Take No Prisoners: A No-Holds-Barred Approach to Corporate Excellence

Chapter Five. Pricing

If you read and implement no other chapter in this book, make it this one. The reason I place so much emphasis on pricing is that I have never failed to find a pricing opportunity at a client company. It is the single most rapid method of increasing profitability available to a company. The effect on cash flow can be virtually instantaneous, and it does not require a change in manufacturing methods, company structure, or painful cost cutting. If done correctly, it will have little or no effect on sales volume.

The methodology I use focuses on those niches where there is a significant price disparity. For example, most companies raise prices in response to external events such as inflation, fuel increases, and raw-material ...