Market volatility is back. To survive and outperform, organizations must act quickly to build internal shock absorbers starting with a Pricing SWAT Team: a cross-functional group empowered to react quickly, make informed decisions, and minimize the impact of volatility on revenue, margin, and customer trust. If you haven’t started already, start small and iterate to deliver impact quickly.

What a High-Impact SWAT Team Does

A mature Pricing Team drive value through optimal pricing. These teams are agile, informed, and engaged with all parts of the business. Their core responsibilities are:

• Pricing Process Management: Create and enforce clear pricing policies, exception protocols, escalation paths, and campaign planning processes.
• Technology Ownership: Sponsor pricing tools, dashboards, and data platforms that support real-time analysis and decision-making.
• Process Improvement: Continuously refine workflows around pricing, sourcing, quoting, and approvals, especially in volatile environments.
• People & Talent Management: Identify who needs to be at the table. Ensure representation from finance, supply chain, sales, ops, legal, data science, and product. Empower them with ownership and accountability.

This team becomes your organization's shock absorber, helping you respond to volatility instead of being steamrolled by it.

The SWAT Team Maturity Curve: Where Do You Stand?

Our clients land across the maturity spectrum. Here’s how we define the four stages of evolution:

Level 0: Least Mature

• No formal team or cadence.
• Pricing decisions happen reactively based on gut feel or urgent pressures.
• No data integration, governance, or cross-functional alignment.

Your business is flying blind—and every shock hits you at full force.

Level 1: Foundational

• A small SWAT team forms with a draft charter.
• Meetings begin with basic agendas. Early attempts at defining policies and escalation paths.
• Decisions start to incorporate limited data and cross-functional input.

You’re beginning to reduce friction, but execution is still inconsistent.

Level 2: Structured

• Formal Pricing Council with defined roles and meeting cadence.
• Pre-reads, KPIs, and playbooks are in place. Tactical and strategic discussions both occur.
• Governance is enforced. Outputs influence forecasting and sales planning.

You now have a real shock absorber—capable of withstanding moderate volatility.

Level 3: Strategic

• Executive-sponsored, stable cross-functional council.
• Focus is on forward-looking decisions, scenario planning, and market strategy.
• Fully integrated with financial planning, S&OP, and lifecycle management.
• Drives competitive advantage through pricing excellence.

You’re not just absorbing shocks—you’re turning them into strategic wins.

Kenway Can Help You Get Ready — Now

We help clients:

• Stand up Pricing SWAT Teams fast—with the right structure, roles, and governance to drive quick wins and mature over time.
• Build decision-grade reporting that empowers data-driven pricing decisions.
• Design agile workflows that connect strategy to execution without bureaucratic delays.
• Facilitate change management to align internal teams and communicate with clarity to the market.