Saad Shahzad

Saad Shahzad
Business Consulting Manager
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Recent Posts

Discounting is a Nasty Habit

Posted by Saad Shahzad on Sep 26, 2019 5:00:00 AM

Are you sick of hearing about the need to protect your premium high value offerings and stop discounting? Well, you may be sick of hearing it, but it's true.

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Topics: Negotiating with Backbone, value selling

Does your organization struggle with discounting?

Posted by Saad Shahzad on Aug 21, 2019 10:48:12 AM

Do you think your sales team effectively sells the value that you provide to your customers? And how would you measure that, anyway?

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Topics: Negotiating with Backbone, value selling

How to Drive Accountability in Leadership Teams

Posted by Saad Shahzad on Mar 19, 2019 11:39:37 AM

Leading an executive team can be challenging at times, especially during a time of underperformance. A recent client reminded us just how difficult and why.

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Topics: Driving Accountability, Silos

Fast Fixes: Three Things You Can Do to Acquire Profitable Customers

Posted by Saad Shahzad on Jun 26, 2018 10:15:44 AM

What is the foremost goal of a successful business? To make a profit. Now, this may seem obvious, but in working across industries, it seems to me that many businesses need a reminder. I see this time and time again, clients getting so mired in details and day-to-day fire drills they lose focus.  The ultimate objective: stop worrying about revenue and volume, and focus on profit.

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Topics: Newsletter

Field Report: Focus on Highest Paying Customers to Reduce Churn

Posted by Saad Shahzad on Apr 18, 2018 12:53:36 PM

Recently we performed a pricing outlier analysis for one of our clients.  Like any good pricing analyst would do, the team started with identifying customers receiving heavy discounts, or what we call “low hanging fruit."  We realized that after addressing the low-hanging fruit and creating visibility via a dashboard, we needed to turn the organization’s attention to the high-paying, loyal, Relationship-buying outliers also.  Why?  

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Topics: Pricing with Confidence

Do Price Discounts Solve Customer Service Issues? Not Really

Posted by Saad Shahzad on Nov 14, 2017 5:13:13 PM

All pricers think there can be improvements in getting the right price. Recently, I experienced a situation with the right pricing, product, and negotiating strategy. The story starts with my wireless provider. I had issues of dropped calls and, in frustration, I called their customer service. The agent told me that there was a scheduled maintenance going on at the cell tower which would make my experience better in the future. They apologized for the issue and told me that it would be fixed within 24 hours. Having done this a couple of times, I was trained to know that this could get me a price discount. So, I told the agent that I would be leaving their service. As soon as the agent heard that, he transferred my call to the Save Team. I knew I had them now. The Save Team would offer me great discounts not to discontinue the service.

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Topics: Newsletter

3 Keys to Overcome Fear and Realize Greater Pricing ROI

Posted by Saad Shahzad on Sep 27, 2017 11:49:44 PM

As a pricing professional, I always love to quote the study that a 1% improvement in price leads to 11% in operating profit, whereas a 1% increase in volume sold improves only by 3.3%[1]. If the business case for managing and improving price is so apparent, why don’t more companies do it?

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Topics: Pricing with Confidence, Selling with Confidence

Pricing's Non-Linear Effect on Your Bottom Line

Posted by Saad Shahzad on Jul 26, 2017 6:43:32 PM

 

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Topics: Newsletter, Pricing with Confidence

Situational Buyer Type: From Value Buyer to Poker Player

Posted by Saad Shahzad on Jun 7, 2017 5:55:58 PM

When we train people on Negotiating with Backbone, every now and then we get the question, “Can a buyer type change at different times?” The answer we give is, “Yes, it depends on the situation.” Today I want to share a situation I went through while getting an oil change for my car.

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Topics: Newsletter

Your Customers Want You to Grow with Them…Just Listen!

Posted by Saad Shahzad on Nov 11, 2016 7:00:26 AM

Every company that we have worked with wants to grow. They set growth targets and communicate it to their shareholders. Achieving these targets can mean make or break for the organization. At times, we see companies become overwhelmed with options in their pursuit of growth and while under immense pressure from shareholders, seem to be standing still versus moving forward. If you are in a company in a mature industry, chances are there aren’t many green fields left to grow. Faced with this situation, what can a company do? How can a company exceed market expectations and drive shareholder value?

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Topics: Uncovering your Value