In this insightful episode of The Soul of Enterprise, Ed and Ron are joined by Ethan M. Williams, the founder of Fractional Pricing Advisors and a recognized expert in value-based pricing strategies. With over two decades of experience in corporate strategy and a Certified Pricing Professional designation, Ethan shares his journey through roles at PwC, GE Digital, and beyond. Together, they delve into how businesses can unlock profitability by moving away from cost-plus models and embracing customer-centric pricing. Tune in to explore actionable strategies for transforming your pricing approach and driving value in today’s competitive market.

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SHOW NOTES

Segment one

“You'll figure it out” are the simple words that started Ethan down the path of pricing. He now runs Fractional Pricing Advisors. More at this link: https://www.fractionalpricingadvisors.com/
GE, PwC, McKinsey, and KKR help to round out Ethan’s qualifications as a pricing advisor. Based on the conversation today…..yes, he is qualified.
PR pros are timid on pricing. Accountants and consultants cling to cost-plus models. The common thread? The C-suite needs to understand the ROI / NPV.
What industries are best suited for Ethan’s fractional pricing offering? Software companies and professional services companies between $50-150M in revenue have not had access to this type of expertise before.

Segment two

Ethan’s reaction to the quote, “Pricing is part voodoo and part bingo.” ….from Ethan: “I’ve always said that it's like part investment bank and part David Blaine.”
Truth talk: Professionals have been so jaded and the billable hour is endemic to them. They just can't break that cycle.
In his time at auditing at PwC, Ethan noticed most Chief Accountants are from the big four. And the billable hour is what they know. That's what they want so it is a bit of a headwind when it comes to any meaningful change.
“The majority of pricing mistakes are underpricing rather than overpricing.” —Ed Kless
“Is pricing an art or a science?” This is sort of Ethan meant when he was saying, it's a little bit David Blaine and a little bit investment banker.

Segment three

“Value-based pricing isn't about arguing for a bigger cut of a static pie. It's about pricing your service as the best NPV alternative & then working in partnership with your clients.” —Ethan Williams of Fractional Pricing Advisors
Ron referenced this in segment three of the show today: The pricer at Philips Medical breaks it into economic value, operational value, clinical value, emotional value, and then societal value
From Ethan Williams of Fractional Pricing Advisors: Check out this article called “The B2B Elements of Value” from Bain & Company https://www.bain.com/insights/the-b2b-elements-of-value-hbr
Ethan had a GREAT take on the most important B2B metrics that help you understand if you are winning: “Winning in business comes down to 4 key KPIs: Average deal size, cycle time, win rate, and margin.”
Where should the pricing authority lie in an organization? “There is no perfect answer but you need C-Suite support without a doubt.” —Ethan Williams of Fractional Pricing Advisors

Segment four

“The best way to not hear no is to not pose a yes/no question.” —Ethan Williams of Fractional Pricing Advisors
This is GREAT. Ethan Williams — our guest today — wrote a custom GPT called Value Based Pricing Advisor. Here is the link https://chatgpt.com/g/g-MNWgcA4wX-value-based-pricing-advisor
A big THANK YOU to Ethan Williams for joining us today. He is absolutely a pricing EXPERT and you can find more about him at this link https://www.fractionalpricingadvisors.com/

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