Advocates Recommend Process Improvements, Diligence and Communications as Core Success Measures
HOUSTON, March 15, 2011 – PROS Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PRO), the world leader in business-to-business pricing and revenue optimization software, hosted its third annual Executive Pricing Summit at the renowned New York Stock Exchange. The event drew representatives and pricing executives from a broad range of organizations – from international manufacturing and distribution giants, global partners and consulting firms, as well as technology leaders – who heard firsthand from industry experts and peers about their own experiences on how to increase revenue and profitability, defend and grow market share, and improve business agility.
The Summit – themed “Get in the Game” – illuminated the perspectives of Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, who recently noted “the single most important decision in evaluating a business is pricing power.”
“Companies around the world face extraordinary challenges in today’s international economy as they compete for business from virtually every corner of the globe,” said PROS Chief Marketing Officer Tim Girgenti. “Executives are evaluating the best strategies for increasing profitability beyond the cost-cutting measures they’ve faced in the last two years. Summit presenters underscored the criticality of pricing initiatives as a lever for protecting value, with myriad examples of why taking action now to defend their businesses is the right decision and only path to follow.”
Companies heard from PROS Senior Vice President for Pricing Excellence Craig Zawada, co-author of “The Price Advantage,” which is regarded as the industry’s most authoritative guide to pricing. Zawada, a former McKinsey partner and co-leader of the firm’s pricing practice, recently joined the PROS management team as senior vice president, pricing excellence.
“Now more than ever, pricing excellence is a competitive differentiator that’s required in today’s global business environment,” noted Zawada. “Pricing complexities and the speed with which organizations operate means they can no longer rely on spreadsheets to make decisions. Companies can use technology to actually create pricing power to achieve extraordinary business advantages.”
Featured speakers – each of whom leads pricing practices in their respective companies – came from a broad array of organizations and delivered remarks on industry trends:
- A global paper manufacturer with $4 billion in annual revenue discussed “Pricing More Profitably by Capturing More Margins.”
- An international industrial supply distributor with annual revenues of $2 billion presented “Managing Pricing Complexity within Distribution to Maximize Profits.”
- “How Others Are Maximizing the Value from Pricing,” was presented by a Deloitte Consulting partner.
- “Building a Winning Change Management Strategy” was the topic for a pricing executive from a Fortune 200 electronics distributor.
- An international medical devices manufacturer presented “Getting Off the Bench and Into the Game,” covering his company’s pricing initiatives in this highly competitive industry.
Also delivering remarks were Gartner Research Vice President Michael Dunne and Kevin Mitchell, president of the Professional Pricing Society. Dunne discussed “Price Optimization on the Brink of Mainstream,” while Mitchell covered “Trends and Observations within the Pricing Community.”
Plans are currently underway for the PROS European Executive Summit, scheduled for April 7, 2011, in Amsterdam. To learn more, visit the website at http://www.prospricing.com/Pricing-Events.aspx