Peter Hill is an accountant and business consultant and a partner at Mark Holt and Co. Chartered Accountants and Healium LLP business growth specialists. Hill also runs business seminars on pricing and profit improvement across the UK and internationally, for major banks, including Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC.

Features tools such as spreadsheets, diagrams, simple financial analyses and action plans to help readers apply the book's advice to their own business

Introduction01 Pricing in context
How any business can improve its bottom line
The four ways to grow a business
Why people fail to see the problem as a price issue
Summary
Action points
Reader challenge02 Why is pricing so difficult?
The importance of knowledge and training
How to avoid the impact of your bad experiences
Blindly copying the big retailers
Limited financial understanding of how profits are made
People's desire to please, and their freedom to do so
People need to be properly motivated to change
Summary
Action points03 The remarkable benefits of getting pricing right
Understanding what you actually charge at the moment
Increasing the headline price (but with added value)
How you can charge more when you guarantee value
Making sure your frontline people understand the profit equation
Summary
Action points04 How most businesses price and why these methods are wrongCost plus pricing - the fundamental flaw
Undercutting competitors - it simply cuts your profits
Last year's pricing plus a bit - the bit is never enough
Best guess pricing - it's just a stab in the dark
Value to each customer - the only pricing strategy that really works
Summary
Action points05 Understanding value versus costThe Value Scales
What happens when the scales don't balance?
How to balance the scales
The dissipation of value over time
The importance of discussing value with customers
Summary
Action points06 Packaging for higher prices
The four ways to maximize each sale
Using price to up-sell and cross-sell
Offering choices increases the value of the sale
Alternative price options affect the perception of value of all options
Setting price differentials properly
The price of pain
Summary
Action points07 Customers don't always want the cheapest
Increasing prices doesn't automatically mean losing customers
Summary
Action points08 Exploding all of the myths about pricing
Myth: Customers only want the cheapest
Myth: Loss leaders work
Myth: A 50 per cent off sale is a 50 per cent off sale
Myth: Presentation of the price doesn't matter
Myth: All prices should end in a '9'
Myth: The best person to set the price is the salesperson
Myth: Setting prices is a once a year decision
Myth: Every customer is worth having and every sale matters
Myth: Raising prices loses customers
Summary
Action points09 Using guarantees to get increased prices
Risk versus reward
Price-match guarantees
Using guarantees to add value to your side of the Value Scales
Offering options with and without guarantees
Customers are fundamentally honest
Offering a guarantee as an extra
Summary
Action points10 DiscountingWho is affected by poor discounting practices
The financial dynamics of discounting
The impact of a small change in discounts
Discounting prices to win customers is a myth
The top four reasons people discount
How to limit discounts
When discounting is right
Summary
Action points11 Presenting the price properly
The impact of the price ticket
The significance of clarity
Accuracy is key
The importance of the actual numbers
Presentation of price on bundled items
When to reveal your prices
Using words for impact
Summary
Action points12 Directional pricing
The advantages of moving customers to alternative options
The pizza example
The critical issues to know
Setting extreme prices to make other offers seem comparatively attractive
Summary
Action points13 Dealing with the human factor
Most people running a business are untrained for that role
Conscious competency
Don't be afraid to get external input
The key people in the profit equation
Handling your team's need to please customers
Helping your team focus on profit
Dealing with the human factor in your customers
Fear!
Summary
Action points14 Getting financial clarity
You need to know the numbers
Not all customers make you money
Steps in the profit calculation
Summary
Action points15 Your action plan
Have a vision for the future
Build your team and allocate resources
Set smart goals
Just do stuff!
Two questions, with answers16 The final word on pricing for profit