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Putting dynamic pricing in place at chemical manufacturer

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tom lee
Putting dynamic pricing in place at chemical manufacturer

Dynamic pricing for chemical manufacturer

The adoption of dynamic pricing requires the transformation of the whole business organization of chemical manufacturers in three parts. The first is the change of pricing tools and systems, the second is the change of pricing organization and process. Third, it requires the change of thinking mode, behavior and ability from top management to front-line sales staff.

Tools and systems

In order to ensure the successful implementation and sustainability of dynamic pricing impact, enterprises must have appropriate it, analytical infrastructure and performance management capabilities. The first step is to make a comprehensive inventory of all the company's customer account data and price data, which can be processed by analysis tools. Which analysis method to choose depends on the specific situation of the chemical manufacturer.

Chemical companies differentiate products, which can use a mapping based pricing method, customer purchase factors, such as the product creates value for customers, customer value how much trust supplier's supply security critical chemical process, on the contrary, customer's preparation to change suppliers. These factors are quantified, and then the algorithm can group customers whose purchases can be priced in a similar way. For chemical companies, it has been a long-standing practice to adopt the "second best choice" (NBA) 2 pricing method, because their biggest customers buy differentiated products with unique attributes. Advanced analysis enables the NBA's approach to extend to hundreds of customers, including small customers, and use it to inform pricing and gain more profits.

As a part of the implementation of dynamic pricing, chemical manufacturer can also bring stronger market intelligence and greater predictability of downstream market demand and upstream supply to improve their pricing strategies. In view of the sensitivity of the chemical industry to oil and gas price fluctuations and supply chain disruption, this is particularly important in the chemical industry.

A large amount of information can be collected and analyzed, from "big picture" elements, such as crude oil market, to detailed market information. The latter includes news about trade flows, competitor disruptions or capacity increases, as well as developments in customer industries, such as regional construction trends and consumer preferences for different types of vehicles. You can also learn more about the producer cost curve for a specific product: if a competitor's factory is shut down, you can assess its impact on the overall supply and demand situation, and carefully assess the potential for price adjustment.

Advanced analytical methods work with all of these strategic and data inputs, which form the price management engine.

Change organization and process

Among chemical manufacturers, the digital and advanced analytical skills required to develop and maintain dynamic pricing methods require the establishment of a dedicated pricing unit - whether regional or global, depending on their business profile. This new dedicated unit or office will be the home of the company's pricing experts, who can guide the overall pricing strategy and specific pricing measures, and advise the sales organization on the use of new tools. Pricing experts will include new roles such as experienced salespeople and data scientists within the company.

Pricing units need to establish clear pricing procedures, starting from market intelligence and market price forecast, and ending with detailed dynamic pricing suggestions, actions and implementation monitoring. Pricing experts also need to integrate the structure of pricing performance management, and track the basic indicators of price target, profit and growth.

In terms of dynamic pricing, the most successful chemical manufacturers maintain a healthy balance between the expertise of the analysis and sales teams, with each team learning from each other to enhance the overall understanding of the market and customers for the best results. "I didn't know this factor was so relevant to these customers," is a new insight we often hear from the sales team when we see the data. Conversely, if the analysis results are out of sync with the actual situation of the market, the sales team can quickly point out this. All of these show that digital analysis cannot and will not replace sales representatives, but will be able to support faster, more fact based decisions by front-line sales staff.

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