In this article, the author explains the psychological phenomenon of “loss aversion” and how it can be applied in pricing strategy. Raymond Augustin is a recognized thought leader, specializing in pricing strategy. He has, as the COO of Virtual Procurement Services (VPS), provided guidance to dozens of healthcare organizations and tribal gaming operations on purchase price methodology and analytics.
When the world was less standardized and more of an open market (say before 1861 when John Wanamaker introduced the price tag in Philadelphia), it was the norm for tradespeople to await the buyer’s first offer and then negotiate up. However, the subsequent swing towards an almost unified approach to stated price shifted negotiation power considerably over to the seller. Should we be seeking a more balanced approach?
In pricing and sales negotiations, the vast majority of people are haunted by the “ghost of prices past.” This is because the only method for truly determining if a price point is a market competitive price occurs at the transactional level, and this analysis requires real time knowledge of market conditions, product state, margin erosion, M&A activity, and at least 142 other measurable variables. So how can you know for certain that your price is competitive?
The whole point of negotiation is getting what you want while having the other person walk away thinking that they got what they wanted as well, as the author explains.
In this article, the author explores the pressures pricers and salespeople often face that lead to excessive discounting and customer concessions.