Pricing feels like a constant tug of war for many B2B companies. Should you raise prices to protect your margins, or offer discounts to retain customers? Both paths seem logical, yet both carry hidden risks. Too often, organisations choose reactively, without a clear price and revenue management approach or an understanding of what their clients truly value. And when that happens, profits, credibility, and customer relationships all suffer.
You might recognise this pattern. Many companies still rely on cost-plus pricing. It feels safe. You calculate your costs, add a margin, and call it a day. But it ignores the bigger question: what is your customer willing to pay for the value you deliver? When you don’t answer that, you overcharge some clients and undercharge others. Trust erodes, and margin opportunities slip away — especially when price and revenue management is not part of your B2B customer strategy.
Discounting often becomes the safety net. “Promotions” or special offers temporarily keep clients happy. But over time, customers start expecting them. Your full prices lose meaning. Your pricing power diminishes, creating even more B2B challenges.
The real issue isn’t inflation or competition. It’s a lack of pricing discipline. Without a strategic approach, price increases are sweeping and promotions are reactive. That’s a recipe for margin leakage and weakened client relationships, making price management in B2B even harder.
The B2B Price and Revenue Management Dilemma
Many B2B companies still use cost-plus logic, often with incomplete or inaccurate cost data. Approvals are rushed, spreadsheets are error-prone, and assumptions go unchallenged. The result? Overcharging some clients, undercharging others, and damaging trust. Pricing decisions based solely on costs are blind to customer value and lack a price and revenue management lens, turning every price review into a margin gamble.
Meanwhile, some sales teams routinely offer discounts to secure deals. While this seems like a quick fix, it trains clients to wait for a lower price. Promotions become expected rather than exceptional. Worse, discounts are rarely tied to measurable business outcomes, reducing perceived value and weakening the organisation’s overall pricing stance, creating additional B2B challenges.
In short, relying on either price rises or discounts without a clear understanding of client value erodes your competitive position and undermines effective price management in B2B.
Capability Building Programmes For Pricing & Sales Teams!
Lack of Discipline Weakens Price and Revenue Management
B2B organisations often treat pricing as an operational task rather than a strategic capability. Price adjustments are made in bulk, and discounts are applied reactively. Decisions are inconsistent, and data confidence is low. Without discipline or a clear price and revenue management approach:
- Price increases are sweeping, not targeted.
- Discounts are reactive, not strategic.
- Internal alignment is poor, and outcomes are unpredictable.
To succeed, companies need surgical price adjustments, strategic discounting, and confidence in both cost data and value perception — all core elements of effective price management in B2B and stronger B2B retention strategies.
How Many Pricing Analysts Do you Really Need? 👩💼 Podcast Ep. 40!
Shifting Focus: From Cost Accuracy to Value Accuracy
Pricing teams, stop obsessing over perfect cost data. Your role is to understand what clients truly value. Segment customers by value drivers — revenue impact, risk reduction, efficiency gains. Build pricing models that reflect these insights, not just internal costs. Tools like customer value models (CVMs) help quantify and justify prices based on tangible outcomes and support stronger price and revenue management.
Executives, stop shielding legacy cost-based structures because they feel safe. Sponsor a value-based capability that aligns with customer outcomes. Invest in people, processes, and systems that strengthen your B2B customer strategy. Encourage teams to prioritise client value over internal comfort. Only then can price rises and discounts be purposeful, not guesswork.
Key Challenges in B2B Pricing
Implementing value-based pricing is not without challenges:
- Complex product/service bundles: Multi-component offerings make it hard to assign value consistently.
- Negotiation dynamics: Multiple stakeholders in buying organisations can dilute the value argument.
- Internal misalignment: Sales, finance, and operations often disagree on pricing priorities, creating familiar B2B challenges.
- Discount leakage: Without governance, sales teams override prices to close deals, eroding margins and weakening price and revenue management.
Addressing these challenges requires more than process fixes — it requires a cultural shift toward disciplined, value-focused pricing and a stronger B2B customer strategy.
Improving B2B Price and Revenue Management and Retention Strategies
1. Build a Value-Based Pricing Framework. Identify the outcomes your clients value most. Map the financial or operational benefits your solution provides. Use this insight to set prices that reflect perceived value, not just internal costs, and strengthen your overall price and revenue management approach.
2. Reframe Discounting. Offer discounts only when they align with strategic objectives, such as volume thresholds, long-term contracts, or client loyalty incentives. Every discount should reinforce value, not undermine it, which also supports stronger price management in B2B environments.
3. Implement Pricing Governance. Define clear approval processes, track deviations from list prices, and measure the impact of adjustments. This ensures consistency, transparency, and accountability across your B2B customer strategy.
4. Train and Empower Teams. Sales and pricing teams need tools and skills to articulate value confidently. Provide case studies, playbooks, and training on negotiating from a value perspective rather than relying on cost-plus or habitual discounts.
5. Invest in the Right Systems. Leverage analytics tools to support segmentation, pricing simulations, and ongoing monitoring. Modern pricing software helps turn value-based principles into everyday practice and reduces common B2B challenges.
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Rethink Your Pricing Approach to Strengthen B2B Customer Strategy
Cost-plus markups and routine discounts may feel safe, but they erode margins and client trust. By focusing on value accuracy, embedding governance, and building pricing capability, companies take control. Every price rise becomes deliberate, every discount purposeful, and price and revenue management becomes far more effective.
B2B organisations that embrace disciplined, value-led pricing don’t just survive—they thrive. We understand the challenge of balancing margins, client expectations, and value delivery while navigating ongoing B2B challenges. That’s where we can help. Work with us to build disciplined, value-based pricing strategies, strengthen your organisational capability, and enhance your B2B customer strategy. Reach out today to refine pricing decisions, support your team, and unlock the full potential of your pricing power.
For a comprehensive view of maximising growth in your company, download a complimentary whitepaper on How To Drive B2B Pricing Strategy To Capture An Additional 2 to 10 per cent Margin Within 3 to 6 Months.
Are you a business in need of help aligning your pricing strategy, people, and operations to deliver an immediate impact on profit?
If so, please call (+61) 2 9000 1115.
You can also email us at team@taylorwells.com.au if you have any further questions.
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