Summary of Hermann Simon's Confessions of the Pricing Man

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 Prices determine how much money you make. They are the most important factor in your business, so you should never have to live month to month or quarter to quarter. If you have that influence, what is the best way to wield it.

#2 I was fascinated by pricing theories in college, and I learned that pricing is about how people divide up value. I later met three people who would influence my career path and lay the groundwork for pricing to grow from an academic topic to a vital corporate function.

#3 I wanted to conduct unconventional research into pricing. I wanted to go outside the realm of sophisticated functions and elegant theories and actually produce something that a manager or salesperson could understand and apply to their own business decisions.

#4 In 1979, I followed up on the referral Kotler gave me and met with Dan Nimer, a price consultant. I was impressed by his enthusiasm and knowledge, and began to see the importance of pricing and its applications in the business world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822503557

IRB Media

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Insights on Hermann Simon's Confessions of the Pricing Man

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Prices determine how much money you make. They are the most important factor in your business, so you should never have to live month to month or quarter to quarter. If you have that influence, what is the best way to wield it.

#2

I was fascinated by pricing theories in college, and I learned that pricing is about how people divide up value. I later met three people who would influence my career path and lay the groundwork for pricing to grow from an academic topic to a vital corporate function.

#3

I wanted to conduct unconventional research into pricing. I wanted to go outside the realm of sophisticated functions and elegant theories and actually produce something that a manager or salesperson could understand and apply to their own business decisions.

#4

In 1979, I followed up on the referral Kotler gave me and met with Dan Nimer, a price consultant. I was impressed by his enthusiasm and knowledge, and began to see the importance of pricing and its applications in the business world.

#5

I began teaching business administration in 1979. My research focused on pricing, and I published my first book on the subject in 1982. The English title Price Management under which I published a book in 19895 may seem very simple, but I thought long and hard about what to call the book.

#6

I had been teaching in a 3-week management seminar for high potentials at Hoechst, a large chemical company, in 1975. I began to advise companies. In 1985, I founded a consulting firm with my two doctoral students, Eckhard Kucher and Karl-Heinz Sebastian.

#7

I have helped companies create and launch new pricing approaches that have benefited consumers and the company. In 1992, I helped introduce a discount card with an upfront fee for the German Railroad Corporation, and consumers loved it because it made travel planning much simpler and provided unprecedented price transparency.

#8

The first pricing triumph I had was with Professor Selten’s game, which taught me about the importance of value, incentives, and communication. I have had many flops as a pricing consultant, but they were few and far between.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The central hinge of a market economy is prices. Everything revolves around prices. Yet many people still know little about prices, where they come from, and what effects they have.

#2

Prices are high-stakes decisions with dramatic consequences. They can affect customer and shareholder opinion, which is why managers will keep their hands off the pricing lever if they have any doubt.

#3

Prices are the by-product of this complexity. It is hard to make sense of the