)
Hypothesis #2: Over time the KPI's and dashboards that should be monitored and analyzed begin to lose their luster or become too complex causing pricing professionals to either lose interest or shift their attention to other priorities, thus reducing the benefits or impact that strong analytic and reporting capabilities could have on the business.
Hypothesis #3: Pricing pros could greatly benefit from analytic solutions that automate the monitoring process by only requiring attention when something out of the norm or unexpected happens to the business metrics they care most about and if missed or not caught early could have a negative impact on the business.
Ask # 1: Can you please provide us with some feedback?
If you agree with at least 2 of the 3 hypothesis above and would like to help in my quest to make sure we launch a customer-centric solution that delivers real value, please take a few minutes to respond to any or both of our 2-minute surveys. See links below:
Survey Link 1: Event-Driven Analytics Value Study - This survey is designed to get a high-level sense of your organization's data, analytic and reporting capabilities
Survey Link 2: Event-Driven Analytics Willingness to Pay Study - This survey is designed to get a sense of how much folks would be willing to pay for the solution
We hope you find the approach to understanding value and willingness to pay useful and hopefully you can adapt some of these concepts to your next product launch. Although I have some reservations using surveys, I believe that at the early stages of the research effort the results can provide some good direction before tackling more extensive customer value work needed to provide a solid set of final recommendations.
Ask #2: Can we dive deeper with you?
As we continue to refine our understanding of customer needs for analytic solutions the next step will be to do a deeper dive into understanding customer value which may require us to run a small Beta Pilot program with a group of pricing professional interested in simplifying and automating their analytic process. If you currently track multiple KPIs and are interested in serving as Guinee pig by testing the solution please let us know by visiting this link and thank you!
The goal is to help my client launch a solution that has unique differentiation and delivers measurable customer value using a customer-driven methodology. This research will help the product launch effort by establishing a solid understanding of customer value needed to support a pricing strategy that will capture a fair portion of the value being created by the solution. As we all know, when value is well understood then pricing becomes a lot easier.
What is fascinating about this project is that at a high level the target market we are focusing on is business professionals that seek to make more data-driven decisions but are overwhelmed by data and analysis challenges. Since many pricers are strong users of data and analytic solutions like Excel, BI tools like Tableau and even more sophisticated platforms offered by consultants and pricing solutions like Pros, Zilliant or Vendavo, any new solution targeting this space would have to be unique and differentiated so your feedback will be immensely valuable.
Step 1. Test Your Hypothesis
At the moment we have 3 core hypothesis that we would like to test with pricing pros to determine if these are in facts challenges that if solved could add value and therefore would entice pricing professionals to be willing to pay for a new breed of analytic solutions.
Hypothesis # 1: Successful pricing professionals develop and work with a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that help them track the key aspects of their business. To make data-driven decisions these KPI's are monitored at varying levels of frequency. (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly)
Hypothesis #2: Over time the KPI's and dashboards that should be monitored and analyzed begin to lose their luster or become too complex causing pricing professionals to either lose interest or shift their attention to other priorities, thus reducing the benefits or impact that strong analytic and reporting capabilities could have on the business.
Hypothesis #3: Pricing pros could greatly benefit from analytic solutions that automate the monitoring process by only requiring attention when something out of the norm or unexpected happens to the business metrics they care most about and if missed or not caught early could have a negative impact on the business.
Ask # 1: Can you please provide us with some feedback?
If you agree with at least 2 of the 3 hypothesis above and would like to help in my quest to make sure we launch a customer-centric solution that delivers real value, please take a few minutes to respond to any or both of our 2-minute surveys. See links below:
Survey Link 1: Event-Driven Analytics Value Study - This survey is designed to get a high-level sense of your organization's data, analytic and reporting capabilities
Survey Link 2: Event-Driven Analytics Willingness to Pay Study - This survey is designed to get a sense of how much folks would be willing to pay for the solution
We hope you find the approach to understanding value and willingness to pay useful and hopefully you can adapt some of these concepts to your next product launch. Although I have some reservations using surveys, I believe that at the early stages of the research effort the results can provide some good direction before tackling more extensive customer value work needed to provide a solid set of final recommendations.
Ask #2: Can we dive deeper with you?
As we continue to refine our understanding of customer needs for analytic solutions the next step will be to do a deeper dive into understanding customer value which may require us to run a small Beta Pilot program with a group of pricing professional interested in simplifying and automating their analytic process. If you currently track multiple KPIs and are interested in serving as Guinee pig by testing the solution please let us know by visiting this link and thank you!