McKinsey & Company Pricing Expert Craig Zawada Joins PROS Executive Team
New Senior Vice President of Pricing Excellence brings world-class expertise to help customers drive profitability and growth
HOUSTON, Dec. 16, 2010 – PROS Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PRO), the world leader in business-to-business pricing and margin optimization software, announced that Craig Zawada has joined the company as senior vice president, pricing excellence. In this role, he will provide customers with expert-level insight into pricing best practices and strategies, contribute his expertise to product development, sales, and marketing organizations within PROS, and actively work with other PROS executives on the strategy for the continued growth of the company. Zawada will report to PROS President and CEO, Andres Reiner.
Zawada is a well-known expert in the area of pricing strategy whose experience spans a wide range of both B2B and consumer products. Over the past 17 years he has developed innovative pricing concepts and ideas in the areas of market strategy, post-merger pricing, Internet pricing, pricing in distribution, price implementation and pricing infrastructure. Zawada is also a widely-published author, whose articles have been featured in many highly-esteemed publications, such as the Harvard Business Review,Mergers and Acquisitions and the McKinsey Quarterly. He has been interviewed and quoted in Fortune, Canadian Business and Business 2.0. He is perhaps best known for his role in co-authoring both the first and second editions of the book, “The Price Advantage,” which has been recognized as one of the most pragmatic books on pricing strategy available. As a frequently sought-after presenter, Zawada has spoken on pricing strategy at industry conferences in North America, Europe and South America.
“We are thrilled to have Craig Zawada join PROS,” commented Reiner. “Craig is recognized around the world as one of the preeminent thought leaders in the area of pricing and profitability, and we’re excited to offer his expertise to our customers. His experience as a consultant and advisor to senior executives fits nicely with the pragmatic and prescriptive approach we’ve always taken to helping our customers achieve their pricing objectives.”
As Senior Vice President of pricing excellence, Zawada will further strengthen PROS commitment to customer success by providing meaningful insight and direction throughout their pricing journey. He will also provide customers guidance and expertise to ensure they maximize the value of their PROS solutions, which have proven to increase profitability, defend market share, and improve operational agility. Zawada’s years of experience working with many marquee companies on pricing will also serve as invaluable input as PROS continues to advance its software and services suite.
“I am excited to join PROS, which I’ve always considered the distinctive market leader in pricing software,” stated Zawada. “This is a pivotal time for the pricing market, as it has evolved to a point where manufacturers and distributors simply must invest in pricing software to remain competitive. Pricing is now far too complex and the speed of business far too rapid to rely on anything other than advanced pricing technology to find and capture pricing opportunities. I am convinced that PROS prescriptive solutions, relentless focus on successful customer implementation and change management, and remarkable record of impact make us uniquely positioned to address this growing and substantial need.”
Zawada joins PROS from McKinsey & Company, where he served as a partner in the firm and co-leader of the North American Pricing Practice. While at McKinsey, Zawada was focused exclusively on the pricing profession for more than a decade, assisting clients on pricing issues as well as conducting research and development in the pricing field. Prior to this, he was a Senior Associate with a boutique consulting firm specializing in pricing. Zawada received a master’s degree in business administration in 1993 from the Schulich School of Business, York University in Ontario, Canada. He resides in Kimberley, British Columbia.