In pricing guru Reed Holden’s latest newsletter and blog post, he drives home the point that while IT buyers tend to look like are buying on price they really are not. They just use low price providers to drive down the prices of others.

The way to call them on this is to offer options, including a bare bones option. Once the prospect reject the idea of the lowest price, they are no longer a price buyer. We need to call them on this.

Also, IT providers need to lead with a strategy of distinguishing themselves as knowledge firms, not service firms. This means positioning themselves more like insurance companies do. With insurance (healthcare excepted, but do not get me started), we pay for things we do not want. With IT, we do not want problems.