First of all, the Federal government doesn't really adjust the prime rate. It adjusts the fed funds rate, which have far-reaching effects by influencing the borrowing cost of banks in the overnight lending market, and subsequently the returns offered on bank deposit products such as certificates of deposit, savings accounts, and money market accounts. That in turn influences the prime rate (those two are tied together). Some effects of the adjustment are: increased profit for banks, possibly lower borrowing ability of different organizations (like banks) or private customers. Hence bankers, lenders, investors, etc. are following closely on what the rate is and more importantly some predictions on what it's going to be like tomorrow, in 3,6,12 months. All those parties want to know how much to charge (for lenders), and how much a loan would cost (for borrowers) in the future.

People lend money by investing in debt instruments, such as Annuities, Treasury bills and bonds. In this scenario, the investor receives periodic payments (annuity payments) and a lump sum when the debt instrument matures. This stream of cash flows is valued as follows:
market value = annuity payment × annuity factor i,n + maturity value × present value factor i,n
Here:
market value = value of the debt instrument
annuity payment = amount of the payment that is made each period; it is equal to the interest rate stated on the debt instrument multiplied by the face value of the debt instrument
annuity factor = a number obtained from an ordinary annuity table that is determined by the interest rate (i) and the number of annuity payments (n).
maturity value = amount received by the investor when the instrument matures, also known as the face value of the debt instrument
present value factor = a number obtained from a present value table that is determined by the interest rate (i) and the number periods until maturity (n).
When an investor purchases a debt instrument, the following factors are "fixed": (1) the amount of each annuity payment, (2) the amount of the maturity value, and (3) the number of periods until maturity (this is also the number of annuity payments that will be received in the future). As interest rates increase, the market value of the investment will decrease; that is, the price of debt securities is inversely related to the market rate of interest (which is tied to the Prime rate).

I would let my employees offer trade discounts, depending on the particular trade market. The idea here is pretty much standard: offer a competitive price which would be appealing to the buyer (beating the rivals) and, at the same time, profitable to us.