The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Profitable Decision Making (Hardcover)

~ (Author), (Author) "Few managers, even those specializing in marketing, think strategically about pricing..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Marketing Research (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The concepts espoused in this book taught us to focus on how we deliver superior value to our customers, and thereby enabled pricing strategies that have driven both our growth and profitability.”

Scott Heekin-Canedy

President and General Manager

The New York Times

 

“…a roadmap to profitable growth, this book helps you put the theories into

practice and deliver measurable results.”

Mark A. Kopelman

Vice President, Strategy and Marketing

RR Donnelley

 

“Concepts described in this book were instrumental in helping us align our offerings with the value they provide to our customers.”

Keith Bradley, President

Ingram Micro, North America

 

“Most executives name pricing as their major challenge and major weakness.  This book is an answer.  It is full of new ideas and insights.”

Philip Kotler

Northwestern University

 

“For nearly two decades, this book has been the most influential and highly regarded reference among pricing professionals.”

Eric Mitchell, President

The Professional Pricing Society

 

 

 

 

 

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Description

"The best book ever written about pricing is The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing by Tom Nagle and Reed Holden-these guys know their stuff and it works!" - Guy Kawasaki, CEO, Garage Technology Ventures "For more than a decade, this book has been the most influential and highly regarded reference among pricing professionals." - Eric G. Mitchell, President, The Professional Pricing Society "Most executives name pricing as their major challenge and major weakness. This book is an answer. It is full of new ideas arid insights." - Philip Kotler, S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing, Northwestern University "An investment in Tom and Reed's book will give you the highest return you've ever had. It's an investment you can't afford not to make." - Dan Nimer, President, DNA Group --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 409 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 2nd edition (May 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0136693768
• ISBN-13: 978-0136693765
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #404,138 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb guide to pricing as business strategy, August 28, 2000

By	Adam F. Jewell (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Written with great clarity, "The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing" is a phenomenal book. It begins with an explanation of strategic pricing, and proceeds to cover competition in the market place, segmentation of buyers, pricing and the marketing mix for industrial and consumer goods, as well as the psychology of pricing. Also covered are models for determining price sensitivity, implications of sales staff price setting and negotiation, and finally, legal aspects of pricing.

After reading this book, you will understand the pitfalls of pursuing market share at all costs and common mistakes businesses and sales people make when setting or negotiating price. You will view your current pricing structure and strategy in a new light, and be able to spot the weak spots. You'll have a better picture of how to attract the right buyers, those that can be served profitably.

The book indirectly touches on topics covered in Co-opetition, and Thinking Strategically, as well as elements of the Theory of Constraints (see Eli Goldratt's "The Goal" and "It's Not Luck" or "Management Dilemmas" by Eli Schragenheim)

I can't recommend this book highly enough. As for the other reader who states:

"After reading this book, I was able to talk circles around the $20,000 "marketing consultant" we were considering."

believe it, it's that valuable!

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book changes the way people think about pricing!!!, June 6, 1998

By	Reed K. Holden - Coauthor - rholden@spgboston... (Marlborough, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

Too many firms in the world today have problems with pricing. The impact of those problems is that these companies lose millions of dollars of profit opportunity every day. We wrote this book to get people to realize that pricing is often the lightning rod and symptom of other problems in companies. The true problems often lie in other areas such as sales, finance, production, marketing and management.

To make matters worse, managers tinker with price rather than understanding and addressing the real problems. They do this because pricing is the easiest and fastest thing to fix (usually lowering it). Those price fixes often provide the least sustainable advantages for companies. For example, salespeople are often incented to use price as a tactic to close a sale rather than to use an in depth understanding of the product's value to convince the customer that the price is fair. Managers exacerbate the problem by a) giving salespeople the right to lower price and b) insisting that they never lose an order on price. Customers learn to take advantage of these tactics by always asking for lower prices. The more they use this tactic, the better they get at it and the more sellers think that they have no choice but to get beat up by customers. Game, point and match to the customers---but, they're not the problem!!!

Read this book and learn to ask more strategic questions around price. Learn to adopt compatable goals so that everyone in the organization works to a common one----profit!

Reed K. Holden, Co-Author, "The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing" - [e-mail] Strategic Pricing Group Inc., Marlborough, MA

55 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome - and I am NOT a finance guy, March 28, 2002

By	kent dahlgren (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Profitable Decision Making (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

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.