Pricing is one of the most powerful ways to improve – or destroy – profits. This course can help you improve the pricing practices at your company or allow you to help your clients make better pricing decisions.

Many companies feel immense pressure to reduce prices because of the prices of their competitors. This might have costs few have considered. It could devastate long-term profits. Worse yet, it could lead to a price war.

I'll start by explaining the premise and assumptions of competition-driven pricing. I'll define price cannibalization and show how to calculate its cost. A company must be very careful before starting or continuing a price war. I'll explain how to prevent one.

There are three common pricing strategies. You'll learn them and when each may be useful. Finally, we'll tackle discounting. A good discounting process will improve customer satisfaction and employee morale. Repeatedly buckling under pressure to give discounts trains customers to press harder and harder for discounts. A company may think it's utilizing value-based pricing, but discounts tactically unravel that strategy to competition-based pricing. I'll show ways to identify where discounts are bleeding profits.

This course is one of three video-based pricing courses. The other two courses are:

  • Pricing Profitability Analysis and Processes: I explain how to analyze pricing decisions to anticipate their profit implications. Cost-plus pricing is a popular pricing methodology, but I explain its weaknesses. I also cover how many parts of a company can work together to improve pricing.
  • Pricing Profitably for Your Product's Value: Price is a function of the value provided to customers. This course focuses on customer perceptions of value and their willingness to pay for that value. You'll learn the calculation for value-based pricing. I also touch on pricing ethics.

These courses focus on financial management and profitability analysis of pricing. A Deloitte pricing effectiveness benchmark study found that: "Companies that actively pursue pricing as an important part of their strategy typically outperform industry peers on several financial metrics… Companies that are pricing leaders are 26 percent better at managing true profitability."

NOTE: These three courses are also available in a combined Text Based format:
Pricing for Profitability

Course Key Concepts: Pricing, Profitability Analysis, Management Accounting, Competition-Based Pricing, Pricing Strategies.

Learning Objectives
  • Recognize and recall key concepts of competition-based pricing.
  • Recognize analyses for tracking discounting.
  • Recognize common pricing strategies.
  • Identify price cannibalization.
Last updated/reviewed: March 26, 2024
Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Foundational
No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.
Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Instructor for this course
Course Syllabus
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
  Welcome and Overview5:42
  Competition-Driven Pricing6:58
  Pricing During Competitive Pressure7:26
  REVIEW QUESTIONS: Pricing During Competitive Pressurequiz
  Types of Pricing Strategies8:58
  Discounting13:48
  Key Takeaways7:42
  REVIEW QUESTIONS: Key Takeawaysquiz
CONTINUOUS PLAY
  Pricing Profitability in the Face of Competition50:34
SUPPORTING MATERIAL
  Slides: Pricing Profitably in the Face of CompetitionPDF
  Pricing Profitably in the Face of Competition GlossaryPDF
REVIEW AND TEST
 FINAL EXAMexam