155: Diversity, Digital Transformation & Pricing While Black with Alicia Butler Pierre

Hi, I’m Alicia and for many years, pricing was admittedly my Achilles heel in my business. With so many pricing models and strategies to choose from, I always found it easier to price products than services. Eventually, I began to seek counsel from pricing experts as well as a variety of renowned books backed by research.

As I consumed this information and put it into practice, I noticed it did not yield the same favorable results as some of my colleagues. Not one to give up easily, I’d experiment with another model and strategy combination, but often to no avail. It wasn’t until I started sharing my frustrations with others, that I began to accept an ugly, harsh reality. A reality missing from the experts and books in their discourse about the psychology of pricing services – racial and gender bias and discrimination.

In this Season 12 finale, I share a personal experience of being forced into low-balling, underbidding, and undervaluing my services just to “keep the lights on.” It’s difficult to scale operations when you’ve been told you’re excellent at what you do and the services you provide, yet cannot charge prices that reflect that value.

I talk about the domino effect of consistently not being able to implement value-based pricing has on a company’s inability to attract capital and invest in people and the latest technologies. I also share four recommendations that could lead to solutions. Thank you for listening!