建立更好的定价基础设施.docx

建立更好的定价基础设施那些管理良好的企业已经认识到定价在推动业绩增长上发挥的关键作用。一个支撑卓越定价的基础架构是实现其潜力的关键所在。2010年8月 Walter L. Baker, Michael V. Marn, and Craig C. Zawada 来源：营销及销售业务 在过去20年里，大多数企业已经认识到有效的定价对企业盈亏状况的影响。然而，光有这种认识还远远不够。要充分挖掘定价的全部潜力，就需要一种能推动定价绩效真正持续提高的基础架构。有了这种基础，企业就能通过创建深思熟虑的决策流程、专门的定价组织、能适当测评和奖励卓越定价的机制，以及强有力的支持工具和系统，安排和改进各种定价活动。创建一个定价基础架构可能相当困难，而且成本不菲。它需要适当的投资，向合适的人员授权，提出明确的目标和任务，以及管理风险。然而，实现真正卓越定价的收益会使这些付出物有所值：对于典型的全球1200强企业1而言，产品和服务的平均价格提高1个百分点，就会导致运营利润增加8.7。因为一项顺利执行的定价改进计划通常会导致价格上升24个百分点或更多，保持一种长期的价格优势，可能相当于一家典型企业总利润的大约1525。在过去20年里，首席执行官们肯定已经知道改进定价方式可以推动利润增长。确定定价机会的架构从对价格区间的落袋价格分析到价值图现在已被广泛接受。华尔街已经开始奖励那些改进定价结构的企业，同时惩罚那些陷入价格战的企业。然而，有太多企业试图通过对其定价基础架构最低限度的投资应付了事，抓住能快速而轻易地改善财务状况的短平快机会，然后宣称取得了成功，并将时间、精力和人才集中到其他领域。其结果是，定价基础架构投资的实际影响随着时间的推移逐渐减弱，并且远远不足以充分发挥其全部潜力。成功的企业会计划周密地建立一个强有力的定价基础架构，它能支撑和维持卓越的定价职能。它们首先重点建立最关键的定价流程，然后考虑由谁“拥有”和运行组织的定价利润中心。对绩效管理的持续关注，能激励管理者在考虑整个企业战略的情况下改进其定价绩效，同时使他们负起达到或超过预期目标的责任。最后，系统和工具可以使定价流程便于操作，帮助在定价机构工作的员工改进其工作方式，并支持绩效管理。按照流程、组织、绩效管理、系统和工具的先后顺序实施这些要素，就能增大定价基础架构投资将会产生持久影响的可能性。注释：1按市值计算，世界上最大的1,200家上市公司。 明确定义的定价流程在许多企业，做出关键定价决策的流程有一种随意的，甚至是被动的感觉：它们缺乏结构性、彻底性，以及这种对利润敏感的决策应该具备的基础分析。对其步骤、执行者、输入和输出进行了明确定义的流程应该支配决策和核心定价活动。这些流程在定价基础架构中具有中心地位。企业必须首先确定，哪些特定的定价决策对于自己的成功至关重要，然后围绕这些决策构建健全的流程。最重要的定价决策以及因此而建立的最关键的定价流程根据不同的企业和行业而大相径庭。例如，一家商业性化学制品企业可能会着重考虑行业的供需关系，使产品价格与市场水平保持一致。一个消费电子产品制造商可能会全神贯注于客户价值，利用焦点小组和其它最优选择的定价信息来制定和调整其价格表。一个工业零部件制造商可能会重点关注对不同的产品和批量给予价格折扣的管理规则和政策。一个重要的流程涉及管理特殊的价格要求或例外情况，而这种管理往往容易失控。（例如，一家分销企业的语汇中甚至没有“标准定价”这一说法而是使用“例外定价”或“非例外定价”来描述其所有交易。）为了更有效地管理和控制易失控的例外定价，企业可以创建先进的流程来审核它们：利用积极有效的“价格审核组”对要求实行例外价格的申请进行严格的评估把关，跟踪它们的频度和程度，分析交易的经济性，并向卖方提供符合现行价格水平的实际指导价。高水平的组织要素只有通过赋予明确的权属和责任，使解决关键定价决策问题的流程顺利运行，这些流程才能增加价值。有太多的企业试图采用一种临时性的或委员会管理的方法应付了事，没有明确的权属；只有在绝对必要的情况下才使用定价流程。另一些企业认为，不需要设置专职定价人员，可以将定价职责分配给各领域（如销售、市场营销和产品管理）的员工。但是，这些方法通常会造成对定价重点认识不足和不一致，从而丢失太多重要的定价机会。组建一个要对企业很大一部分收入负责的定价组织，需要一种深思熟虑的招聘策略、与该部门重要性相称的薪酬待遇，以及对该部门每个岗位所需技能和态度类型的清晰了解。领导该部门的高管应该负责协调定价方法的推出实施，指导销售经理和销售代表使用正式的定价方法，控制定价指标和策略的影响，并将定价方法和工具融入企业文化之中。从根本上说，该高管不仅应该负责管理日常定价活动，而且还应该负责培养积极主动、持续改进的心态，有无这种心态，则是高绩效的定价组织与只是还不错的定价组织的分水岭。我们还建议，将定价团队与任何负责与客户进行价格谈判的部门分离开来。这种分离状态可以在价格谈判人员与价格管理人员之间造成一种有益的紧张关系，而当价格管理人员隶属于销售团队时，则很难维持这种关系。最后，高绩效的定价组织要定期评估自己的总体健康状况和活力而且定价方法不应该各行其是。有三种做法值得推荐。第一是明确定义的职场路径：员工应该将定价组织视为职场晋升的一个极好的“晋升之阶”。第二是对关键职位的360度全方位反馈，因为定价组织的成员必须与许多团队有效地互动。最后一种做法是监测一些状态指标，如员工的流动率和工作满意度，以便及早发现和解决问题。绩效管理体系对定价的绩效管理包括：定期衡量其对企业的影响，利用奖惩措施，强化或纠正定价行为，改进定价方向。如今，许多企业既没有准确测评定价绩效，也没有对做出定价决策的高管给予有意义的回报。这样就降低了不断推进小规模定价改进的积极性。正如我们在前面指出的，这种定价改进可以转化为收入的大幅提高。每个企业都应该有一组定价评价指标，用于测评整个企业定价业务的财务和运行状况。这些指标可能包括一些简单的数据（如重要产品的平均销售价格、折扣率和利润）、运营数据（包括例外定价的数量和盈利/亏损百分比），以及用于跟踪一些特殊定价举措的进展和影响的专门测评指标。一些最佳实践企业采用了分级运行监测。虽然一种单一产品线的经理可能只注意有关该产品线的指标，但一个业务单元的总经理则会关注整个运营部门中这些相同的指标，并可以深入到单个产品的层级，了解定价绩效变化的根本原因。这些评价指标应该与货币激励措施挂钩；如果没有这种联系，大多数指标很快就会变得毫无意义。但是，同样重要的是，要设计一些激励计划，使收入的增加一方面与实现的丰厚利润，另一方面与低折扣率（或两方面兼而有之）保持均衡。此外，非货币激励措施可能也极具价值。最简单也最有效的方法之一，就是依据利润或折扣业绩可能在对一些变量（如客户规模和产品结构）进行校正以后对销售人员进行公开评级。这种做法会激发销售代表的竞争精神，并在他们中间产生一种有益的动力。其它非货币激励措施还包括：优异的表现得到同事和经理的承认与肯定；对一些有悖常理的行为（如放弃交易，作为摆脱无利可图业务的举措的一部分）予以奖励；将业务进步与特定的定价技能联系起来这样就会传达一个强有力的信息：这些技能不仅仅是有比没有好，而是必不可少。绩效管理的最后一个组成部分是，利用定价指标作为与员工对话的基础，以提高定价绩效。如果能长期坚持和定期使用这种教练方式，它就能成为一种强有力的工具。根据我们的经验，具有重要影响力的定价绩效对话具有三个特征：它们定期进行（例如，每周一次或每月一次）；在定价组织内的多个层级上进行；涵盖了一组特定的问题如组织中正在发生什么，原因是什么，以及在继续处理其他问题之前，需要做些什么。定价系统和工具实现卓越定价需要对系统进行投资，以收集准确而及时的定价数据，为了将这些数据转化为信息，还需要对工具进行投资。大多数企业都没有达到要求，或者因为它们不理解为何应该进行这种投资，或者因为它们在不必要的复杂系统上花钱太多，而这种系统与它们的定价需求并不匹配。结果往往是，至关紧要的定价决策难以获得关键的信息或分析，或者被难用系统弄得无所适从的决策者无法及时而便捷地提供正确信息。在需要多少数据、需要什么类型的工具和系统才能满足其业务需求的问题上，企业往往做出无知的假设。我们注意到许多企业努力想从自己对系统和工具的投资中获得最大回报，为此，我们从在同行中表现最佳的企业中得出了两点教益：第一，了解自己需要什么信息，以及何时需要这些信息；第二，不要急于采取行动，因为对系统和工具的真正业务需求需要经过一段时间才能了解清楚。没有“放之四海而皆准”的标准答案。实现卓越定价所需要的数据需求、报告能力和一线决策工具根据不同的业务而截然不同。一般而言，定价系统和工具可以提供四种类型的支持：做出具体定价决策和进行谈判；进行分析，确定定价改进机会；监测当前的定价绩效；以及跟踪定价活动。决策支持工具可确保制定价格的人员拥有做出明智决策（无论是坐在自己的办公室里，还是面对潜在的客户）所需要的数据。例如，一家拥有大量产品组合的电器设备公司使用了一种分析工具，发现对一些老产品的需求正在下降，而它们的库存和运输成本却在增大所有这些变化的速度要比价格的变化快得多。该公司确定，对这些产品的大部分剩余需求都是为了更换那些本身具有局限性的替代产品，因此，它提高了这些小批量产品的价格。最终的净收益结果是，小批量产品些微亏损，但总的收入却大幅增加。评价指标、运行监测和报告应该使管理者获得一种简明扼要的印象，帮助他们监测整个自己那部分业务的定价绩效，并在必要时进行干预。一个决定性的挑战是，要在一个集中式知识库中收集所有相关的定价数据。销售和成本信息往往分散在不同职能部门和业务部门的多个IT系统中，但是，如果要使其他工具很好发挥作用，对所有这些数据进行汇总就至关重要。许多企业采取一种数据库的方法：按规定将多个IT系统的数据载入一个单一的大型数据库中，并定期对其进行更新。最重要的一点是，这些数据应该具有足以用于决策的高可靠性。定价可以成为一个企业重要的利润中心但前提是必须有一个支撑定价的基础架构，这个基础包括适当的流程、组织、绩效管理以及系统和工具。作者简介：Walter Baker是麦肯锡亚特兰大分公司董事，Michael Marn是克利夫兰分公司董事，Craig Zawada是卡尔加里分公司董事。他们是价格优势（The Price Advantage）一书（第二版）的共同作者，该书2010年6月由Wiley Finance出版公司出版。返回顶端本文译自：“Building a better pricing infrastructure”任何个人或机构未经麦肯锡公司书面授权，不得复制、转载、转贴、或以任何其他方式使用本网站之内容，亦不得就本网站做镜像网站。已获书面授权的个人或机构应在使用条款范围内使用，不得以任何方式修改网站内容。麦肯锡公司和其关联公司对任何因使用或浏览网站内容而产生的损失或损害（包括直接、间接、偶然、从属或惩罚性的损害、或有关损失收入或损失利润的损害赔偿）概不承担任何责任。 Building a better pricing infrastructure Monday, 16 August 2010 00:00 Walter L. Baker, Michael V. Marn, and Craig C. Zawada 0 Comments Articles (Field related) - Pricing Well-managed companies already recognize the critical role pricing plays in driving performance. A foundation that underpins excellence in pricing is the key to realizing its potential.Over the past two decades, most companies have recognized the bottom-line impact to be gained through effective pricing. Yet awareness by itself is not enough. Tapping the full promise of pricing requires an infrastructure to drive real and sustained pricing performance. With such a foundation, a company can establish and strengthen pricing activities by creating deliberate decision processes, a specialized pricing organization, mechanisms that appropriately measure and reward pricing excellence, and robust support tools and systems.A pricing infrastructure can be difficult and costly to create. It requires investing appropriately, empowering the right people, articulating clear targets and goals, and managing risk. Yet the benefits of realizing true pricing excellence are worthwhile: a one-percentage-point improvement in average price of goods and services leads to an 8.7 percent increase in operating profits for the typical Global 1200 company. Since a well-executed pricing-improvement program often yields price increases of two to four percentage points or more, sustaining a long-term price advantage may represent roughly 15 to 25 percent of a typical companys total profits.CEOs have certainly become aware during the past two decades of the way pricing improvements can drive profit gains. Frameworks to identify pricing opportunitiesfrom pocket-price waterfalls to price bands to value mapsare now widely accepted. Wall Street has begun rewarding businesses that improve pricing and punishing those that fall into price wars. Yet too many companies try to get by with minimal investments in their pricing infrastructure, grabbing quick hits that generate fast and easy bottom-line improvements, then declaring victory and focusing time, energy, and talent elsewhere. The result is that the actual impact of pricing-infrastructure investments diminishes over time, with such efforts falling far short of their full potential.Successful companies deliberately build a strong pricing infrastructure that underpins and sustains pricing excellence. They start by focusing on the most critical pricing processes, then consider who “owns” and drives the organizations pricing profit center. A constant focus on performance management inspires managers to improve their pricing performance in the context of the overall business strategy, while holding them accountable to meet or exceed expectations. Finally, systems and tools facilitate pricing processes, help people in the pricing organization raise their game, and support performance management. Implementing these elements in this orderprocesses, organization, performance management, and systems and toolsincreases the likelihood that pricing-infrastructure investments will have an enduring impact.Well-defined pricing processesAt many companies, the processes for making critical pricing decisions have a random, even reactive feel: they lack the structure, thoroughness, and underlying analytics that such profit-sensitive decisions deserve. Processes whose steps, owners, inputs, and outputs are clearly defined should govern decision making and core pricing activities. These processes lie at the heart of the pricing infrastructure. Companies must first determine which specific pricing decisions are critical to their success and then build robust processes around those decisions.The most vital pricing decisionsand, therefore, the most critical pricing processesdiffer dramatically by company and industry. A commodity chemical company, for example, may focus heavily on industry supply and demand to keep prices aligned with market levels. A consumer electronics manufacturer may concentrate on customer value, using focus groups and next-best-alternative pricing information to set and adjust its list prices. An industrial-parts maker may focus on the rules and policies that govern discounts for different products and volumes.One important process involves managing special price requests, or exceptions, which often get out of control. (One distribution company, for example, didnt even have the term “standard pricing” in its vocabularyinstead, it used “exception pricing” or “nonexception pricing” to describe all of its deals.) To manage and control runaway exceptions more effectively, companies can create advanced processes to review them: employing active “bid desks” that skeptically evaluate requests for exceptions, tracking their frequency and depth, analyzing deal economics, and providing sellers with real guidance on prevailing price levels.High-caliber organizational elementsProcesses to address vital pricing decisions add value only if these processes function smoothly by conferring clear ownership and accountability. Too many companies try to get by with an ad hoc or management-by-committee approach, with no clear owner; a process emerges only when absolutely necessary. Others believe that full-time pricing personnel are not required and that responsibilities can be spread across staff in areas such as sales, marketing, and product management. But these approaches usually engender an insufficient and inconsistent focus that leaves too many significant pricing opportunities unrealized.Staffing an organization responsible for a significant portion of a companys earnings requires a deliberate recruiting strategy, compensation commensurate with the importance of this unit, and clarity about the types of skills and attitudes required for each of its roles. The executive in charge should be responsible for coordinating the rollout of pricing methods, counseling sales managers and sales reps on the use of formal pricing methods, controlling the impact of pricing metrics and strategies, and embedding pricing methods and tools in the companys culture. Fundamentally, this executive should be responsible not only for managing day-to-day pricing activities but also for fostering the proactive, continuous-improvement mind-set that separates high-performing pricing organizations from merely good ones.We also recommend separating the pricing group from any unit responsible for negotiating prices with customers. This division creates a healthy tension between price negotiators and price managers that is difficult to maintain when price management resides within sales groups.Finally, high-performing organizations regularly evaluate their overall health and vitalityand pricing shouldnt be different. Three practices are recommended. The first is a well-defined career path: employees should see the pricing organization as an excellent stepping-stone to career advancement. The second is 360-degree feedback for key roles, because members of the pricing organization must interact effectively with so many groups. The final practice is monitoring health metrics, such as the rate of employee turnover and job satisfaction, so trouble can be spotted early and addressed.Performance-management systemsPerformance management for pricing regularly measures its impact on a business, using rewards and consequences to reinforce or correct behavior and refine direction. Many companies today have neither accurate measures of pricing performance nor meaningful rewards for executives who make decisions on pricing. That reduces the incentive to stretch for small pricing improvements, which as we noted above can translate into huge improvements in earnings.Every company should have a set of pricing metrics that measure the financial and operational health of pricing across the business. These metrics may include simple data, such as the average selling price, discount, and margin for key products; operational data, including the number of pricing exceptions and win/loss percentages; and special measures to track the progress and impact of specific pricing initiatives. Best-practice companies use cascading dashboards. While the manager of a single product line may see metrics only for that, the general manager of a business unit sees those same metrics across the operation and can drill down to the level of individual products to understand the root causes of pricing performance.These metrics should be tied to financial incentives; without that connection, most metrics quickly become irrelevant. Yet its also important to design incentive plans that strike a balance between increasing revenue, on the one hand, and achieving healthy margins, low discounts, or both, on the other. In addition, nonmonetary incentives can be extremely valuable. One of the simplest and most effective is to rank salespeople publicly by margin or discounting performance, possibly after normalizing for variables such as account size and product mix. This practice appeals to the competitive psyche of sales reps and creates a healthy dynamic among them. Other nonfinancial incentives include recognizing exceptional performance by peers and managers; rewarding counterintuitive behavior, such as walking away from deals as part of an initiative to shed unprofitable business; and tying advancement to specific pricing skillswhich sends a strong message that they are essential, not merely nice to have.One final component of performance management is the use of pricing metrics as the basis for conversations to improve performance. When used diligently and regularly, this kind of coaching becomes a powerful tool. In our experience, high-impact pricing-performance dialogues share three traits: they occur regularly (for instance, weekly or monthly), take place at multiple levels within the pricing organization, and cover a specific set of questionssuch as whats happening in it, why, and what needs to be donebefore going on to deal with other issues.Pricing systems and toolsPricing excellence demands an investment in systems to collect accurate, current pricing data, as well as tools to turn that data into information. Most companies fall short either because they do not understand why they should make such investments or because they overspend on unnecessarily complex systems that dont match their pricing needs. Often, the result is that critical information or analysis isnt available for crucial pricing decisions or that decision makers confused by difficult systems fail to deliver the right information in a timely and convenient fashion.Companies tend to make poorly informed assumptions about how much data they need and what types of tools and systems will meet their business requirements. After watching many companies struggle to get the most from their investments in systems and tools, we have derived two lessons from best-in-class players: first, understand what information you need and when you need it, and second, move slowly because real business needs for systems and tools are best understood over time. There is no one-size-fits-all answer.The data needs, reporting capabilities, and frontline decision tools required for pricing excellence vary enormously by business. Generally, pricing systems and tools provide four types of support: to make specific pricing decisions and conduct negotiations, to carry out analyses that identify pricing-improvement opportunities, to monitor ongoing performance, and to track pricing activities.Decision support tools ensure that people who set prices have the data needed to make informed decisions, whether sitting in their own offices or in front of prospe