A price manager, also known as a pricing specialist, is a role you probably won’t find in 99% of development companies. At Maxify, we assist developers and teach them how to professionally assess the value of their real estate, making the price manager a crucial figure for us.
I started my career in the Ukrainian real estate market at UTG (Ukrainian Trade Guild) as an analyst in the office segment of the capital from 2007 to 2008. After that, I joined “PIK Ukraine” in 2008, where my focus was on researching the residential real estate market. My main responsibilities included gathering data for analyzing the potential of land plots. This experience allowed me to gain a quick and in-depth understanding of the primary housing market in Kyiv and its surrounding areas.
From 2010 to 2018, I worked at “NEST,” where I was involved in competitor analysis and pricing for various projects. In 2018, I joined the M4U team, which developed the Maxify service, and since 2021, I have been working at Maxify as a price manager. Could say I’ve been with this service since the development of its prototypes. I became the first price manager to use a dynamic pricing system in Ukraine. It’s been an interesting 17-year journey that continues today.
Yes, one could describe it as an evolution with elements of revolution. The shift from market analysis to price management occurred gradually, but the subsequent technological advancement significantly boosted efficiency and redirected our focus from “how to calculate” to “ensuring project goals.” This shift was imperative due to our responsibility to our partners, the project prices we managed, and the workload, which, at times, involved handling up to 30 projects simultaneously.
A price manager is a specialist who properly manages prices and assortment. The goal is to maximize the revenue (and hence profit) of each property while maintaining a broad range and considering planned and actual sales figures. My duties involved routine tasks such as updating sales information in Excel spreadsheets, readjusting valuation coefficients, performing calculations, coordinating results with the commercial director, and updating prices in sales departments. This required a significant amount of time and attention to detail. Being an expert in Excel was essential, but even that didn’t prevent mistakes that needed to be corrected overnight because updated prices had to be ready by morning. Additionally, it was important to monitor market price trends, although they didn’t play a primary role in the calculations.
In this age of advancing AI technologies, the question of its relevance arises for many. Personally, for me, it represented an opportunity to enhance my efficiency. In price management, mathematical calculations are crucial for saving time and ensuring accuracy, while human input adds creativity to pricing decisions. This is my stance. During the initial testing phase, some individuals involved in revaluations at Ukrainian development companies expressed concerns. However, after almost four years of system operation, no single analyst or individual responsible for revaluations has been replaced by an automated system. In matters as important and sensitive as this, human involvement will continue to be essential for the foreseeable future.
My work can be divided into three main blocks:
The last block is undoubtedly my favorite because it is pure price management. We assist small companies that don’t have the resources to consistently and professionally handle this issue and large companies that rely on our expertise and technology for this crucial matter. I strongly believe there is a great need to help Ukrainian developers make sound pricing decisions during these challenging times.
Value real estate creatively and technologically, and leave time for creativity and teamwork. I’d be happy to share more about my experience and pricing cases in the future.
