How to Hire Great

We First Have to Acknowledge the Realities of the Situation • Unlike other functional areas, it’s rare

that you will find “exact fits” for your specific pricing situation and needs.

• Competitive poaching or hiring former pricing consultants are not very realistic solutions.

• You should focus on finding great “raw materials” rather than perfect “finished goods”.

In B2B Pricing, Hiring Is No Substitute for Training • Odds are, your new hires are going

to have gaps in relevant experience and specific skillsets.

• Relying on trial and error, sink or swim, and osmosis is not only very inefficient, it’s also risky.

• Include ongoing training and development in your budget...yes, even at the expense of headcount.

There Are a Number of Things to Consider Before You Hire... At this point in your team development, do

you need pricing specialists or generalists? Should your role definitions be somewhat

flexible or more highly-defined and specific? Could you be adding too much headcount, too

soon, and just because you can and want to? Are you adding human resources to perform

tasks that technology should be handling? Are you thinking broadly enough about the

skills that are necessary for success?

Technical Pricing Knowledge and Skills

Mindset, Attitudes and Inclinations

Organizational and Interpersonal Skills

The Most Effective Pricing People Are Three Dimensional

These Three Technical Pricing Concepts Are Huge Plusses Price Segmentation---Crucial for

in-market price discrimination and accurate comparative analyses.

Customer Lifetime Value---Can be an existential issue in B2B, as most markets are defined in nature.

Differential Value---Perceptions of price are governed by the perceived value, relative to the alternatives.

“Affinity for Data” Someone whose natural

inclination is to seek out data to inform their decisions, rather

than going with their gut.

“Business Acumen” Someone who thinks like a

business person; understanding the role of pricing within the

broader business context.

“Results Oriented” Someone who recognizes that

their day-to-day work is just a means to an end and that the

real objective is results.

“Flexible Tenacity” Someone who won’t give up at

the first sign of trouble and will keep pushing, even if it means taking a different approach.

“Problem Solving” Someone who can not only

identify problems and issues, but also conceive and propose a number of potential solutions.

“Diagnostic Thinking” Someone who digs deeper and

identifies root causes instead of jumping to obvious conclusions

and just treating symptoms.

“Ability to Influence” Someone who can effectively

communicate complex ideas and concepts to others and motivate change, sans direct authority.

“Someone with pretty good technical skills, who can get

their ideas across and get others to change their behaviors, will

almost always outperform a technical wizard that no one

pays any attention to.”

THIS PRICING LEADER SAID IT BEST:

I N T E R N A L S O U R C E S E X T E R N A L S O U R C E S

Internal and External Sources for Great Pricing Candidates

For many, the finance group seems to be an obvious go-to source.

There are a lot of benefits to recruiting

out of sales operations or sales analysis.

Job listing sites will typically only reach

those already looking.

Others can be “wooed” thru communities like ours, social networks,

recruiters, etc.

Getting Beyond the Resume... Ask candidates to describe challenges

they’ve encountered in the past and how they’ve worked through them.

Pose hypothetical situations and discuss---why might they be occurring; how should they be viewed; how to proceed, etc.

Remember that you’re not looking for right or wrong answers...you’re gaining insight into how they think.

Let them talk...at length...and listen!

Questions & Answers (Questions definitely. Answers hopefully.)