1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,640 Well, hello everyone and thank you all so much for tuning into 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:05,120 it yet another episode of the Professional Pricing Society 3 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:07,960 podcast. My name is Terrence and we have 4 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:12,200 an amazing guest with us today. We have Mr. Scott Sinning who is 5 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:14,920 actually one of our speakers at our latest conference back in 6 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,120 Dallas, TX, our spring conference who did a phenomenal 7 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,760 job by the way, Scott's going to be here with us today to shed 8 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:25,640 light on the pricing world, the pricing industry and topics that 9 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:27,760 is in my personal opinion, well worth. 10 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:29,640 The listen, OK. So we're going to go ahead and 11 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:30,800 just jump right into it. Scott. 12 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:33,040 Scott, how you doing today? First and foremost how you. 13 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:35,040 Doing doing great. Thank you Terrence. 14 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,200 Appreciate being here with you. Good. 15 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:39,840 So I want to just go and dive into this conversation. 16 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:41,240 You know, I want to ask this first question. 17 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,200 How did you first initially get into pricing and share a few 18 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,640 highlights from your, you know, your journey, your experience? 19 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,760 Yeah, sure thing, Terrence. Well, I got into pricing 20 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:57,200 unexpectedly, I was. In a finance leadership role in 21 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:01,320 our business and got a call one day from our CEO asking me if 22 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,239 I'd take on a role as an executive leader for our pricing 23 00:01:04,239 --> 00:01:06,640 team. And at that time it was a fairly 24 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,520 new pricing project and I didn't know what to expect. 25 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:14,800 So I approached the role with a little bit of background in in 26 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,400 in finance and sales, in the business, customer facing roles, 27 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:20,600 technology. So I think that's why they 28 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:22,760 thought I'd be a good fit for this, but I was basically 29 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:26,660 volunteered into the job. And and I think you know that's 30 00:01:26,660 --> 00:01:29,060 a lot, a lot of pricing leaders are like that. 31 00:01:29,820 --> 00:01:32,580 Very few of us have the benefit of a formal education around 32 00:01:32,580 --> 00:01:35,620 pricing or the experience in pricing roles. 33 00:01:35,620 --> 00:01:40,100 And a lot of times it's because folks are good at analytics, are 34 00:01:40,100 --> 00:01:43,580 good at something, something around sales and operations and 35 00:01:43,580 --> 00:01:46,100 they're asked to take on a special project and. 36 00:01:47,180 --> 00:01:49,700 A lot of times fall in love with the role of a pricing leader. 37 00:01:49,700 --> 00:01:51,860 So that's a little bit about my story. 38 00:01:51,860 --> 00:01:54,700 And hopefully that resonates with a lot of the listeners 39 00:01:54,700 --> 00:01:58,940 today of people who got into roles unexpectedly but fell in 40 00:01:58,940 --> 00:02:01,420 love with it once they're there. Sure, sure. 41 00:02:01,620 --> 00:02:04,700 And I would also add that there's a lot of people who may 42 00:02:04,700 --> 00:02:07,410 have stumbled into. The pricing industry or may have 43 00:02:07,410 --> 00:02:10,250 been asked to take on a project just like very similar to your 44 00:02:10,250 --> 00:02:12,490 situation. So you're, I can say you're 45 00:02:12,490 --> 00:02:14,370 definitely not alone and you already know that as well. 46 00:02:14,370 --> 00:02:16,850 But there's a lot of people in pricing who that wasn't their 47 00:02:16,850 --> 00:02:20,370 initial goal or intent. But hey, what were some of the 48 00:02:20,370 --> 00:02:23,210 lessons you learned that you might want to pass along about 49 00:02:23,210 --> 00:02:26,330 how to lead a pricing project to success? 50 00:02:26,970 --> 00:02:28,250 Yeah. Thanks Terrance. 51 00:02:28,250 --> 00:02:30,930 That's great question and you know a lot, a lot of. 52 00:02:31,590 --> 00:02:34,910 What I work on now is based on my prior experience and based on 53 00:02:34,910 --> 00:02:39,590 the passion I have for helping other people learn about the 54 00:02:39,590 --> 00:02:43,190 role of a pricing leader faster so they can get better results 55 00:02:43,190 --> 00:02:46,350 more quickly for their organization and maybe take 56 00:02:47,550 --> 00:02:49,910 learn from some of the lessons I had along the way. 57 00:02:49,910 --> 00:02:55,110 So my goal is to empower and enable people who are pricing 58 00:02:55,110 --> 00:02:57,830 leadership roles to do a better job faster for their 59 00:02:57,830 --> 00:03:00,410 organization. As well As for their own 60 00:03:00,410 --> 00:03:04,970 personal career success. I really feel like pricing can 61 00:03:04,970 --> 00:03:09,290 be a a stepping stone in a professional career because it 62 00:03:09,290 --> 00:03:12,010 heck if you can do pricing you can you can figure out anything 63 00:03:12,010 --> 00:03:17,970 right the and and or it's a career path that you can stay in 64 00:03:17,970 --> 00:03:21,490 for a long time. So that's my goal is to pass 65 00:03:21,490 --> 00:03:25,930 along those those lessons learned and and and also to 66 00:03:25,930 --> 00:03:30,850 challenge people who are. In a role like this to to lean 67 00:03:30,850 --> 00:03:34,410 into their leadership skills, to really lean into their 68 00:03:34,410 --> 00:03:39,450 capabilities to influence and impact their organization and to 69 00:03:39,450 --> 00:03:44,170 realize that they're in a job that requires the ability to 70 00:03:44,170 --> 00:03:48,010 drive positive change. So it's more than being good 71 00:03:48,010 --> 00:03:49,770 with numbers. It's more than being good as an 72 00:03:49,770 --> 00:03:51,970 analyst. It's more than being good with 73 00:03:52,970 --> 00:03:54,810 other sort of things around pricing. 74 00:03:55,290 --> 00:03:57,490 The role of pricing leader is to take that. 75 00:03:57,930 --> 00:04:01,570 As as well as then use your influence to drive positive 76 00:04:01,570 --> 00:04:04,650 change in your company. Because if your company's 77 00:04:04,650 --> 00:04:07,690 counting on you to do that and nobody else is probably going to 78 00:04:07,690 --> 00:04:10,810 step up and do the things that you're uniquely capable to do in 79 00:04:10,810 --> 00:04:12,770 the role you have. So that's what I'm hoping to 80 00:04:12,770 --> 00:04:15,170 pass along in terms of lessons learned, Terrence. 81 00:04:15,770 --> 00:04:16,890 That's good. That's good. 82 00:04:17,450 --> 00:04:21,010 Now giving a couple of different examples of what that means, you 83 00:04:21,010 --> 00:04:24,330 kind of. Keys that knowing your role and 84 00:04:24,330 --> 00:04:27,170 and knowing your goal, what exactly how you know. 85 00:04:27,210 --> 00:04:28,810 Expand upon that a little bit more for me. 86 00:04:29,810 --> 00:04:31,570 Sure thing. Well, you know as we were 87 00:04:31,570 --> 00:04:33,930 talking about, since a lot of people come into the pricing 88 00:04:33,930 --> 00:04:37,850 leader role, maybe with a blank sheet of paper as their job 89 00:04:37,850 --> 00:04:41,650 description, others will come in maybe with some goals or some 90 00:04:42,010 --> 00:04:44,730 some problems that are being solved for. 91 00:04:44,730 --> 00:04:48,250 But I think in a lot of cases the the person has the 92 00:04:48,250 --> 00:04:50,570 opportunity to define what that role is. 93 00:04:51,010 --> 00:04:53,450 And to help educate their executives on what it means for 94 00:04:53,450 --> 00:04:57,210 their organization. So the idea of of the role is 95 00:04:57,570 --> 00:05:02,130 you know what's the key job to be done, which has to do I think 96 00:05:02,130 --> 00:05:05,810 with the where your company, your organization is at and it's 97 00:05:05,810 --> 00:05:09,770 pricing journey, it's a new initiative that's the first time 98 00:05:09,770 --> 00:05:13,770 it's really ever been done. Are you for example, inheriting 99 00:05:14,090 --> 00:05:16,930 a role that somebody else has left and now you're picking up 100 00:05:16,930 --> 00:05:20,490 where they that project that's already in in progress. 101 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,960 Or are you leading A-Team that's already fairly sophisticated and 102 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:27,960 established and your your role is to take it to the next level. 103 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:32,400 So part of it's just sort of an honest assessment of where you 104 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,360 stand as as a leader, what your capabilities are, where your 105 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,400 strengths are and matching that with what the organization 106 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:43,560 really needs most right now. And and that could be around 107 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:47,080 strategy, could be around building an apartment, it could 108 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:49,880 be around finding tools or technology for analytics. 109 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:52,120 Like pricing software, for example. 110 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:57,280 And and it could be, you know, driving some specific results 111 00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:02,000 around customer experience. So it really depends on the 112 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,480 company you're working for, what that role looks like. 113 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:09,000 But I would encourage listeners to be as proactive to define 114 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,400 what that role is for yourself and for your organization as as 115 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,120 you can, because in all likelihood that's what your 116 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:17,800 company needs from you since they're not going to hand you 117 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,000 the job description on a silver platter. 118 00:06:21,090 --> 00:06:23,130 Sure, sure, absolutely. And that makes perfect sense as 119 00:06:23,130 --> 00:06:24,650 well. You know, when it comes to 120 00:06:24,650 --> 00:06:27,770 knowing your role, especially within a pricing realm as a 121 00:06:27,770 --> 00:06:31,130 pricer, a lot of people might think that they have to do a lot 122 00:06:31,130 --> 00:06:34,610 of things on their own or or Spear had a lot of initiatives 123 00:06:34,610 --> 00:06:37,650 by themselves. But can you talk a bit about how 124 00:06:37,930 --> 00:06:40,370 a pricing project is very much a team effort? 125 00:06:41,410 --> 00:06:43,210 Most definitely. And that's a great point you 126 00:06:43,210 --> 00:06:47,170 raised, is that we all come into a role with our our strengths 127 00:06:47,170 --> 00:06:50,730 and capabilities. And as you mentioned, pricing 128 00:06:50,730 --> 00:06:54,410 does touch so many parts of the organization functionally from 129 00:06:54,410 --> 00:06:58,530 sales to operations finance and the list goes on really across 130 00:06:58,530 --> 00:07:01,810 your organization. But it also has to do with a lot 131 00:07:01,810 --> 00:07:06,410 of things like and and I listen, listen to some of your recent 132 00:07:06,410 --> 00:07:09,250 podcast, Terence and I would encourage our listeners to if 133 00:07:09,250 --> 00:07:12,370 they have not caught those, go back and listen because they're 134 00:07:12,370 --> 00:07:14,450 great. But you talked about, you've had 135 00:07:14,450 --> 00:07:17,010 guests on to talk about the importance of how to manage a 136 00:07:17,010 --> 00:07:22,410 price increase well. How to think about a I thinking 137 00:07:22,410 --> 00:07:27,610 about the your product as a service or SESS applications or 138 00:07:27,610 --> 00:07:30,170 subscriptions. There's just so much to do as a 139 00:07:30,170 --> 00:07:32,170 pricer. In today's age, it's probably 140 00:07:32,170 --> 00:07:34,130 harder than harder than it's ever been. 141 00:07:34,570 --> 00:07:36,890 You can only be good at so much yourself. 142 00:07:36,890 --> 00:07:40,130 So it's important to surround yourself with other people that 143 00:07:40,250 --> 00:07:43,250 bring in the insights and knowledge and and experience 144 00:07:43,250 --> 00:07:45,810 that you need to round out what you're looking for. 145 00:07:45,810 --> 00:07:47,870 So. Like you said, great point. 146 00:07:47,870 --> 00:07:49,590 You can't be, you can't be everything. 147 00:07:49,590 --> 00:07:53,510 You can't be the superstar of all aspects of pricing, but be 148 00:07:53,510 --> 00:07:57,710 good with your dad, recognize where you need help and find 149 00:07:57,710 --> 00:07:59,910 that either internally or externally. 150 00:08:00,630 --> 00:08:04,110 One of the things that I'd share is around the team effort. 151 00:08:04,110 --> 00:08:09,270 Question is that often times we're coming into a role as an 152 00:08:09,270 --> 00:08:13,630 army of one or maybe you have a small team, but most of the time 153 00:08:13,630 --> 00:08:15,990 pricing departments are relatively small. 154 00:08:16,780 --> 00:08:20,620 And and that's probably not going to change for most 155 00:08:20,620 --> 00:08:24,420 organizations. But the good news is think about 156 00:08:24,420 --> 00:08:28,660 building a team as not just the people that work for you or have 157 00:08:28,660 --> 00:08:33,100 a direct reporting relationship, but broaden broaden your your 158 00:08:33,820 --> 00:08:39,340 your vision towards getting a more diverse set of people. 159 00:08:40,620 --> 00:08:42,539 In your ear. And what I mean by that is when 160 00:08:42,860 --> 00:08:45,380 you're building a team, you want to be thinking about talking to 161 00:08:45,380 --> 00:08:48,660 all the functional leaders in your organization, sales leader, 162 00:08:48,660 --> 00:08:53,140 OPS, even HR and legal, certainly CFO, Certainly 163 00:08:53,140 --> 00:08:56,620 whoever's running IT, you want them to be aware of what you're 164 00:08:56,620 --> 00:08:59,620 doing, why you're doing it and where you need their help. 165 00:09:00,020 --> 00:09:03,140 And you want to use that as a chance to ask them the question, 166 00:09:03,580 --> 00:09:08,060 hey, how can ask them if they have any particular priorities 167 00:09:08,060 --> 00:09:10,970 or concerns? That you should build into your 168 00:09:10,970 --> 00:09:14,810 pricing project. The next question to ask once 169 00:09:14,810 --> 00:09:18,250 you get their feedback is to say, hey, would it be possible 170 00:09:18,250 --> 00:09:22,450 to borrow one of your staff for a period of time to help us 171 00:09:22,450 --> 00:09:26,410 build this project out? And So what I found successful 172 00:09:26,410 --> 00:09:30,170 in my experience was by tapping into the resources and other 173 00:09:30,170 --> 00:09:35,170 departments I got #1 very capable resources. 174 00:09:36,220 --> 00:09:38,700 That I wouldn't have been able to get on my own #2I. 175 00:09:38,700 --> 00:09:43,980 I've started to embed Champions into this project so that it's 176 00:09:43,980 --> 00:09:47,700 not just a pricing project, it's a organizational initiative that 177 00:09:47,820 --> 00:09:51,580 that cuts across functions. And you know, when you think 178 00:09:51,580 --> 00:09:55,060 about building champions, you're also established in a connection 179 00:09:55,060 --> 00:09:59,140 of support to your your executive sponsors perhaps. 180 00:09:59,700 --> 00:10:03,220 So that you made it the the people that represent those 181 00:10:03,220 --> 00:10:04,620 departments on your project team. 182 00:10:05,430 --> 00:10:07,910 And maybe you call it an Advisory Council or project 183 00:10:07,910 --> 00:10:09,910 team, whatever wording works for you. 184 00:10:10,470 --> 00:10:13,590 But now you've established a communication with their 185 00:10:13,590 --> 00:10:15,630 different leaders in your organization through their 186 00:10:15,630 --> 00:10:18,510 representative on the project team that helps them stay 187 00:10:18,510 --> 00:10:22,310 engaged and informed and supportive ultimately of rolling 188 00:10:22,310 --> 00:10:25,430 out a successful project. So that's what I think about 189 00:10:25,430 --> 00:10:26,670 when I think about team building. 190 00:10:26,670 --> 00:10:31,630 It's not only your direct team, it's the organization's team 191 00:10:31,630 --> 00:10:34,030 that you can build sort of as a temporary. 192 00:10:35,380 --> 00:10:38,060 Resource. And one last thing, Terrence, I 193 00:10:38,060 --> 00:10:41,860 just bring up is there's a whole community of people out there in 194 00:10:41,860 --> 00:10:45,580 the pricing industry that are there to help and the 195 00:10:46,820 --> 00:10:50,900 Professional Pricing Society is a great organization for that. 196 00:10:50,900 --> 00:10:53,820 So the folks who are in a pricing leader job and they're 197 00:10:53,820 --> 00:10:56,780 thinking, boy, I feel like I'm on an island, I feel like I'm by 198 00:10:56,780 --> 00:10:59,460 myself. Start thinking about your team 199 00:10:59,460 --> 00:11:02,820 more broadly to other pricing professionals who are out there 200 00:11:02,820 --> 00:11:06,950 in the marketplace. Who have shared experiences are 201 00:11:06,950 --> 00:11:10,710 more than happy to be a resource and to be a networking partner. 202 00:11:12,030 --> 00:11:15,070 Not to mention the number of vendors, whether it's software 203 00:11:15,070 --> 00:11:18,870 providers, consultants, and other folks that work to support 204 00:11:18,870 --> 00:11:21,350 pricing leaders. So it's important to know that 205 00:11:21,470 --> 00:11:22,870 you don't have to do it on your own. 206 00:11:24,710 --> 00:11:28,350 It's tempting to try to have all the answers, but don't try to do 207 00:11:28,350 --> 00:11:30,590 that. Be be willing to tell, tell 208 00:11:30,590 --> 00:11:33,910 folks when you're not sure, and you'll get back to them. 209 00:11:34,450 --> 00:11:37,250 As well as tap the different experts that are in your midst 210 00:11:37,650 --> 00:11:40,850 to make sure their voices are heard, as well as to get ideas 211 00:11:40,850 --> 00:11:42,850 that you wouldn't be able to come up with on your own. 212 00:11:44,770 --> 00:11:47,650 Hey, look that's all golden information is how I would 213 00:11:47,970 --> 00:11:49,650 phrase that. You know, a lot of things you 214 00:11:49,650 --> 00:11:52,890 said is very important, very crucial to the success of not 215 00:11:52,890 --> 00:11:56,050 only an individual in their pricing role, but also a company 216 00:11:56,050 --> 00:11:59,040 in their pricing organization. That's helping that company to 217 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:00,760 thrive. And so you also mentioned you 218 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:04,160 know networking reaching out to your your peers if you will in 219 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,320 the price industry coming to conferences just like you came 220 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:08,720 to our Dallas conference recently. 221 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,040 You know that's where that's also a place where a lot of 222 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:13,520 people can just come to not only learn but also network with 223 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:17,280 other professionals in different states or even countries to 224 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:19,680 enhance their pricing organization as well. 225 00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:22,080 So I'm really glad you made mention of that networking 226 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:24,240 aspect because it really is a lot of these companies do have 227 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:29,510 very small pricing teams. If I could just add real quick 228 00:12:29,510 --> 00:12:35,470 on that way I I I believe strongly in the networking 229 00:12:35,470 --> 00:12:38,870 aspect in, in particular professional pricing society. 230 00:12:39,590 --> 00:12:41,950 The reason is it wasn't that long ago that I attended my 231 00:12:41,950 --> 00:12:45,470 first conference and I remember sitting in the back of the room, 232 00:12:45,790 --> 00:12:48,150 you had scribbling notes out furiously listening to these 233 00:12:48,150 --> 00:12:52,150 people and thinking, Oh my gosh, two things. 234 00:12:52,150 --> 00:12:55,590 One, what did I get myself into? This is way over my head. 235 00:12:56,830 --> 00:12:59,510 On the other hand though, I learned, wow, this is the place 236 00:12:59,510 --> 00:13:02,390 to be. Because learning from the people 237 00:13:02,390 --> 00:13:05,430 who've been there, done that, sitting with other people who 238 00:13:05,430 --> 00:13:08,750 are in the same seat, different spaces of their pricing career 239 00:13:08,750 --> 00:13:12,870 has been invaluable. And now here I am talking to you 240 00:13:12,870 --> 00:13:16,750 on a PPS podcast and it wasn't that long ago I was just 241 00:13:16,750 --> 00:13:19,510 starting out. So again, for those listening 242 00:13:19,510 --> 00:13:23,630 who might be in a similar spot, really lean into the PPS as a 243 00:13:23,630 --> 00:13:26,710 networking. And educational resource. 244 00:13:27,950 --> 00:13:31,590 Also, Scott, I would like to consider you as an expert on 245 00:13:31,590 --> 00:13:34,630 this podcast speaking with me, so I'm very glad to have you 246 00:13:34,630 --> 00:13:36,710 with us today. Thank you, Terence. 247 00:13:37,190 --> 00:13:40,750 Now one more question I want to ask you as well before I switch 248 00:13:40,750 --> 00:13:43,790 gears. How would you typically measure 249 00:13:43,790 --> 00:13:47,110 progress and why is it important to measure progress when it 250 00:13:47,110 --> 00:13:49,030 comes to pricing within the organization? 251 00:13:49,990 --> 00:13:52,030 Yeah. So the part of the part. 252 00:13:52,950 --> 00:13:56,510 The importance of measuring progress is because you want to 253 00:13:56,510 --> 00:14:00,230 be able to know that you're making, you're reaching a new 254 00:14:00,230 --> 00:14:02,270 goal. So I'm going to step back from 255 00:14:02,270 --> 00:14:04,590 the measurement for a quick second and say why it's 256 00:14:04,590 --> 00:14:08,070 important to set a goal. It's important to set a goal for 257 00:14:08,070 --> 00:14:10,830 your pricing project because you're going to encounter 258 00:14:10,830 --> 00:14:15,030 resistance, you're going to encounter distractions, you're 259 00:14:15,030 --> 00:14:19,190 going to and detractors. So the reason you want to have a 260 00:14:19,190 --> 00:14:23,670 goal and really and when I say a goal it's a a a big why, what is 261 00:14:23,670 --> 00:14:26,790 the why to improve pricing for your organization. 262 00:14:27,870 --> 00:14:31,350 Often times this might be expressed in a business case 263 00:14:31,350 --> 00:14:34,630 that talks about things like hey we want to grow revenue or we 264 00:14:34,630 --> 00:14:38,550 want to improve our margin rates or we want to improve the 265 00:14:38,870 --> 00:14:42,590 customer experience. It's it's important to be 266 00:14:42,590 --> 00:14:45,710 thinking about how to make your customer experience. 267 00:14:46,860 --> 00:14:49,420 Easier and faster to do business with your company. 268 00:14:50,300 --> 00:14:52,780 You also want to be thinking about how pricing can be used to 269 00:14:52,780 --> 00:14:56,260 make your your fellow employees jobs easier. 270 00:14:56,620 --> 00:14:59,700 How can you make it faster to give prices to customers? 271 00:14:59,700 --> 00:15:01,220 How can you improve your win rate? 272 00:15:01,740 --> 00:15:05,060 So by having a business case that includes your goals around 273 00:15:05,060 --> 00:15:09,900 revenue, margin, other other analytics like customer 274 00:15:09,900 --> 00:15:14,340 experience and even tactical measures like gross margin rate. 275 00:15:14,850 --> 00:15:18,290 Something that's measurable at a business unit level, at a 276 00:15:18,290 --> 00:15:22,290 customer level, at a geographic level, it gives you some sense 277 00:15:22,290 --> 00:15:25,450 of how you're going to measure it and IT And it also really you 278 00:15:25,450 --> 00:15:28,610 think think about that business case as something that either 279 00:15:28,610 --> 00:15:31,410 you're going to inherit as business leader or you're going 280 00:15:31,410 --> 00:15:33,090 to have the opportunity to make it. 281 00:15:33,650 --> 00:15:36,690 And when you want to build that case, it's really something that 282 00:15:36,690 --> 00:15:40,330 you and your executive team and and the CEO can say, yes, this 283 00:15:40,330 --> 00:15:41,930 is a priority of the organization. 284 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,680 Here's why it's important and here's why we're going to 285 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:49,200 support it and that becomes like the north star of your of your 286 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:50,920 journey. So that there's going to be a 287 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,600 lot, as we were talking about a pricing project tends to to go 288 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:58,360 and not a straight line. It zigzags, there's successes, 289 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:01,640 there's failures, there's wins and there's losses. 290 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,680 And what you want to make sure you're doing as a pricing 291 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:06,720 leaders, keep the company on course. 292 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,400 It'll be easy to get distracted or to have people who are. 293 00:16:10,990 --> 00:16:14,110 Don't want to change or don't like it or disagree with it to 294 00:16:14,110 --> 00:16:16,030 use it. Use an opportunity where there's 295 00:16:16,030 --> 00:16:21,110 a a temporary setback to make a case for canceling the project 296 00:16:21,110 --> 00:16:22,470 or doing something totally different. 297 00:16:23,430 --> 00:16:26,670 So by having a good business case, you've established that 298 00:16:26,670 --> 00:16:29,950 North Star that executives can stay on the same page with you 299 00:16:29,950 --> 00:16:33,950 and you can communicate consistently that, yes, here 300 00:16:33,950 --> 00:16:37,310 we're starting from point A, but we're going to go to point B and 301 00:16:37,310 --> 00:16:39,270 here's why and here's how we're going to do it. 302 00:16:40,030 --> 00:16:42,350 And you're going to help insulate yourself and your team 303 00:16:42,350 --> 00:16:45,830 from the setbacks by being able to stay focused on the goal. 304 00:16:46,310 --> 00:16:49,750 So having the big goal is key, but then thinking about how 305 00:16:49,750 --> 00:16:52,030 you're going to measure that along the way is key. 306 00:16:52,670 --> 00:16:57,270 And particularly Terrance, I would say measure the quick wins 307 00:16:57,550 --> 00:16:59,070 and celebrate the heck out of them. 308 00:16:59,710 --> 00:17:03,390 So every price of projects, you know it's a shortterm, longterm 309 00:17:03,390 --> 00:17:06,910 deal, but be looking for quick wins, things that you can do 310 00:17:06,910 --> 00:17:09,550 really for free. With your own decision, making 311 00:17:09,550 --> 00:17:13,790 your own changes, and just getting ideas from the people 312 00:17:13,790 --> 00:17:16,790 that you put on your advisory team, you're going to identify 313 00:17:16,790 --> 00:17:20,109 things that can be done quickly, at low cost, and have great 314 00:17:20,790 --> 00:17:25,310 results for your organization. Be sure to pause for a moment, 315 00:17:25,710 --> 00:17:28,910 celebrate those, recognize the people involved, share the 316 00:17:28,910 --> 00:17:32,590 credit, make a big deal out of it because it is a big deal and 317 00:17:32,590 --> 00:17:35,350 it also plants the seed for positive momentum on the 318 00:17:35,350 --> 00:17:38,080 project. So this will be a couple ideas 319 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:40,080 that share with you about the importance of measuring and 320 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:42,320 having goals. That is so important. 321 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:44,680 I want to thank you so much for sharing that with us because it 322 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:48,480 is important and it matters, you know And if there's any type of 323 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:50,960 way that companies can learn to become more efficient at 324 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:53,760 measuring their their progress, setting goals and measuring the 325 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:58,560 goals and becoming efficient in in that as well as celebrating 326 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:01,840 the small things, you know, it's all gonna make a huge difference 327 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,040 as time progresses within our organization in particular. 328 00:18:05,730 --> 00:18:08,650 Now I wanted to switch gears and ask you this question. 329 00:18:09,570 --> 00:18:14,610 I just happen to know that you are A/C, PP certified pricing 330 00:18:14,610 --> 00:18:20,210 professional and I want to ask you for those who are not CPP's 331 00:18:20,210 --> 00:18:24,410 or maybe on the fence about, you know, pursuing that path or not, 332 00:18:24,690 --> 00:18:26,290 what would you say to those individuals? 333 00:18:26,290 --> 00:18:30,290 Tell us a bit about your particular journey and what it's 334 00:18:30,530 --> 00:18:33,570 what it's done for you since you've become certified? 335 00:18:35,660 --> 00:18:39,180 Terrence, for me this CPP designation was important 336 00:18:39,180 --> 00:18:42,660 because it gave me the confidence and capability to 337 00:18:43,140 --> 00:18:46,740 grow as a pricing leader and serve my organization the best 338 00:18:46,740 --> 00:18:51,260 of my ability by learning some of the best practices from the 339 00:18:51,260 --> 00:18:55,940 thought leaders worldwide that teach the course through PPS. 340 00:18:56,460 --> 00:18:59,340 So I would highly recommend that to people that are listening who 341 00:18:59,340 --> 00:19:02,620 have not explored joining the PPS or. 342 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:06,480 CPP for yourself or for members of your team, it will be an 343 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:08,360 invaluable step in your pricing journey. 344 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,600 For anybody listening, that's not in the pricing role 345 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,520 themselves, that might be a senior leader or a CEO of a 346 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:16,840 company. When you think about your 347 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:19,280 pricing team or the individuals you're going to name to a 348 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:22,600 pricing role, think about how you're going to support them. 349 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:26,080 And so you might not be sure what resources to plug them 350 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:30,400 into, but as we were talking about here, one of the places 351 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,600 you might think about. Is joining the professional 352 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,960 pricing society encouraging your pricing leader? 353 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:39,400 Maybe they're new to the role, maybe they've got some 354 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:42,080 experience, but if you feel they've got some professional 355 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:45,200 development opportunity ahead of them to grow into the role that 356 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:49,600 you want, turn them on to the PPS and encourage the CPP 357 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:53,200 designation, That will be a huge win for your organization. 358 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:57,880 Well, thank you so much, Scott. I really do appreciate you 359 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:00,880 sharing that wisdom with us. You know, it does mean a lot 360 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:02,770 because. You know somebody of your status 361 00:20:02,770 --> 00:20:05,690 in the pricing room, you know a heavy hitter if you will, and 362 00:20:05,690 --> 00:20:08,570 A/C, PP, it means it means a lot coming from you to hear about 363 00:20:08,570 --> 00:20:12,490 your journey, how you've navigated and progressed over 364 00:20:12,490 --> 00:20:15,210 the years and also just you know, your journey with PPS as 365 00:20:15,210 --> 00:20:17,690 well. So I greatly appreciate your 366 00:20:17,690 --> 00:20:21,290 time with us today. Now for those who may want to 367 00:20:21,290 --> 00:20:24,170 learn more about you, how you are involved in the pricing 368 00:20:24,170 --> 00:20:26,850 community, where can they go to reach out to you or just to 369 00:20:26,850 --> 00:20:32,200 learn more about you in general. Yeah, there's 22 easy ways to to 370 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:33,920 reach out to me. One is on LinkedIn. 371 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:38,560 Just look up Scott Sinning and feel free to send me a 372 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:40,320 connection request or a direct message. 373 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:43,360 I'd love to love to get connected with other fellow 374 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,960 pricing leaders. Another way to reach me, 375 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,280 Terrence, is through my website, which is pricing for 376 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:54,080 distributors.com. I do put the free content on the 377 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:58,200 website as well as connections to blogs and a newsletter that 378 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:01,150 has. Topics of interest and and 379 00:21:01,150 --> 00:21:03,270 current topics for pricing professionals. 380 00:21:03,270 --> 00:21:07,670 So I do offer a complimentary initial call and I would love to 381 00:21:07,670 --> 00:21:10,950 speak to anybody that wants to go into more detail about 382 00:21:10,950 --> 00:21:13,830 pricing challenges and and bounce them off each other. 383 00:21:13,830 --> 00:21:18,190 I'd be happy to do that. OK, Mr. Scott sinning again. 384 00:21:18,190 --> 00:21:21,070 Until next time, we will see you all on the next PPS podcast. 385 00:21:21,070 --> 00:21:22,150 You guys have a good one. Bye, bye.