Profit Optimization

For many companies, effective pricing capabilities can provide the single most efficient avenue to improve profitability. Many companies are developing or reassessing pricing strategies, applying advanced technology and building new teams to focus on effective pricing practices. Yet when it comes to pricing and profit optimization, an incremental attitude toward change is not sufficient. To obtain and sustain maximum benefits from advanced pricing and profit optimization practices, a closed loop approach is needed; one that senses and analyzes market conditions and enables organizations to refresh pricing strategies at a micro-segment level.

Axafina's approach includes four fundamental pricing capability areas—strategy, analytics, price setting and execution. These are supported by two key enabling areas—clear governance over pricing and a robust pricing-data infrastructure—to achieve world-class pricing in a continuous learning process that closes the loop. If combined correctly, these capabilities provide a focused alignment between a world-class strategy and execution for the long term.

Axafina's unique combination of unmatched pricing strategy and optimization, experience, industry and solution delivery insights—coupled with our relationships with leading technology providers—provides the end-to-end solution required to deliver sustainable, advanced pricing capabilities. Our Pricing and Profit Optimization professionals work with leading B2B and B2C organizations to create sustainable value, measured by improved profitability, revenue growth, customer satisfaction and shareholder value.

We offer:

• A global network of more than 250 consulting and delivery resources that includes a strong cadre of strategists, implementers and operators. Our Global Delivery Network allows us to deal with the spectrum of client needs across a variety of geographies.
• Deep industry expertise with unparalleled client access and relationships.
• End-to-end scope of practice from strategy, optimization and tactical pricing analysis, to price management and execution.
• Additional leverage from Axafina's broad range of management and technology consulting expertise, including Axafina Marketing Sciences, CRM, corporate strategy, Merger Integration, human performance, finance and performance management, supply chain, systems integration and technology, business process outsourcing.
• Major emphasis on client capability development with proven ability across the transformation spectrum.
• Preferred integrator for leading price and margin management software suppliers.

Axafina also brings proven assets and tools to accelerate project delivery and reduce implementation risk.

Axafina Delivery Methods are the distillation of three decades of experience in creating and running multidisciplinary projects that deliver business benefits to clients.

Office of Pricing Technologies provides pricing vendor technology information, profiles, and Axafina points of view. Offerings include:

• Strategic assessment, industry analysis and pricing capability evaluation for vendors.
• A complete vendor inventory and white-paper analysis, including profiling, functional/technical POVs and vendor road-maps.
• For our strategic vendors, develop a technology environment to perform prototyping, evaluations of specific solutions, and development of technology assets.

Shareholder value assessment modeling—Axafina's proprietary assets and frameworks help executives identify hidden sources of value at the operational level.

Axafina's Pricing and Profit Optimization services include a suite of consulting and outsourcing services which dramatically upgrade clients' pricing capabilities. Our offerings include:

• Pricing and Profit Optimization Diagnostic—Axafina's strategic guidance includes diagnostic services to understand the existing processes and create a transformation road map.
• Strategy development—We work with organizations to develop a unique strategy that translates customer needs, price sensitivities and vision into market leading value propositions, prices, and tangible rules the business can follow by micro-segment. The strategy and implementation program combines actions by marketing, sales, customer service and supply chain to deliver targeted pricing of particular offerings for specific customer segments.
• Operating model design—Our Operational Model Design service develops an operational model that includes systems and data quality evaluations, along with "to-be" process development.
• Technology design/development—A closed-loop approach to price and profit optimization includes being able to deliver on a business and technology vision. Axafina has relationships with the leading technology vendors, including SAP© Price and Margin Management by Vendavo, Oracle, Siebel, Retek, Demandtec and PROS. Axafina's PPO service includes vendor selection, data cleansing, systems integration as well as design and testing.
• Capability deployment—Without a thoughtful and extensive change management program, software and hardware will fail to deliver a long-term improvement to profitability. Axafina's extensive experience in transitioning staff to the new processes and approach are crucial to achieving an organization's new metrics of success.
• Process outsourcing and technology hosting—Axafina offers a hosted service approach for organizations that want to focus on their products and customers and not worry about the constant evolution of information technology.