Pricing with Confidence

There are two sections to this page.  At the bottom, is a list of the books we think should be on every pricing manager’s bookshelf.  These are the one you read, study and pass around.  What comes first are the books that we review as part of our monthly newsletter.

February, 2009:

•  Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition by Guy Kawasaki, 2008, Penguin Group, New York, New York.  Guy Kawasaki has evolved from a brash young entrepreneur to a seasoned statesman of smart marketing and business.  This book is a collection of prior works but I still found it a great read.  While primarily focusing on start-ups there is much sage advice even for big companies.  Unlike many consultant authors who are just trying to sell you something, Guy wants to give you advice on how to make your business successful.  I loved his discussion on the art of bootstrapping and how to deal with ***holes.
• Angel Customers and Demon Customers: Discover Which is Which and TURBO-CHARGE YOUR STOCK by Larry Selden and Geoffrey Colvin, 2003, Penguin Group, New York, NY.  This is a good book about how to successfully identify and target profitable customers.  There are a fair number of stories but it is mostly a BTC book which has relevance in BTB.  It matches somewhat with our consideration for buying behaviors and needing to draw a line in the sand around discounting behaviors.  One interesting note: their “dismal dozen” of poorly performing customers spent a lot of time in Washington DC last year looking for a government bailout!!!

Here is a list of books that should be required reading for every pricing manager.  We expect the list to grow, evolve over the years and would love your recommendations.  Just let us know.

• Pricing: Making Profitable Decisions by Kent Monroe.  Kent Monroe is one of the real Pricing Masters.  This book is perhaps the best introductory text in pricing–it covers it all, from elasticity to different types of discounts.  Yes, as an academic book, it is expensive, but it’s worth it.  If you don’t have it–get it.
• The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing by Tom Nagle and John Hogan.  Tom Nagle is also a Pricing Master, having written and published what has become the bible of strategic pricing. 
• Pricing with Confidence: Ten Rules to Stop Leaving Money on the Table by Reed Holden and Mark Burton.  You didn’t think I was going to leave this one off did you?  Simple and basic rules for the pricing and non-pricing manager.
• Revenue Management: Hard-Core Tactics for Market Domination by Robert G. Cross.  Bob Cross, aside from being a great guy is the father of Revenue Management.  This was his first and best book on the subject.
• Pricing on Purpose: Creating and Capturing Value by Ronald J. Baker.  This perhaps one of the best books on how to think about value.
• Power Pricing: How Managing Price Transforms the Bottom Line by Robert J. Dolan and Hermann Simon.  This is still Hermann’s best book and there are great discussions and examples on the use of conjoint analysis and how to change organizations.