Meet Per Sjofors aka The Price Whisperer | Though-leader in everything pricing of products or services.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Per Sjofors aka The Price Whisperer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Per, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Very simple. Having had a number of CEO jobs, I realized I could not answer to anybody, ie the board and needed to charter my own course.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
In the various companies I’ve run, in Europe and here in the US, we did pricing experiments. Some worked very well, others were disasters. What I learned about pricing in business schools was too academic, and too theoretical and did not help us understanding why some experiments work and other did not.

So when I decided to start my own company, I decided to develop a process that makes every pricing experiment a success. This process is rooted in the fact that everything a company “do” affect its pricing strategy. This includes how the company target (or not!) customer, how good product or service features match the needs of the market, the effectiveness of the company’s marketing and sales strategy, and its pricing strategy itself.

This core understanding that pricing does exist in a vacuum, makes us completely unique and is also the reason our clients gain so spectacular results.

Practically, the process consists of very stringent online market research from which willingness to pay can be accurately measured (we developed our own method for this.) This further allows us to predict sales volume, revenue and profits at different price levels. These predications are then correlated with all the variables mentioned above. (Targeting, benefits, marketing and sales.) Creating a go-to-market strategy that will take any company to the next level.

Was it easy to create this process and the company around the process? Yes it was, as it had been formulated in my mind for several years. Like any company, there been some ups and downs. The most significant challenge we see is that so many companies don’t understand (or don’t want to understand) that they can take control of their own pricing and affect what their customers are willing to pay. But some do, and many of our clients has risen to become the clear market leader in their industry.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Since a best friend probably have interest similar to mine, we would go the museums. LACMA, MoMA, Hammer Museum, The Broad and Huntington Library. We would visit Disney Hall, maybe the Greek Theater and Hollywood Bowl if there was any interesting concert. We would stay away from Hollywood except Musso & Frank Grill.. We would drive Mulholland Drive and Angle Crest Highway. Visit Mount Willson. We would probably spend at least a couple of days tasting wine around Solvang and Paso Robles.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Let’s start with a couple of books. Since I’m born and raised in Sweden, the first book I want to recognize is by then Scandinavian Airlines’ CEO Jan Carlzon, in English translation Moments of Truth. Said to be among to most important management books ever written. What also inspired me was Crossing the Chasm by Jeffery Moore and The Innovators Dilemma by Claiton Christiansen. Good to Great by Jim Collins is another inspiration.

In terms of people who I influenced me is Frederik Ericksson who encouraged me to take on my first CEO role and a Larry Smart, the CEO of the first company I worked for once I moved to the US from Europe.

Website: https://sjofors.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/persjofors/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepricewhisperer

Other: https://www.persjofors.com