| Chapter |
Section |
| Introduction | |
| 1 - The Concept of Price | What Is Price? |
| What's Included in a Price? |
| Factors Affecting Price |
| 2 - Market Demand | |
| Generations with Attitudes |
| Psychology of the Buyer |
| Buyer Attitudes During a Recession |
| Customer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction |
| Market Analysis |
| Estimating Demand for Your Services |
| Elasticity of Demand |
| Factors that Affect Demand Elasticity |
| How to Estimate Demand |
| Responding to Elasticity |
| Setting Price Based on The Market |
| 3 - Competition-Based Pricing | |
| Analyzing the Competition |
| Collecting Competitor Information |
| Estimate Number and Location |
| Visit Their Websites |
| Who Are Your Competitors? |
| Look at What and Where They Advertise |
| Read Their Press Releases |
| What Organizations Do They Join? |
| What Else Do They Do For Publicity? |
| Which Competitors Are Closest to You? |
| What About Their Financial Condition? |
| Talk to Their Customers |
| How Much Are Competitors Charging? |
| How to Make a Price Distribution Chart |
| Example Price Distribution Chart |
| How to Calculate an Average Competitor Price |
| Estimating Price Using Statistical Inference |
| With Results in Hand-SWOT Analysis |
| 4 - Cost and Price | |
| Determining Your Cost First |
| Fixed Costs |
| Variable Costs |
| Direct Costs |
| Indirect Costs and Overhead |
| The Overhead Factor |
| Burden Rate |
| Manufacturing Costs |
| General and Administrative (G&A) Costs |
| Making a Cost & Overhead Analyzer |
| Using a Cost & Overhead Spreadsheet to Improve Cash Flow |
| Cost of Goods Sold |
| Cost of Services Sold |
| Calculating Cost of Sales and Support |
| How Costs Vary During a Project |
| The High Cost of Meeting |
| The Cost of Unused Capacity |
| Cost-Based Pricing Process |
| 5 - Productivity | |
| Productivity Defined | |
| Factors That Affect Productivity |
| Calculating Productivity |
| Measuring Productivity by $/FTE |
| From 30% to 60% Productivity |
| Case Study: Productivity and Profit |
| 6 - Getting a Baseline Price | |
| Budgeting Costs to the Task Level |
| Sample Budgeted Hourly Cost |
| Putting It All Together |
| Effect of Outsourcing on Budgeted Hourly Cost |
| Applying Budgeted Hourly Cost to Manufacturing |
| 7 - Measuring Profit | |
| What Is Profit? |
| Generally Accepted Accounting Principles |
| How to Measure Profit |
| Profit Objectives |
| What's Markup Got to Do with It? |
| Gross Margin in Retail |
| Gross Margin in Service |
| Potential Error in Calculating Margin |
| Break-Even Analysis |
| Break-Even Using Sales Volume |
| Break-Even Using Sales Quantity |
| Margin Analysis |
| Finding Optimum Order Size Using Margin Analysis |
| Improving Profit with Margin Analysis |
| Return on Investment (ROI) |
| Return on Assets (ROA) |
| 8 - Pricing Strategies | |
| Developing a Strategy |
| Selecting Which Services to Offer |
| Defining Your Business Objective |
| Pricing Strategies to Consider |
| Cost-Oriented Pricing |
| Markup Pricing |
| Cost-Plus Pricing |
| Cost-Volume Pricing |
| Targeted Profit Pricing |
| Targeted Return-on-Sales Pricing |
| Targeted Return-on-Investment Pricing |
| Shop-Oriented Pricing |
| Floor Price Plus Some |
| Percent-Capacity-Plus-Margin |
| Net Revenue, Inventory Sell Off |
| Single Price, Any Customer |
| Desired Pay Plus |
| Only Pricing with Commas Accepted |
| Pricing by Expertise |
| Competitor-Oriented Pricing |
| Match-the-Competition |
| "One-Half" Pricing |
| "3x Better, 3x Below" |
| Straddle Pricing |
| Competing Head-On with Lowest Price |
| Market-Oriented Pricing |
| Price Skimming |
| Penetration Pricing |
| Leadership Pricing |
| Loss-Leader Pricing |
| Customer-Set Pricing |
| Accepted-as-Customary Pricing |
| Competitive Pricing |
| Subjective Pricing |
| Pricing "in the Zone" |
| Tiered Pricing |
| Penny Pricing: Adding Cents Makes Sense |
| Predatory Pricing |
| Dynamic Pricing |
| Performance-Based Pricing |
| Value Pricing |
| Composite Pricing |
| More Strategies to Consider |
| Donating Services |
| Don't Give Away the Store |
| Pricing Assumptions by Competitors |
| Countering Cutthroat Prices |
| The "10 Plus 10" Strategy |
| 9 - Pricing Tactics | |
| Tactical Pricing Actions |
| Overcoming Pricing Problems |
| Price it Right the First Time |
| Pricing Is a Policy |
| How to Charge Work |
| Incorporating "Other Charges" |
| Reducing Your Price |
| Coupons |
| Send Them a Check |
| Rebates |
| Discounts and Allowances |
| Volume Discounts |
| Discounting and the Law |
| Calculating Sales to Make a Price Cut Work |
| The Capacity Trap |
| When Price Cutting Works |
| How to Handle a Price Cut |
| When Buyers Ask for a Price Break |
| About Raising Your Prices |
| How to Know It's Time to Raise Prices |
| How to Handle Price Increases |
| The Transition from Free to Paid Service |
| How Much Can You Raise Your Price? |
| Subtle Ways to Raise Prices |
| How to Handle Objections to a Price Increase |
| Ways to Hide a Price Increase |
| When the Price Seems Too High |
| Overcoming Problems in Service |
| Bottom Feeders: Price Fishing in Action |
| When to Turn Down a Job |
| How to Handle Clients from Hell |
| Ways to Handle Dissatisfied Clients |
| Charging a Minimum Rate |
| Setup Fees |
| When to Charge for Rush Jobs |
| Charging Methods for Alterations and Corrections |
| Retainer Pricing |
| Termination: Cancellation Fees |
| How to Price the Same Job for a New Client |
| Choosing the Right Price |
| Some Pricing Tactics for Recessionary Times |
| How to Break Out Top Profits in a Recession |
| 10 - Estimating, Bidding, and Negotiating | |
| The Basis for Good Estimating |
| Applied Estimating |
| Specifying a Job |
| Creating an Estimating Form |
| Follow Up on Your Estimates |
| When Estimating Your Next Job |
| An Estimate Is Not a Bid |
| Getting Bid Opportunities |
| Responding to a Request for Bid |
| Symptoms of a Poor Bid Response |
| Bidding Against Alligators and Cutthroats |
| The Case for Market-Based Bidding |
| Submitting a Formal Quote |
| Beating the Competition |
| Negotiating Techniques |
| Put the Agreement in Writing |
| Omissions in "Standard" Contracts |
| Tracking Bids and Buyer Decisions |
| Analyzing Profit in Competitor Bids |
| How Long from Proposal to Contract |
| Bidding Tips |
| Quoting a Price Over the Phone |
| Handling Price Shoppers |
| Quoting a Completion Time |
| Handling Objections to the Quoted Price |
| Final Thoughts |
| Index | |
