Previously, I wrote about the importance of distinguishing between pricing patterns that are real and those that are simply noise. Validating a pattern is an important step in pricing intelligence. The next question may be even more important: Why is the pattern happening? A few years ago, we worked with a client in the trucking…

A few years ago, I worked with a manufacturer that became convinced a competitor was aggressively lowering prices in one of their core product categories. The concern didn’t come from a single quote. The pattern appeared repeatedly across recent opportunities. Sales teams were hearing the same message from customers. Competitive examples kept surfacing. Leadership began…

Some of the most expensive pricing mistakes start with a pattern that feels obvious. A sales team begins hearing the same message from the field: competitors are coming in lower, deals are getting harder to win, and customers are pushing back. The signal feels consistent. It feels credible. Then the team turns to the data.…

Averages make people feel safe. When pricing discussions become tense, someone inevitably says, “What’s the average competitor price?” The assumption is that the average represents the market. The assumption is that it gives clarity. In pricing intelligence, averages often create the illusion of clarity while hiding the real story. Here’s why. Several years ago, I…

One of the biggest mistakes I see companies make in pricing analysis is believing that a single price, or even two prices, tells them anything meaningful about a competitor’s strategy. It doesn’t. Pricing intelligence only starts to become reliable when you capture at least three price points. Three is where patterns begin to emerge. Three…