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Inflation: Living with a New Phenomenon Dear Madam or Sir,  | Editorial | 
Our first edition of “Upgrade” the newsletter, will be published 10 times a year from now on, with the current topic of inflation: Everybody is talking about it, but not everybody is acting on it yet. Inflation on an annual level is around 10% in almost all European countries, in Austria it is currently 9.2%. These are values that entrepreneurs have not seen for decades, and many companies also lack experience in how to deal with such drastic price increases. Almost all companies want to turn the price screw, but most haven’t done it yet and lack a bit of practice at it. The bad realization here is that if everyone passes on prices 1:1, it's pretty much a given fact that inflation won't stop anytime soon. In this newsletter, we'll show you how to make sense of price increases and what the dangers are. As friends of empiricism, we then put a tool at your heart, with which you can quickly find out in which area your customers are willing to pay more for, because you can do everything with a lot of heart, but it is better with a large portion of brain. The main topic is rounded off with current market data (update on the just turning building construction market), a preview of the Sales Excellence Congress and the presentation of the artist of the month, Eduardo Roca, with his imaginary landscapes. I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter,
Dr Frederik Lehner
Managing Director| Interconnection Consulting | | How do I Explain it to my Client? - Practical Tips on Price Increase | Even if you've already discovered a higher beer price at your regulars: Most businesses are planning to raise prices in the next few months, but haven't done so yet. So here we provide some thoughts on how to do it well. Ahead, also read the next post to get it quantitatively right.
Do I need to increase prices at all?
| | What Customers are Willing to Pay More for | If you want to increase prices and ask yourself how high a price increase can be without losing customers, or which feature you could perhaps do without for cost reasons in order to keep prices stable, you will soon realize that this is an extremely risky bet without empirical data. In the following, we present a tool that predicts the behaviour of your customers when prices change or when the offer changes. Along the way, you'll also get information about your brand value.
Price is the most important profit factor for a company.
 | Market Monitor - A Branch Under the Magnifying Glas | Office Furniture Market in Western Europe to Grow by Over 10% in 2022 Turnover in the office furniture market in Western Europe will rise by 10.7% this year and thus continue the high-flying trend it started last year (2021: +13.2%). Besides inflation, turnover is driven by the growth of smart office solutions that support new work concepts, as a study by Interconnection Consulting shows.
Many producers were forced to increase their prices in 2021 or at the latest at the beginning of 2022, due to higher prices for raw materials and energy. "This year, we are also seeing a high increase in inflation, coupled with supply chain issues and limited access to raw materials and supplies. Therefore, we expect further price increases this year," foresees Katarina Gajdova, the author of the study.
Number of the Month
Home office now accounts for 10% of the sales of professional office furniture manufacturers. The industry is increasingly entering the segment that it previously left to its own specialists. | | Interview with Martin Limbeck on the Occasion of the Sales Excellence Congress on November 18, 2022 in Vienna | @ Franca Kircher / Interconnection Consulting | September 2022 How to sell in times of rising prices? "The current economic situation is challenging across all sectors, no question about
that. But burying your head in the sand because of it cannot be a solution. Price adjustments are usually the only way to absorb rising costs due to inflation, energy prices and uncertain supply chains and remain profitable. Of course, this is not a pleasant starting point. Many sellers worry that they won't get any sales at all if they have to adjust their prices. But in my opinion, this is a misconception."
 | Art Tip: Eduardo Roca - Beyond Reality 9.9.2022 -29.9.2022 in Galerie Lehner | Eduardo Roca was born in Almería on October 8, 1973 and graduated from the University of
Fine Arts in Granada. Since 2009, his artworks are of paintings and drawings, Eduardo Roca is based in Vienna. Entitled "Beyond Reality", Eduardo Roca's second exhibition at the Lehner Gallery follows directly on from the block of works entitled Imaginary Landscapes, first presented two years ago. Deep landscapes, expansive horizons with exceptionally technically sophisticated renderings of light and mood are the common basis of Roca's works. 
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