Customer Reviews

The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Profitable Decision Making (3rd Edition)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Yes, I admit. I'm the guy who slouched in the back row of accounting classes, honestly never scoring higher than maybe a "D". Accounting is hard, dude. TCP/IP is fun; credits and debits aren't.

Eventually, however, life dragged me into situations that required an understanding of this stuff...not general theory: I needed to intelligently price my products and services. A friend recommended the book, and even though I initially found it hard, I can't stop referencing and re-reading it.

I had to re-read the first three chapters, to gain a growing awareness of just what the hell these guys were talking about, because at first their flavor of English was as impenetrable as legalese.

But man, what got me to re-read these chapters was a clear understanding that this book was going to provide immediate applicable benefit. It was therefore well worth the investment.

Now that I'm acquainted with what they call English I've found the book wicked powerful. The book features so many math tools I've found myself pulling this book off the shelf, sometimes daily when need be. And I sound smart, which is good for my fragile ego.

My friends have given me a rich share of hell for reading this baby. You may consider putting another cover on the book so you don't look like a goon, boning up on pricing strategies while your friends are fishing.

For anyone involved in business this book gives very practical advice on not only the methodology for pricing new products but also changing the strategy of one's existing pricing policy.

Look for a sustainable competitive advantage, maximise contribution margin, concentrate on value and profitability and then market share will follow are some of the key philosophies contained in the text. Concerning the value of this book, it is worth the price alone just for the chapter on costings and formula for calculating what level of sales a company can afford to lose/must gain after a price increase/decrease in order to break even.

A common complaint about business books is that they are all OK in theeory but contain little in the way of explanations of how to implement - this book however offers not only theory and case study examples but also practical instructions on what needs to be done to improve pricing strategy. Overall very, very impressive and a must read for anyone involved in finance, sales or marketing functions. As someone has already said these guys really know their stuff and it works!!

The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing stands out as one of the best business books I've read. The Nagle book elevates the subject of pricing to the level it deserves, and moves it from the realm of art, to science.

Oftentimes, business texts will represent themselves as technique guides, when in reality, they do nothing more than introduce concepts. Not true here. There's nothing fluffy or superficial about Strategy and Tactics of Pricing. You'll want to immediately put this stuff into practice. Loads of solid, thought-provoking material.

The authors move methodically through the subject matter, which contains both exhaustive explanations and formulas that the reader can apply when analyzing or setting price. There's even a chapter devoted to the legal aspects of pricing.

This is a practical text that the marketing pro will reference again and again.

Strategy and Pricing is the comprehensive work on pricing, with hundreds of chapter sections dealing with academic and business elements of pricing. The scholarly nature of the book is exhaustive. Of the three major price works ("Strategy and Tactics", "Power Pricing" by Dolan, and
"Winning the Profit Game. Smarter Pricing, Smarter Branding" by Docters, et al) I think Prof. Nagle has the definitive treatise. For those who like a more prescriptive discussion of price, and some leading edge ideas, "Winning the Profit Game" might be a better read. Power
Pricing is perhaps better at organizational issues. The Docters book is the easiest read, with some humor along the way.

Nagle and Holden cover more in fewer pages than any other authors on the topic.

This book is packed with very useful advice. It forces you to consider aspects of pricing that would typically be ignored. As a bonus, the book doesn't read like a textbook.

The Strategy and tactics of pricing a Guide to Profitable Decision making is the best book of Pricing concepts I have found anywhere.

I specially have enjoyed the holistic approach to Pricing as a strategic tool in making Profit Through value and pricing decision. This is much more than average pricing books has to offer.


I have also found useful writer's site strategicpricingroup.com
Below is excerpt from write's fourth edition (in brackets chapter numbers from 3rd). Book has overgone a major update.


The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing 4th edition:

A Guide to Profitable Decision Making
by Thomas T. Nagle and John E. Hogan
"The Bible of Pricing," provides a comprehensive overview of pricing strategy in an easy to read, pragmatic style.Chapters include:

1. Tactical Pricing (4)
2. Pricing Strategy (6)
3. Value Creation
4. Price Structure
5. Price/Value Communication (8)
6. Pricing Policy (8)
7. Price Level
8. Costs (2) (6)
9. Financial Analysis (3)
10. Competition (12)
11. Pricing in Distribution Channels (11)
12. Pricing Over Product Lifecycle (7)
13. Price/Value Measurement (13)
14. Ethics and the Law (14)

I was recently ask to take the lead in reevaluating our pricing strategy and as a result, was given a copy of this book to read. It was a revelation - as I read through it, time after time, I was able to relate many of the common pricing mistakes described back to our organization. Then I came to the chapter on competition and I was floored. In the first two pages where Nagle describes his experience with a "large building products manufacturer", he nailed our industry, and the direction we were taking, on the head. I was so taken by the passage, when we finally had our pricing meeting a few weeks later, I read it to the team word for word to set the tone for the meeting and to make it abundantly clear to all that we had to change our ways.

A must read for anyone involved with the development of pricing strategy!

This is the best discussion on pricing strategy and tactics I've read. This book is not a light read. It's packed with the development of pricing models, some case studies, and lots of really deep analysis. This book is a must read for anyone involved in pricing products. Lots of useful real-world issues.

One of the most focused book I have read recently. If anyone wants to learn about the factors influencing pricing strategy or developing right value proposition for their pricing decisions, this is the book. A must read. If you're skipping it then I would say that you are missing something.