mashup: more on pricing and purchasing

More on Pricing Update: May 2010 News flash: Not everyone knows everything that is necessary for success. Okay, you got me, not much of a news flash. But it always surprises me when I learn about situations where common knowledge is not common practice. Here is a small glimpse inside my brain and how it works. Ever see the movie, Working Girl, featuring Melanie Griffith? I have mentioned it on several occasions. If you don't own it, rent it today. The business lessons pour out of this thing as if it were written to serve as a self-contained B school for the ever hopeful. Well, maybe that is a little too strong... but it is very entertaining and packs quite a few lessons on business. In the movie, she explains how she creates a mashup that results in a huge victory for her employer and the client. Hence today's mashup... First, in a brief conversation with a colleague, the topic of Purchasing came up. He mentioned a situation where the "low cost provider" was actually causing significant expenses to accrue to a client. Well beyond the costs of shifting to a better source of materials. Let me restate it this way (as many businesses have policies that mirror this mistake): Purchasing is required to get three quotes for every purchased part, and without a thorough explanation otherwise (with fancy multicolored charts proving the case beyond all doubt), you must buy from the low cost provider. Makes sense, right? So how does Zig Ziglar, Chet Richards' book, Certain to Win, and my "Biz Connection Howto" post from October 2008 mashup into a lesson on pricing? I thought you would never ask! First, my mind raced to the Zig Ziglar example on "Price vs. Cost" in his book, "Secrets of Closing the Sale." Which I have on cassette tape (showing my age, right?). For the new kids on the block, this particular lesson ("Overcoming the Price Objection") is also available for free on his podcast on iTunes. Then, when I turned to my blog in search of articles on pricing, the post Biz Connection Howto popped up, in which I used the word "pricing" in an unrelated manner, however, in reading the post, my reference to "trust" hit me between the eyes. Big time! Which instantly lead me to Richard's book. Clear so far? Great You cannot get this policy changed until your organization trusts you. All the proof in the world is useless. Honest. I have seen it time and time again. But only after I discovered it first hand. Leadership is trust, or at least it is required in order to lead others. Want to make a difference in your organization? Start by creating trust, then, work on those multicolored charts. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey ski@throughput.us P.S. Consider sharing your story on Pricing with my readers via a guest post. Drop me line if you want to contribute. (cc) 2010 Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported