Mid Market Blog – The rise of the Mid-Market Customer

Posted by: Vernon E Lennon III

Once again PPS Las Vegas was fantastic and the expenditure an investment in the future. While I found the content interesting and the community invigorating, I still felt something missing from the conference. Glancing around I noticed many presenters from large firms including; software, consulting, and operating companies. Analyzing the cross section of attendees I found the characteristics to be very much the same. While larger companies have traditionally dominated these conferences in the past for good reasons, were was the Mid-Market audience?

Now, I understand the ‘larger’ customer to be the “bread & butter” not only for PPS, but also for larger consulting firms and software providers. Have we over looked our mid-market cousins, and as such squandered some incredible opportunities? Arguably mid-market customers have a greater need for learning, consulting and potentially software services given the fact their people often “wear multiple hats”, and the majority of mid-companies lack dedicated pricing departments.

Don’t get me wrong, there was some “content” addressing mid-market customers presented at the conference in Las Vegas. In fact my presentation on “Virtual Markets” was focused on mid-market players predominantly, and I also saw some software providers showcasing “SAAS Solutions” (software as a service) that are more than appropriate for their needs.

The mid-market customer tends:

1. …to have grown out of a “need” or innovation cycle that has led to their current size.
   
2. …to focus more on operating issues than enhanced efficiencies / proficiencies and as a result likely has no budget for pricing.
   
3. …to have more strained internal resources to manage price, hence has a greater “need” for pricing education, services, solutions and software.
   
4. …to take more time to decide on how to manage the price lever, in order to mitigate the risk of a poor investment.
   
5. …to benefit more from internalizing pricing competency through what PPS has to offer.

In short, PPS is fantastic at championing the need for pricing within companies, and I am blessed to have been a part of it for many years. I would love to see it grow to be representative of a truly domestic business mix. A few companies have started to recognize the potential here, but while these providers have great solutions it remains only the tip of the iceberg. I know the pricing community has much to share with the mid-market audience and even more to learn.