Hey Exec. Hey Pricer. No Shared Language, No Shared Outcome.

In the first part of this series, I argued that executives undermine pricing by treating it like a buzzword instead of a strategy. In the second, I called out pricing leaders for reinforcing stereotypes that make them easy to dismiss.

Here’s the third truth: the silence is as damaging as the noise. Execs and pricers meet too rarely, and when they do, the conversations are so poorly framed that both sides walk away convinced the other “doesn’t get it.” Wrong. The real failure is that neither side is speaking in the other’s language.

What Execs Don’t Know They’re Missing

Ask an executive what pricing does, and the answer is usually tactical: they think it’s discounts, cost pass-throughs, or deal approvals. That’s like saying finance just runs payroll.

Here’s the “wait, what?” moment: pricers can build and execute a portfolio strategy. They can profile accounts, stage sales motions, and design offers that force underperformers to step up—or step out. They can help win market share surgically, using scalpels instead of machetes, without bleeding out profitability.

But here’s the nuance: pricing isn’t a magic fix. Slashing prices might win a deal or two, but it can’t repair a weak value story or an undifferentiated commercial offering. At the same time, pricing is often the sharpest lever executives have to align portfolios and surface hidden strengths or flaws. Used well, it doesn’t just move numbers—it reframes the conversation about value itself.

But if execs never invite them into the conversation, they’ll never know that lever exists.

What Pricers Don’t Know They’re Missing

On the other side, pricing leaders walk into the rare meeting they get and bury the room in technicalities. They talk about elasticity curves, margin waterfalls, and cost variance models. All true—but none of it translates into the executive’s strategy language.

Executives want growth (that needs to be defined – recall from previous articles, growth of what?), resilience, and shareholder return. Pricing has those answers, but they don’t show up that way. So execs conclude pricing is “too narrow” and move on.

The Result: Stalemate

Both sides walk away frustrated, muttering the same line under their breath: “They don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Wrong again. They don’t know how to talk to each other.

It’s a stalemate of silence, missed chances, and bad framing. The business loses not because pricing is weak, but because neither side can bridge the gap.

Stop. Start.

Executives

Stop treating pricing like a clean-up crew.

Start putting them at the table when strategy is set—because market share and portfolio shifts are pricing decisions.

Pricers

Stop hiding behind analytics and jargon.

Start speaking strategy. Walk in with ideas, not variance reports.

Most marriages unravel when couples are incapable of talking together for at least 90 minutes a week.

How many minutes did you give pricing last week?

The views here are my own and not representative of any former or current clients – although I wish they would be.