Worksheet · B2B: Business Pricing Health Check
Put cost to serve beside price for your top 20
It prints on A4 with room to write.
The biggest accounts are rarely the most profitable. A rough ranking of your top 20 customers is enough to change decisions this quarter. Precision can come later. It builds the Competent step of the check:
Cost to serve is estimated for major customer groups or segments and visible next to their pricing.
Step 1. A rough cost to serve
Ask finance for one rate per activity. Rough rates are fine for a first pass.
| Activity | Rate we will use |
|---|---|
| Per order processed | e.g. $45 |
| Per delivery | e.g. $120 metro, $260 regional |
| Per rush order | |
| Per return or claim | |
| Per service hour |
| Customer | Revenue ($m) | Orders a year | Deliveries a year | Rush orders | Returns and claims | Rebates and terms ($) | Service hours | Rough cost to serve ($) | As % of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| e.g. Customer 7 | 2.1 | 640 | 610 | 90 | 25 | 63,000 | 120 | 197,000 | 9.4% |
Step 2. Put it beside price
| Customer | Price against list (%) | Cost to serve (% of revenue) | Quadrant | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
- High price, low cost to serve: an attractive niche. Defend it.
- High price, high cost to serve: full service. Make the service visible and charge for it.
- Low price, low cost to serve: price and performance. Keep improving.
- Low price, high cost to serve: the commodity corner. Reprice, cut the cost, or let the customer go.
Step 3. Decisions this quarter
| Customer | Decision | Owner | By when |
|---|---|---|---|
Done when: your top 20 customers show an estimated cost to serve next to their price, and the next account reviews use it.
Adapted from our own B2B pricing playbook (PSP, 2026).
From the B2B: Business Pricing Health Check. Your report links the sheet for each of its moves.