I think about pricing as one way your strategy shows up in the world.
How do I mean?
One, your price comes out of how well you’ve worked the Strategy Stack. Especially the first three questions:
- What does success look like?
- Who is the customer?
- Why are they buying from you?
Two, your price shows how you view yourself?
- Premium vs. commodity
- Following the leader vs. setting your own course
- Value based vs. pulling the price out of thin air
For me, your price is often a reflection of your strategy, especially when you watch over time:
- The freemium model was supposed to lead to “conversions” for so many startup tech firms.
- The constant discounts that drove J. Crew to be a retailer where it felt like people were happy to “wait for the sale.”
- “Loss leader pricing” which is supposed to drive a lot of people into a store, especially at the holidays.
The strange thing about the examples above is that these show the outlines of a strategy.
Maybe not a good one.
Too often when I talk with folks about pricing, I find a flimsy foundation supports the pricing conversation:
- Previous sales data. (As if the future will look just like the past.)
- Cost of goods and services. (Your costs don’t mean a thing to your customers.)
- The “comp.” (Do you really know the real competitive set your customers are using?”
My favorite example of bad pricing is when you can tell someone just pulled the price out of thin air.
There is no basis in customer data. No reflection of perceived value. No idea if the price is too high, too low, or just right.
Just “boom” and done.
I bring all of this up today because I think setting the right price is so important to your business.
You should be pricing for profit, pricing for value, and pricing for your strategy.
How?
The 3 Ps of Pricing:
- The Process
- The Price
- The Promotion
Do you do that?
Most people don’t.
That’s okay.
Pricing isn’t a science. It also isn’t an art.
It’s a bit of both.
I’ve got two free things for you this morning to help.
One: A Pricing Blind Spot Audit
- 5 questions. 2 minutes. A score.
- The answer to each question is a guide to a blind spot. You’ll see.
Two: A webinar: 10 Ways to Turn Pricing Drift into Pricing Power
- May 5, 2026, at 12:30 PM Eastern.
- 10 actionable ideas to help improve your pricing immediately.
I have been known as “The Discounts are For Dummies!” guy for a while now.
I say that because most of the time discounting is a sign of Strategic Drift.
As I thought about it more, I recognized that Pricing Drift is usually an externally visible sign of a strategy gone awry or a company that is adrift.
Use the audit to uncover your blind spot. Sit in on the webinar and find a way to right your own pricing ship.
Hit reply and tell me what you see in the world.
What’s going on in your world? What are you going to do about it?
Dave