Failure to monitor pricing could be the difference between profit and loss, delegates at the 2012 ICCA Congress, currently being held in Puerto Rico, have been warned.
Business consultant Andreas Hinterhuber told attendees at the International Congress and Convention Association's annual event that giving sales teams licence to offer client discounts on a whim was potentially disastrous and could result in millions of dollars in lost revenue.
He added that there were six myths about pricing it was best to ignore: Costs are a good basis for pricing; Small changes in price are not important; The customer is price-sensitive; What we sell is a commodity; You will lose business if you don’t compete on price; and Managing prices means changing prices. In all cases, he said, the reverse was more likely to be true.
“Giving away a two per cent discount repeatedly over the course of the year is the difference between a great year and a bad year,” he said. “It’s the difference between a profit and a loss.”
He continued: “You will notice how Asian suppliers always insist on payment to the last penny. It always pays to fight for the pennies. This is what we can learn from our Asian counterparts.”
Pictured: Andreas Hinterhuber
