Client Overview

Industry: Decorative Surfaces & Building Products – Laminates, Benchtops, Panels, Joinery Systems

Business Size: National footprint across Australia, serving trade, commercial, and retail customers

Client Context: Laminex is one of Australia’s most recognised brands in the building and construction sector, supplying thousands of customers in the joinery, cabinetry, and interiors trades. Despite category leadership, Laminex was experiencing significant pricing challenges across segments. Pressure from trade competitors, internal legacy practices, and weak pricing systems had created inconsistency, discounting drift, and a lack of commercial pricing confidence across teams.

Challenge / Problem

Symptoms Observed:

• Cost-plus pricing remained the dominant strategy across products and customer types
• Inconsistent pricing across states and accounts—similar customers receiving very different pricing due to lack of central rules
• Sales relied heavily on gut feel, with low technical understanding of margin implications from discounts
• Contracts lacked clarity around scope and service terms, leading to value erosion and scope creep
• Senior leaders acknowledged pricing was underperforming but lacked a clear path to fix it

Strategic Impact:

• Margin erosion due to both over-discounting and undercharging for premium features, support, or lead times
• Value not effectively monetised—reliable service, broad range, and availability not reflected in price outcomes
• Weak alignment across functions—pricing owned by too many without shared strategy or accountability

Internal Viewpoint:

“We’ve got one of the strongest brands in the trade—but we’re not charging like it. Our teams just don’t have the pricing knowledge or tools to do better.”

Objectives of the Engagement

• Diagnose root causes of pricing inconsistency and discount leakage across Laminex business units
• Establish cross-functional alignment on pricing strategy, value logic, and gross margin expectations
• Build sales and pricing capability in finance, marketing, and commercial operations
• Identify actionable margin improvement initiatives and quick wins
• Set the foundation for structured, value-based price setting and governance

Our Approach

Phase 1: Pricing Capability Diagnostic

• Delivered a company-wide pricing operations diagnostic survey to assess value, people, and structural capability
• Mapped technical knowledge, pricing maturity, and functional misalignment using Pricing Insight’s 9-domain canvas
• Benchmarked results against other Fletcher Building business units and best-practice industrial peers

Phase 2: Strategy Workshops & Issue Deep Dive

• Facilitated pricing alignment sessions with senior stakeholders and operational teams
• Visualised capability gaps using heat maps, capability scorecards, and pricing canvas tools
• Prioritised critical quick win areas: override control, contract clarity, margin guardrails, and sales training

Phase 3: Execution Enablement & Planning

• Designed a series of pricing education modules for commercial, sales, and product teams
• Developed margin simulation tools to test the financial impact of pricing decisions
• Outlined governance roadmap and reporting structures to enforce pricing strategy discipline

Key Issues Identified

• Pricing Strategy
  Cost-plus pricing dominant, with no link to brand strength, urgency, or service level
• Customer Value Understanding
  Value drivers poorly understood and rarely used in negotiation or price setting
• Sales & Negotiation
  Pricing confidence low; reps defaulting to discounting instead of defending value
• Discounting Controls
  No formal override policy; managers approving discounts without EBIT visibility
• Management Alignment
  Leadership agreed pricing was a priority but lacked common language or plan
• Analytics & Methods
  Limited pricing data, poor visibility into margin by SKU/customer/segment
• Systems & Tools
  Pricing logic buried in ERP and CPQ systems without user transparency

Key Actions Taken

1. Sales Capability Uplift
   Delivered pricing maths training and value defence modules to sales and product teams
2. Override Governance Design
   Drafted a new tiered discounting approval matrix with defined thresholds
3. Margin Recovery Tools
   Developed Excel-based margin simulation tools to support better price setting decisions
4. Value-Based Playbook
   Created simple customer value canvases to be used in account planning and negotiation
5. Commercial Alignment Workshops
   Brought together finance, marketing, and sales to align on pricing roles, process, and accountability

Results Achieved (Within 8–12 Weeks)

1. EBIT Margin Improvement Potential
   Identified opportunity of $6M–$10M in EBIT uplift from better price execution and discount discipline
2. Override Frequency Reduction
   Forecasted 40–60% reduction in overrides with new controls in place
3. Pricing Confidence Improvement
   Technical pricing quiz scores improved from avg. 44% to over 70% post-training
4. Management Alignment Secured
   Cross-functional agreement on pricing as a strategic function—not just a transactional issue
5. Quick Wins Delivered
   Freight margin leakage, price band misalignment, and inconsistent contract terms addressed in early stages

Client Feedback

“Before this program, pricing was everyone’s responsibility and nobody’s problem. Now we have alignment, a plan, and the confidence to act. Pricing is no longer a guess—it’s a tool.”
— Executive GM, Laminex

What This Means for Similar Companies

If you're in building products, decorative materials, or industrial manufacturing, the lessons from Laminex are clear: strong brand and service mean nothing if pricing isn’t structured to reflect it. Relying on legacy cost-plus approaches and scattered approvals erodes margin silently. A diagnostic-led approach can pinpoint the leaks and provide a roadmap to recovery—without a full system rebuild or commercial overhaul.

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