This week we will look at the pricing element of the marketing mix.
I have come to observe that most Zambian marketing firms dealing in retail and consumer products do not allow marketers to participate in the formulating of pricing strategies.
This to me is a very serious and unfortunate anomaly because pricing is the most important element of the marketing mix which should not be left in the hands of novices to handle.
Pricing is everything to every product.
The success of every product on the market is dependent on its pricing mechanisms, remember that a product will fail either because it is too expensive or it is under priced.
Price can be defined as the amount of money charged for a product or service or the sum of all the values that consumers exchange for the benefits of having or using the product or service.
A few months ago my wife and I decided to open up a small eating place near our residence.
Being a new place, we had to think out our pricing strategies very well after taking several factors into consideration.
As a relatively new joint we had to use a penetration pricing strategy and it worked well, within a short time we had a good number of customers at our premises.
Our close competitors started wondering how in a short period we were able to retain a good number of customers compared to them.
Pricing is the only means through which a business can attract customers and position itself on the market.
I have seen businesses come and go because they failed to use pricing effectively.
Marketers are better placed to advise on pricing strategies in their respective organisations. Good pricing strategies are determined by a numbers of factors both internal and external.
Marketers have to conduct research on the market to find out potential customers’ willingness to buy certain goods, products and services at a particular price.
Prices are not just dreamt.
Marketers’ responsibilities among many other things include planning for pricing. Marketers should know when it is necessary to reduce or increase the prices.
One international beverage retailing company has demonstrated capacity to use pricing strategically.
The company’s marketers are usually on the ground to carry out surveys on pricing and are proactively able to adjust the prices of their products as and when need arises.
For example during the cold seasons, the company effects price reductions on its beverages as it is believed that their consumption is low.
When I was pursuing my marketing programme, my former lecturer would repeatedly say, that the use of the word cheap in adverts for products or services illustrates the total lack of knowledge on pricing and exposes businesses engaging quarks in marketing jobs.
Marketers will always use the terms economically or competitively priced.
In marketing, pricing is so sensitive that even using wrong terminology could have a wrong connotation on the product or service.
Price on its own communicates a silent value attached to a product, goods and services.
The use of the term cheap, therefore, could imply a compromise on quality.

Typically this is what happens when qualified marketers are not involved when setting prices for goods and services.
As I have pointed out, pricing is a critical element of the marketing strategy commonly known as the marketing mix and the only element of the marketing mix which is directly linked to profits and revenue.
The current trend where most organisations devise prices without consulting marketing people is a serious blunder and total disregard to the marketing profession.
Organisations ought to realise that marketers are not there to merely rubber stamp prices.
Marketers have a major role to play when it comes to pricing,  just as they do have a role to play when it comes to new product development, distribution, promotion and packaging.
Marketers are the experts in marketing strategy which comprises of the seven Ps , Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process and Physical evidence.
Pricing is and will always be the primary concern of marketers in every commercial establishment.
The author is Zambian Open University Manager for Business Development, Marketing and Public Relations.