The 6 P’s of pricing strategy
Pricing is one of the most powerful growth levers available to a business, yet decisions are still too often rushed, reactive or based on instinct.
When costs rise, or targets come under pressure, leadership teams frequently reach for the quickest available response: raising prices to protect margin or introducing promotions to stimulate demand. These actions may deliver a short-term result, but without a wider pricing strategy they can weaken customer trust, erode profitability and create a cycle of increasingly reactive decisions.
In an article for Fast Company, Untapped Pricing founder Jenny Millar and senior partner Ann Padley explain how leaders can use six connected pricing levers to turn pricing into a more sustainable engine of growth.
In the article, you’ll learn:
- How your market position shapes what customers are willing to pay
- Why customer perception of value matters more than internal assumptions
- How the way your offer is packaged can guide customers towards the right option
- How to set a price that reflects the value customers experience
Pricing strategy is about more than choosing the right number. By working across all six levers, businesses can shape demand, strengthen value perception and create growth that lasts.
Article excerpt
The 6 P’s of pricing strategy: How to turn pricing into a growth lever
Published by Fast Company ‧ 19 December 2025 ‧ By Ann Padley and Jenny Millar
“Pricing is one of the most powerful growth levers a business has, yet it is still one of the most overlooked. While teams spend months refining product and brand, pricing decisions are too often rushed, emotionally charged, or guided by instinct rather than insight.
Under the pressure of rising costs and competitive pressures, many leadership teams resort to the fastest fix: promotions to meet short-term targets or price increases to plug a margin leak.
The companies that consistently outperform take a different approach. They treat pricing as a strategic, evidence-led discipline. They ground pricing in how customers perceive value and make decisions to deliver growth that lasts.
Take two companies facing the same rising costs. One applies a uniform 10% price increase to protect margin. It works briefly, until customers notice and push back. Sales slip and the business reacts with discounts that instantly undo the uplift they were counting on.
The other takes a more thoughtful approach. They identify where value is strongest, redesign how options are packaged and presented, and adjust prices selectively. A year later, revenue and gross margin are up, and customer trust remains intact.
This is what happens when pricing becomes a strategic capability rather than a quick fix. Here are six levers business leaders can use to make pricing a sustainable engine of growth…”
Rethinking your pricing strategy? Start here.
The Pricing Sprint offers a practical, step-by-step approach to turning pricing into a lever for growth.
Drawing on real business examples, customer insight and behavioural science, it shows leadership teams how to make better pricing decisions now and build the internal muscle to keep improving them.
