Episode #0125 - Pricing Transformation Series Part 3: The Hidden Pricing Problem Inside Most B2B Businesses
Release Date: 05/11/2026
Episode #0125 - Pricing Transformation Series Part 3: The Hidden Pricing Problem Inside Most B2B Businesses
Pricing College Podcast
This episode of the Pricing Transformation series explores the "hidden" complexity that often undermines B2B pricing strategies. Using the recent increase in Australia Post fuel surcharges as a real-world anchor, Joanna Wells discusses how small, reactive commercial decisions—like freight recovery fees and tactical discounts—eventually create an unmanageable system. Key Takeaways The "Headline Rate" Illusion: Many B2B businesses believe they have fixed pricing, but "stable headline rates" often mask a chaotic reality of off-matrix deals and manual adjustments. Industrial Plumbing...
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Episode #0124 - Pricing Transformation Series Part 2: Sometimes It Is the Pricing Team, and No One Wants to Say It
Pricing College Podcast
TIME-STAMPED NOTES: [0:00] Intro: The Uncomfortable Truth [0:29] Increasing Pressure on Pricing Teams [1:50] The Accidental Evolution of Pricing [3:12] Analytical vs. Commercial Capability [4:19] Why Teams are Set Up to Fail [5:48] The Capability Gap [7:49] Managing Complexity vs. Structural Change [9:29] Limits of External Consultants [11:00] The AI "Silver Bullet" Delusion [12:12] Defining a Value Culture [14:23] Conclusion In this episode of the Pricing Transformation Series, Joanna Wells, founder and director of Taylor Wells Advisory, addresses the most...
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Episode #0123 - Pricing Transformation Series Part 2: Why Your Pricing Isn’t Working — And It’s Not Just Because of Your Sales or Pricing Teams
Pricing College Podcast
Times-stamp Notes: [00:00] Introduction to developing pricing strategies [00:32] Developing pricing strategies amid rising complexity and cost pressures [01:34] Challenges in developing pricing strategies within current systems [03:57] Structural issues in developing pricing strategies [05:48] Example of misalignment when developing pricing strategies [08:47] Improving and developing pricing strategies through better design [10:18] Conclusion: Key takeaways on developing pricing strategies 00:00 Been a big week in Australia and in the world. Pricing is back in the spotlight. And in the...
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Episode #0122 - Cost Pass Through in Volatile Markets: What CEOs Need to Do Now
Pricing College Podcast
TIME-STAMP NOTES: [00:00] Introduction: CEOs Under Cost Pass Through Pressure [01:44] Cost Pass Through in Highly Volatile Markets [04:04] Cost Pass Through Must Be Disciplined, Not Reactive [08:20] Cost Pass Through Without Losing Customers [10:48] Conclusion: Pricing Is a Team Effort [00:00] Across Australia this week, fuel prices have jumped up sharply again. In Sydney and Melbourne, for instance, we've seen increases of 30 to 50 cents per litre in just a few days. And outside the capitals, the gap is even wider. In regional areas, for instance, prices are like two to six cents...
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Episode #0121 - Margin Management: Why Revenue Growth Isn’t Enough
Pricing College Podcast
TIME-STAMPED NOTES: [00:00] Intro: Why Margin Management Is Harder Than Revenue Growth [02:22] Why Pricing Strategy Fails Without a Margin Management System [06:16] When Pricing Strategy Breaks Down: Rebates, Costs, and Margin Protection Risks [11:44] Margin Management in Action: Building a Strong Pricing and Margin System [14:39] Conclusion: Margin Protection Requires Discipline, Not Just Growth Running a business is not easy. Growing revenue, making money is really, really difficult. Winning new customers takes a lot of time, often lots of stakeholders involved. Sales cycles are...
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Episode #0120 - Why Price Rises Are Much Harder Than CEOs Expect
Pricing College Podcast
TIME-STAMPED NOTES: [00:00] Introduction [01:12] The Challenge of Rising Costs [02:39] The Problem of Ownership [03:53] Case Study: Finance and Product Portfolios [05:47] Case Study: Sales and Customer Relationships [09:03] Case Study: Pricing Teams and Internal Views of Value [11:59] Operational Systems and Data Challenges [14:05] Conclusion: Improving Pricing Capability Most executives I speak to think that taking a price rise should be fairly straightforward. Costs go up, prices go up, simple, right?. But inside most organisations, things don’t work as smoothly when it comes to...
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Episode #0119 - What is Value Culture?
Pricing College Podcast
Today's episode is a bit like Part B or a follow-up from our last episode a couple of weeks ago, where we introduced our new project, which we're calling Value Culture. TIME-STAMPED NOTES: [00:00] Introduction [03:05] Why do not all companies have specialised pricing experts or teams? [4:35] What can Value Culture do? [10:19] What can clients benefit from Value Culture? [11:17] The Ultimate Objective And The Essence Of Value Culture What is Value Culture? Aidan: Hello, and welcome to another edition of Pricing College with your hosts, Aidan Campbell. And ...
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Episode #0118 - Why Pricing Requires CEO And CSuite Backing
Pricing College Podcast
Why Pricing Requires CEO and Csuite Backing Aidan: In today’s episode, we want to dig a bit deeper into a topic we’ve covered a couple of times in previous episodes. And that it’s vital, it’s so important that a pricing transformation or a major pricing project has CEO, C-suite backing. And I suppose today we’re going to dig into that. We’re gonna do a bit of a question-and-answer format. Cause it works quite well. So we’ll be asking our resident pricing expert, Joanna, these questions. I suppose then she’s smiling at that suggestion. So the first one is, I...
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Episode #0117 - What is different in B2B pricing?
Pricing College Podcast
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Episode #0116 - Q&A On What Optimising The Tail Means
Pricing College Podcast
info_outlineThis episode of the Pricing Transformation series explores the "hidden" complexity that often undermines B2B pricing strategies. Using the recent increase in Australia Post fuel surcharges as a real-world anchor, Joanna Wells discusses how small, reactive commercial decisions—like freight recovery fees and tactical discounts—eventually create an unmanageable system.
Key Takeaways
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The "Headline Rate" Illusion: Many B2B businesses believe they have fixed pricing, but "stable headline rates" often mask a chaotic reality of off-matrix deals and manual adjustments.
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Industrial Plumbing Metaphor: Pricing systems are compared to old plumbing, where layers of temporary fixes and "patched-in" rules eventually make it impossible to understand the actual price flow.
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The Trust Deficit: Complexity doesn't just hurt margins; it erodes trust. When customers (and employees) can no longer understand the logic behind a price, they perceive it as unfair or opportunistic.
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Control vs. Structure: The real challenge for B2B leaders isn't choosing between "fixed" or "dynamic" pricing, but rather regaining control over a system that has become "unofficially" dynamic and operationally buried.
Episode Chapters
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[01:03] The Illusion of Price Stability: Why modern B2B pricing is often much more complex than the contract suggests.
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[01:29] The Complexity Beneath the Surface: A look at the "moving parts" like rebates and freight adjustments that distort margins.
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[03:17] The "Industrial Plumbing" of Pricing: How pricing structures become cluttered and inefficient over time.
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[04:52] Operational Reality vs. The Pricing Model: The gap between the intended pricing strategy and actual team behavior.
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[06:14] The Human Side: Trust and Fairness: Why perceived fairness is a critical component of a successful pricing strategy.
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[07:22] The Real Debate: Control and Visibility: Shifting the focus from pricing models to operational transparency.
Does the idea that your business might be running an "unofficial" dynamic pricing system resonate with what you're seeing in your daily operations?