Our Perspective
What this means for leaders navigating growth, change or transformation in their organisation.
The Real Battleground
Margins aren’t lost at the negotiating table; they’re set much earlier, when buyers internalise what you’re worth and why. If your organisation doesn’t teach that value before selection, somebody else will—often a competitor or an internal stakeholder with a narrower lens. That is the commercial shift in brand today: it’s not a logo or a line; it’s how you frame the rules of choice.
Forbes, drawing on Marketing Accountability Standards Board analysis, reports that brands with stronger preference often secure around a 26% price premium, with buyers less inclined to push purely on price. That premium isn’t luck; it’s sequence and meaning working in your favour.
Sequence Drives Price
Price resilience comes from controlling when and how value lands. If the first serious conversation about your impact happens at the procurement stage, you’ve already conceded the framing. The work is upstream: define the problem in economic terms, show outcome pathways, and anchor comparisons to the cost of inaction—not just to the nearest competitor. Tie the narrative to reduced risk, time saved and a stronger return on investment (ROI).
In our experience with leadership teams at inflection points, the organisations that hold price do three things before procurement shows up: shape choice criteria, stage proof methodically, and link the story tightly to business outcomes.
Make Value Land Earlier
Teach value before the shortlist, while buyers are still setting evaluation rules. Two practical moves:
- Define the buyer’s economics: quantify risk removed, time returned and growth enabled; make the status quo your primary comparison.
- Build proof ahead of selection: decision calculators, referenceable case outcomes and role‑specific content that shows operational impact, not just features.
- Equip the frontline: give deal narratives and pricing logic so teams guide criteria, not just respond to questions.
Protect Pricing Power
Once the journey is in motion, hold the frame with simple governance that buyers can feel and teams can use:
- Set give‑get rules: any concession trades for scope, term or commitment; never reduce price without reshaping value.
- Guard decision rights: pricing authority sits with evidence of expected outcomes; escalate only when outcome anchors are at risk.
- Monitor early indicators: how often target price holds, why deals slip, and when procurement enters the conversation.
The Payoff
When brand defines the economic context early, negotiations shift from line‑by‑line bargaining to a rational exchange about outcomes. You protect margins without theatrics, shorten decisions by removing doubt and build a reputation for value integrity rather than ever‑cheaper offers. The longer‑term effect is cumulative: each deal reinforces the story the market tells itself about you, and over time, that story determines how much room you have to manoeuvre when pressure rises.
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