We mentioned in a previous post that Microsoft is in the grips of a pricing dilemma. Changing paradigms have weakened Microsoft’s dominant position in operating systems and office productivity programs. Businesses and affluent consumers no longer upgrade regularly. What they … Read More
Blog
Microsoft’s Pricing Dilemma
Microsoft is between a rock and hard place. The Redmond software giant made an enviable $17.6B in profit last year (see MSFT for more details) but the stock is down from its bubbly peak and has been stagnant for almost … Read More
Defying Economic Gravity on Home Prices
I’ve been trying hard not to get into politics, but let’s take a quick detour there and try to hurry back before we cause too much of a ruckus. For a short synopsis on the financial crises, see Scott Adams … Read More
A Conversation with Gerhard Gschwandtner of SellingPower
Here’s a discussion with Gerhard Schwandtner, founder of SellingPower and host of the Sales 2.0 Conference. After decades in sales, Gerhard sees how the artificial divisions between sales and pricing functions lead to suboptimal results, and he offers some advice … Read More
Connecting in the Clouds
With companies trying to shave costs and grow revenue without big budgets, software-as-a-service (SaaS) is a critical paradigm shift. Most of us are used to logging into email hosted by Google or Yahoo or Hotmail. We don’t think about maintaining … Read More
Want to Stimulate the Economy?
If you want to do something to stimulate the economy, hook up small businesses that you like with potential customers. Take a look at Make a Referral Week and pledge your support.
“Transactional Selling Is Dead”
This morning at the Sales 2.0 Conference in San Francisco, Gerhard Gschwandtner, founder of Selling Power magazine, pronounced the death of transactional selling. He said that in the next few years, millions of transactional sales reps need to learn consultative … Read More
What if you create value and no one perceives it?
If a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, does it make a sound? If your offering has value that customers don’t perceive, can you charge for it? Price is limited by perceived differential value. So if … Read More
More on risk measurement– recency bias
Measuring risk is a critical, yet impossible task. How can we act effectively without understanding the risk? How can we see the future? Or, what is the right balance between educated estimates of risk and potential benefit? These questions are … Read More
Webinar on Mimiran Deal Manager
It’s late notice, but on Thursday I’ll be doing a webinar on Mimiran Deal Manager, which helps sales reps negotiate prices faster and more effectively. DM provides a recommended price as sales reps work up a quote, and then either … Read More