Should innovators learn about pricing? and should pricers learn about innovation? You bet they do. If your company manages customer value with intention, these two groups of professionals should collaborate, integrate their activities, and learn about each other processes. In fact the Pricing Council should include members of the Innovation Council and vice versa. There, I said it. Managing value in the innovation process requires integration of innovation and pricing activities in both the front-end and back-end of the innovation process. Pricing components and deliverables should be included in the NPD and Stage-Gate® processes. Concepts of segmentation, willingness-to-pay, customer value modeling, value-based pricing strategies, and cost-to-serve analysis should be widely discussed in the Innovation Council. The innovation pipeline, pricing strategies for innovations, and value activities for innovation should be discussed in the Pricing Council.

To get there, innovators should start learning about the science and art of value-based pricing. This is why I have partnered with Stage-Gate® International to launch the very first value-based pricing workshop for innovation professionals. This workshop will be held in Philadelphia in June of this year and will cover most of what innovators should know to pay close attention to pricing and value management in the innovation process. Participants will earn the Customer Value Modeler™ certification. Spread the word. Let us get excited about integrating pricing and innovation. That is a revolution.