Strategy Sucks: Why Successful Pricing Change Starts Small

When it comes to pricing, ask yourself: Are you Wile E. Coyote, about to be crushed by your own elaborate transformation boulder, or are you the Road Runner - nimble, practical, and achieving results while others are still planning?

"We need a comprehensive pricing strategy before we do anything else."

Jerry Sharma, Managing Partner at a mid-sized consulting firm, made this declaration during the project kickoff. Six months and three steering committee meetings later, they had produced a 47-page pricing strategy document that included plans for a pricing software implementation – and zero dollars in actual profit improvement. The initiative was being crushed beneath the weight of its own self-deluded diligence.

Jerry isn't a real person, but if you've worked in professional services, you've met him. He represents countless leaders I've encountered who approach pricing change like every other "transformation" – with steering committees, enterprise-wide plans, and inevitable disappointment.

I get a knot in my stomach when I hear talk about comprehensive strategies or building new infrastructure to force compliance. Not because these elements lack importance in the long run – they certainly do matter. But beginning with such heavyweight approaches often smothers what makes pricing initiatives uniquely powerful: their ability to deliver immediate financial benefits that become the blueprint for wider adoption. The hidden gem of pricing work is that it creates both undeniable proof and the funding needed to expand across the organization. This compelling combination gets buried when we lead with grand strategies instead of quick, targeted wins that generate real value and enthusiastic champions.

The Strategy Trap

Professional services firms typically approach pricing improvement like they would an ERP implementation. "This is a transformation, like all the others," they declare – but it's not. They form planning teams and steering committees, seeking to canvas every aspect of the business, shifting focus to comprehensive strategies and enterprise-wide communication campaigns.

And here's the kicker: Getting everyone involved is actually the greatest mistake. This is not like implementing an ERP system where you're mapping established data and tasks into an automated container. This is PRICING, where most users are insecure about how it's currently done let alone visionary about requirements for fee arrangements they only heard rumors about. They don't know what "good" looks like, and inviting them to apply that unknown standard to a future state they aren't convinced will occur? Frustrations grow fast, and progress grinds to halt.

Over the past 20 years, "transformation" has also taken on a somewhat sour flavor when internally applied to professional services firms. It invokes visions of long-suffering with project delays and capabilities that fall well below expectations. There's little to no excitement. For innovators and growth-minded professionals, the very word triggers involuntary eye rolls and groans. Meanwhile, the immediate profit improvements that could be captured through price action – often millions of dollars within 90 days – remain untouched, waiting for strategies that may never materialize.

A Note on Terminology

I've wrestled with my own language throughout this series. By referring to pricing work as a "transformation," I may have inadvertently reinforced the very approach I'm arguing against. The results of effective pricing work are indeed transformational – they can fundamentally change a firm's economics and competitive position. But the process itself shouldn't resemble traditional transformation programs, with their heavy governance and enterprise-wide rollouts.

What we're really talking about is providing practical pricing clarity and guardrails – not unlike putting up bumpers in a bowling alley so every roll will hit the pins. It's about creating conditions where it's easier to succeed than fail, where professionals can use straightforward methods to capture value that's already there, waiting to be realized. We need concrete language that escapes the baggage of "transformation" while acknowledging the genuine impact this work creates. For now, I'll simply note the distinction: PRICING transformational results are achieved through practical tools and clear boundaries rather than sweeping enterprise-wide initiatives.

Liberating Your Hidden Champions

The most successful pricing initiatives I've witnessed are rarely labeled as "transformations." Instead, they're seen as the "new thing" that everyone wants to be next in line to receive.

Here's the reality many firms miss: The destination, to a certain extent, is already known. New fee arrangements have already been dabbled with -- some successfully -- by a scattered few enthusiasts. For whatever reason, they may feel unsupported or even discouraged from going any further.

What matters isn't a perfect strategy – it's creating the conditions for these enthusiasts to emerge from the shadows and prove the value of what they already know. The greatest obstacle isn't a lack of vision or planning, but rather creating safe space for those who already see the opportunity, liberating them from organizational constraints, and celebrating their victories to inspire others.

Simon Sinek, renowned leadership expert and author of "Start With Why," shares a powerful story that illustrates this approach. In one organization, he invited employees to opt-in to a special cultural change program, requiring that anyone who wanted to participate attend a weekend meeting. The program demanded extra effort without promising additional pay or promotions. By creating an opportunity that would naturally attract those inclined toward innovation, he drew exactly the right people – those motivated by the challenge itself. These self-selected early adopters drove momentum that eventually spread throughout the organization.

This approach aligns with the proven "Law of Diffusion of Innovation" - a critical reason why pricing change should be approached differently than enterprise transformation. The law shows that new ideas need to reach only about 15-18% adoption (the innovators and early adopters) to hit a tipping point that enables broader acceptance.

This is precisely why enterprise-wide pricing rollouts so often fail. They try to convert everyone simultaneously rather than focusing first on natural champions of the seemingly “new ideas”. The remaining 80%+ - what I call "the reluctantly compliant" - won't be convinced by theories or mandates. They need concrete proof and significant support before they'll change their behavior. They require training and systems that would be impossible to fund without the initial financial returns from your early adopters.

Where pricing differs from typical initiatives: When done right, it spreads like wildfire, without overbearing communications competing with every other leadership message. You start to hear excited declarations across the firm: "There's a new way to make an offer, the clients love it and it makes more money!" While leadership might worry small victories won't accomplish enough fast enough, this approach often accelerates beyond what traditional programs could achieve precisely because it has a life of its own once it reaches that critical threshold. More importantly, these victories generate real financial returns almost immediately – creating a virtuous cycle where early wins fund further expansion.

The Smallest Whispers

Real price transformation begins with the smallest whisper, not the loudest proclamation. The firms that master pricing don't start with grandiose plans. They start with what I call "the essential whispers" – elements that make real change possible:

• Executive Air Cover: Whites of the eyes commitment among senior leaders to protect the initiative from detractors and remove organizational obstacles

• Gathering the Tribe: Bringing together scattered enthusiasts who have been dabbling in isolation to create a community of practice

• Safe Spaces for Experimentation: Environments where traditional metrics don't apply and teams are free to learn through trial and error

With these elements in place, transformation follows a proven pattern – what I call the One-Three-Many approach. It begins with a single practice area showing achievement of new methods, then expands to three practices based on their interest in initial success, and only then scaling across the organization under its own momentum.

Let me show you how this played out in real life. In one firm, we began with all three essential whispers:

• An executive leader privately committed to her peers to protect the initiative regardless of initial resistance

• We brought together enthusiasts from different practices who had been quietly experimenting with new pricing models

• We created a safe space where traditional metrics were suspended for participating teams (we actually resulted in new metrics for success)

The results? $3.2 million in measurable value within 90 days – without new systems, without mindset campaigns, just practical tools and focused support. This wasn't theoretical value – it was actual profit hitting the bottom line immediately.

The power of this approach was in what happened next. The expansion wasn't driven by a steering committee but by practice leaders who witnessed the results firsthand. They didn't need convincing – they came asking to be next. The initial $3.2 million became seed funding for broader efforts, creating a self-sustaining cycle that eventually delivered over $30 million annually.

Most importantly, it created the irrefutable proof needed to bring along the "reluctantly compliant." These skeptics wouldn't have been convinced by theories or mandates, but they couldn't argue with concrete results and peer enthusiasm. And while finishing this change effort required periodic care and feeding of the masses, it was small in comparison to the ultimate benefit.

Building on Success

This approach fundamentally changes where strategy develops. Rather than starting with comprehensive plans, you begin with proof that creates the foundation for strategy. You don't need perfect plans when you have perfect results.

The hidden gem is the self-funding nature of these initiatives. Early wins generate immediate financial benefits that eliminate the need to compete for investment dollars against other priorities. These returns not only fund expansion but provide the evidence needed to convince skeptics across the organization.

Remember the fictional character, Jerry Sharma?  Many “Jerrys” throughout the years have told me a similar story: "We spent six months creating a strategy, when what we should have done was spend six weeks demonstrating measurable value.  Now I’m stuck delivering a 3-year program that may not deliver the planned benefit nor the desired behaviors.”

Though an amalgam of many, Jerry's reflection captures the hard-won wisdom that countless pricing leaders have expressed after following the same path.

That insight captures the essence of successful pricing improvement: Strategy doesn't create results. Results create strategy.

When it comes to pricing, ask yourself: Are you Wile E. Coyote, about to be crushed by your own elaborate transformation boulder, or are you the Road Runner - nimble, practical, and achieving results while others are still planning?

Strategy doesn't suck. But starting with strategy does.  Beep-Beep!

Disclaimer: The stories and insights shared in this blog are based on my personal experiences and conversations throughout my career. While some content reflects recent events, they are drawn from a broad range of interactions with professionals across professional services, including friends and colleagues from various organizations, and do not specifically refer to or represent any single employer, past or present. Identities have been anonymized, and quotes may be paraphrased or combined for clarity and storytelling purposes. This post is a personal endeavor and does not reflect the views or proprietary information of any employer.