Pricing: The Most Overlooked Strategy In The CFO Toolkit?

Pricing is one of the most powerful levers a business has, yet it’s also one of the most overlooked. 

In this episode of The CFO Edit, Jenny Millar , founder of Untapped Pricing, shares her perspective on how pricing shapes growth, customer behaviour, retention, and investor confidence. 

Jenny shares clear, practical insights on where companies go wrong, what good pricing discipline looks like, and how finance, sales, and product teams can work together to capture the value they’re already creating.

Why is pricing such a powerful lever for growth?

Pricing turns value into revenue, yet it’s often overlooked. A small price change can often generate more profit than any cost-cutting exercise. Most businesses under-price somewhere, which makes pricing an exciting lever as it affects financial outcomes, customer behaviour, and brand perception.

The challenge is hesitancy: teams aren’t always confident about pricing changes. Without proactive management, value gets created but not fully captured. In today’s economy, margins will be squeezed whether you act or not.

Why is pricing underused by business leaders?

Business leaders often don’t see pricing beyond financial outcomes. They might not consider its influence on customer behaviour or perception. There’s also fear: making the wrong pricing decision could drive customers away. This trepidation keeps pricing from being fully leveraged.

What are early warning signs of pricing issues?

There are three I’d watch for:

• Hesitancy: Teams approach pricing apologetically, making minimal changes. If you don’t believe in your price, your customers won’t either. This often leads to inaction; prices stay frozen while the world moves on. We’re working with a healthcare retailer that hadn’t touched pricing in a key category for five years and accidentally sparked a price war because the market assumed they were trying to be aggressive on price, when they weren’t.
• Lack of strategy: Without a clear plan, decisions become reactive. Different business functions start to pull in different directions: sales pushes discounts, finance seeks margin, product chases on adoption. Pricing needs to be a team sport, with shared visibility and accountability.
• Over-complex pricing: Confusing pricing causes customers to pause, disengage or pick the cheapest option. Reducing cognitive load and simplifying choices improves conversion and guides decisions.

Are pricing challenges different in B2B vs B2C?

At a surface level, B2B and B2C pricing look very different: contracts versus checkout pages, negotiations versus list prices. But the core pricing challenges are surprisingly similar.

In both contexts, teams are grappling with how to understand value, when to act, and how to respond. Both B2B and B2C need pricing that reflects customer perception, reduces decision friction, and gives the organisation confidence to act.

How does sector alignment affect pricing decisions?

Organisations often focus on competitors they think matter, but customers might consider completely different alternatives. You can’t price well without understanding what customers truly value. Evidence should inform pricing, coming from three sources: existing data, research (customer conversations and surveys), and experimentation (testing new price positions or framing and measuring the impact). 

This blend builds confidence and removes guesswork. Pricing based on competitors who aren’t relevant to your customers means you let an arbitrary market reference, rather than customer perception, shape what you charge.

How should pricing evolve from early-stage to scale-up?

Early-stage pricing should minimize friction: simple, broad segments, and obvious choices. Later, once traction is established, shift from survival pricing to strategic monetisation. Introduce tiering, pricing architecture, and managed capabilities with experiments, data, governance. CFOs play a key role because pricing maturity must scale with product maturity.

How can pricing drive net retention and upsell?

Pricing can guide customer behaviour by shaping the path they take. Clear tiering at acquisition, obvious upgrade paths as customers grow, and well-designed renewal options all help customers move to higher value states. Pricing architecture is often underused as a way to extend value and deepen customer engagement.

How often should pricing be revisited?

It depends on the market. In fast-moving categories, daily or weekly adjustments may be needed. In more established markets, annual price reviews might be enough. 

The important thing is staying aligned with customer expectations, the competitive landscape, product evolution, and changes to costs. Even if you don’t change pricing, having the conversation prevents it from drifting out of sync.

Can small price changes make a difference?

Yes. Some companies have significant headroom as large as 40–50% because they’ve been under-pricing for a number of years. Others benefit from very modest changes of 1–2%. Sometimes you don’t need to change the price at all; you can boost conversion or average spend by reframing options, simplifying choices, or changing how pricing is presented.

Who should own pricing in a company?

Ownership of pricing can sit with the CFO, CMO, CEO, COO, commercial or strategic leads. What matters is clear accountability. Pricing should be managed as a capability with cross-functional champions. 

CFOs are critical as they own the commercial truth, unit economics, and mix of profitable customers. They champion pricing as a growth lever, align the organisation, set guardrails, and foster an experimental mindset.

When should price be introduced in a sales conversation?

After the value is clear. The customer must understand the outcomes and benefits first - both tangible (revenue, margin, time saved) and intangible (risk reduction, brand, happiness). Once the value is anchored, the price makes sense in context.

How can finance teams make quick wins in pricing?

Firstly you can tighten discount discipline and clean up outdated or legacy pricing – the “zombie pricing.” Improve how prices are presented to reduce cognitive load. Start small, regular experiments on pricing or packaging. You don’t need a transformation to unlock value.

How should finance teams work with sales?

They need alignment on incentives and clear negotiation guardrails. Bring finance, sales, product, and strategy together through a pricing task force or regular forum. Pricing works best when these teams operate with shared visibility, buy-in and ownership.