Many organizations assume growth comes from bidding more often. More opportunities. More proposals. More shots on goal. In reality, disciplined growth comes from competing where value is clear, measurable, and economically meaningful. A maintenance services provider offers a useful example. The company sold preventive and corrective maintenance contracts across multiple industries. Its capabilities were strong: predictive diagnostics, certified technicians, rapid response, an

Inflation puts operators in a difficult position. Input costs are rising. Suppliers are pushing through increases. Labor markets are tight. Freight and energy remain volatile. At the same time, customer relationships matter. Competitive dynamics are real. No one wants to trigger unnecessary churn. The result is often hesitation. Price increases are delayed, softened, or selectively applied. The risk is not just short-term margin compression. The larger risk is allowing econom

In subscription-heavy, asset-based businesses, discounting is not a marketing afterthought. It is a structural economic decision. Car washes, fitness clubs, oil change chains, and similar models operate with: High fixed costs Low marginal cost per incremental visit Membership revenue as the stabilizing force Discounting can increase utilization and accelerate growth. It can also compress lifetime value and weaken pricing architecture. The difference is not intuition, but disc

Most service businesses that introduce subscriptions believe they’re upgrading their model. Suddenly they offer: One-time purchases (pay-per-use) Unlimited monthly memberships (recurring) A Good / Better / Best ladder (segmented value) Regular promotions (discounts, “first month free,” bundles, etc.) It feels modern. It looks scalable. It sounds like revenue optimization. In reality, this combination often produces margin chaos – not because any one lever is wrong, but b

Many manufacturers and B2B suppliers reach for the same lever when they want more from a channel: “let’s give them a bigger discount.” It’s simple, familiar, and easy to approve. It’s also one of the fastest ways to burn money without changing behavior, damaging price integrity and training partners to ask for ever more. Well-designed partner rewards and incentive programs do something very different: they align economics and experiences so both you and your partners win over

Manufacturers increasingly live or die by what happens in someone else’s price file. You can set list prices and programs, but in most channels you don’t control the final price the customer sees. That creates real risk: overly aggressive discounting erodes your brand and margins, while undisciplined underpricing by some partners can poison the well for everyone. The good news is that manufacturers have more levers than they often realize to influence reseller prices—if they

Many companies think they have a pricing problem when they really have a value proposition problem. What shows up as “we’re too expensive” or “we’re underpriced” is often a sign customers don’t clearly see, believe, or experience the value behind the price. This article explores how value and price interact, where value propositions break down, and how to diagnose and fix the real issue before rewriting your price list. Price complaints usually signal a value problem When lea

Revenue Growth Management (RGM) is a critical lever CPG leaders can pull to protect margins and fuel growth in an environment of inflation, retailer consolidation, and rapidly shifting consumer behavior. Yet many RGM teams are stuck in "analysis and decks," struggling to convert insights into consistent, in-market impact. This article outlines what RGM is, the core capabilities world-class CPG RGM teams build, and the people, tool, and process gaps that most often hold them b