Impact Pricing

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on May 11, 2026, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.
Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/what-is-a-pig-worth/
If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at mark@impactpricing.com. 
Now, go make an impact.
 
Connect with Mark Stiving:
Email: mark@impactpricing.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Adrienne Gordon is the CEO of PriceSpace and founder of Pricing Empowered. With more than 25 years of pricing experience, she helps organizations combine pricing strategy, organizational change, and AI adoption to improve commercial performance. 
In this episode, Adrienne and Mark explore what happens when pricing teams become half human and half AI. They debate whether AI can ever make pricing decisions on its own, why "humanless negotiation" may be closer than most companies realize, and how pricing leaders can use AI to strengthen—not replace—human judgment.
 
Why you have to check out today's podcast:
Learn how to build a pricing team where humans and AI each do what they do best.
See how pricing analysts, managers, and executives can use AI to make smarter decisions—not just write better prompts.
Discover why AI buyers and humanless negotiations are closer than you think—and what pricing leaders should do now.
 
"Always offer versions. Put three things on the table so your customer chooses between you and you; not you and your competitor."
– Adrienne Gordon
 
Topics Covered:
01:45 – AI Won't Replace Pricing Teams. It'll Redesign Them. Discover which pricing responsibilities AI can handle today—and where human judgment still matters most.
03:25 – Stop Using ChatGPT Like Google. Learn Adrienne's simple framework for turning AI into an experienced pricing partner instead of a search engine.
05:15 – The Pricing Work AI Should Already Be Doing. See how AI can clean data, uncover pricing insights, build value calculators, and automate repetitive analysis.
07:00 – How Pricing Leaders Should Use AI. Explore how managers and executives can use AI to test pricing strategies, positioning, and competitive scenarios.
09:15 – Don't Trust One AI. Make Them Debate. Why Adrienne uses multiple AI models to challenge each other's thinking and produce better recommendations.
12:05 – Building a Pricing Team That's Half Human, Half AI. Learn how to redesign pricing roles so people and AI each focus on what they do best.
15:20 – The One Decision AI Still Can't Make. Mark and Adrienne debate why accountability—not intelligence—is AI's biggest limitation.
17:00 – Humanless Negotiation Is Coming. What happens when AI buyers negotiate with AI sellers—and how it could reshape commercial pricing.
21:10 – Buying AI Isn't an AI Strategy. Why companies need a clear adoption plan before investing in more AI tools.
24:10 – The Pricing Advice That Never Gets Old. Why offering three options helps buyers compare your solutions instead of your competitors'.
 
Key Takeaways:
"Stop using AI like Google. Give it a role, give it context, then give it a task." – Adrienne Gordon
"Stay in the same thread. Keep giving it feedback. It gets smarter." – Adrienne Gordon
"When in doubt, put multiple AI agents against one another and let them check each other's work." – Adrienne Gordon
 
People / Resources Mentioned:
PriceSpace – Adrienne Gordon's pricing consultancy focused on AI adoption and commercial excellence.
ChatGPT – Used throughout the discussion as an example of AI for pricing analysis and strategy.
Claude – Discussed as one of Adrienne's preferred AI tools for analytics and executive presentations.
Manus – AI platform Adrienne frequently uses for research and strategic intelligence.
DeepSeek – Mentioned as a strong AI platform for pricing analytics.
Perplexity – Mark references using it alongside ChatGPT and Claude for research.
McKinsey – Referenced in discussing research predicting the growth of AI-driven negotiations.
 
Connect with Adrienne Gordon:
Website: https://pricespace.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrienne-gordon-0a93129/ 
 
Connect with Mark Stiving:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
Email: mark@impactpricing.com

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on May 4, 2026, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.
Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/the-information-trap-is-killing-your-deals/
If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at mark@impactpricing.com. 
Now, go make an impact.
 
Connect with Mark Stiving:
Email: mark@impactpricing.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Most sales conversations assume buyers make rational decisions. Ted Olson argues that's exactly why so many deals stall.
Ted Olson is a sales strategist who helps founders, consultants, coaches, and sales teams use behavioral science to improve how buyers make decisions. He is the author of Feel Good About Selling and the upcoming book, Distinct, where he explores what happens between a buyer saying, "This makes sense," and actually saying, "Yes." 
In this episode, Ted and Mark challenge one of sales' biggest assumptions: why buyers hesitate. Is it fear or a lack of confidence? Their lively debate uncovers what really drives buying decisions and how sellers can help buyers confidently say yes. 
 
Why you have to check out today's podcast:
Learn why buyers hesitate and why it often has nothing to do with your price.
Discover how great salespeople build buyer confidence instead of pushing harder to close.
Understand what "We'll think about it" really means so you can reduce hesitation before objections show up.
 
"Indecision is fear-based. Status quo is fear-based. If you can address that fear, you can double your close rates."
–  Ted Olson
 
Topics Covered:
02:05 – Are Buyers Rational? The Psychology Behind Every Buying Decision. Are buyers driven by logic or emotion? Ted and Mark debate how buyer psychology, perceived value, and decision-making influence pricing more than most companies realize.
05:45 – Buyers Buy Futures, Not Features. Learn why listing more features rarely wins deals. Discover how buyers imagine future outcomes and why too much information creates uncertainty instead of confidence.
09:10 – Why Buyers Say, "We'll Think About It". Is it really about price? Ted explains why buyer indecision is usually driven by fear and uncertainty, not budget or competition.
13:30 – Buyer Confidence vs. Buyer Fear. Mark introduces his Buyer Confidence Framework—payoff, probability, and anticipated regret—while Ted argues that every hesitation can be traced back to fear.
17:15 – Handle Buyer Objections Before They Happen. The best salespeople don't overcome objections—they prevent them. Learn how anticipating buyer concerns early makes closing feel natural.
23:00 – Stop Building Trust. Start Building Buyer Confidence. Ted introduces his new sales philosophy: Always Build Confidence. The goal isn't getting buyers to trust you—it's helping them trust their own decision.
26:20 – Why Buyers Push Back When You Try Too Hard. Learn how psychological reactance causes buyers to resist pressure, urgency, and traditional sales tactics—even when your solution is the right fit.
30:05 – How to Become the Obvious Choice. Ted shares the PACE Framework (Positioning, Authority, Conversion, Expansion) and explains how experts become the first choice before pricing is even discussed.
32:45 – What Really Shapes Willingness to Pay? Does willingness to pay come from ROI alone? Ted explains how context, experience, status, and perceived risk dramatically influence what buyers are willing to spend.
 
Key Takeaways:
"If we think about pricing purely rationally, we'll miss the mark 100%." — Ted Olson
"Buyers buy when they feel safe enough to buy." — Ted Olson
"When I train sellers, I don't think about making them better sellers. I think about making them better decision-making coaches." — Ted Olson 
 
People & Resources Mentioned:
Matt Dixon & Brent Adamson – Authors of The JOLT Effect, referenced for their research on reducing buyer indecision and limiting information overload.
Alex Hormozi – Mentioned in relation to identifying every reason prospects hesitate to buy.
Charlie Munger – Referenced for his perspective that value can be viewed as reward divided by punishment (or risk).
Zig Ziglar – Mentioned during the discussion about helping buyers understand their own problems more clearly.
 
Connect with Ted Olson:
Website: https://tedolson.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tedolson/
 
Connect with Mark Stiving:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
Email: mark@impactpricing.com

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on April 27, 2026, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go.
Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/being-chosen-isnt-winning/
If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at mark@impactpricing.com. 
Now, go make an impact.
 
Connect with Mark Stiving:
Email: mark@impactpricing.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/