| name | pricing-audit |
| description | 30-point audit of a B2B pricing program across four dimensions — diagnostic data (8 points), reference frames + copy (8 points), tier architecture (8 points), and operating practice (6 points). Produces a 0-100 score, the top 3 levers, and a 90-day remediation order. Loaded by the main pricing skill when the operator asks to audit or grade their pricing. Based on the JMC 30-Point Pricing Audit framework. |
| user-invocable | false |
| allowed-tools | ["Read","Write","Grep"] |
Pricing Audit — sub-skill
The deeper audit. Where pricing-diagnostic runs 3 surfaces fast,
pricing-audit runs 30 checks across 4 dimensions and produces a
prioritized 90-day remediation plan.
Activation
The main pricing skill routes here when the operator says:
- "Audit my pricing program"
- "Grade my pricing 0-100"
- "What's my biggest pricing lever?"
- "Full pricing review"
- "What would Hermann Simon say about my pricing?"
The 30 checks
Dimension 1 — Diagnostic Data (8 checks)
| # | Check | Pass criteria |
|---|
| 1 | WTP discovery recency | Structured WTP method within last 18 months per PSP |
| 2 | WTP method rigor | At least Van Westendorp (n≥20) or Gabor-Granger (n≥30) |
| 3 | PSP segmentation | Distinct WTP distribution per PSP, not single-curve |
| 4 | Close-rate by tier | Close-rate tracked per tier per PSP per quarter |
| 5 | Discount-rate by PSP | Mean + max discount tracked by PSP, monthly |
| 6 | Walk-away tracking | Lost-to-price reasons captured in CRM, weekly |
| 7 | Competitor price tracking | Monthly snapshot of 3-5 direct competitors |
| 8 | Pocket-price calculation | Pocket-price waterfall built + updated quarterly |
Dimension 2 — Reference Frames + Copy (8 checks)
| # | Check | Pass criteria |
|---|
| 9 | Reference frame named | Pricing page anchors on inertia, opportunity cost, or replacement cost (NOT competitor) |
| 10 | Inertia value quantified | Specific number on the page (e.g., "you're solving this today with $X/yr of internal time") |
| 11 | Outcome guarantee present | Outcome-tied guarantee with bounded liability + qualification gates |
| 12 | Loss-aversion copy | De-risking language above the gain-of-switching language |
| 13 | No banned anchors | No cost-plus reasoning, no "we're cheaper than X" |
| 14 | One specific outcome per tier | Each tier has 1-2 outcomes the buyer can self-rate against |
| 15 | Tested copy | Pricing copy has been tested in the last 12 months (A/B or qualitative) |
| 16 | Stakeholder-aware copy | Copy speaks to both the user (technical buyer) and the budget holder |
Dimension 3 — Tier Architecture (8 checks)
| # | Check | Pass criteria |
|---|
| 17 | Three tiers, no more | Three tiers visible on page (Enterprise gate above ~$30K ACV OK) |
| 18 | Decoy designed correctly | Bottom tier is asymmetrically dominated (same metric, strictly less) |
| 19 | Anchor tier exists | Top tier sets the reference frame; ≥3x the target tier price |
| 20 | Value metric is consistent | Same value metric across all tiers (per-seat or per-call, not mixed) |
| 21 | Feature differentiation is clean | Buyer can grok the differences in <30 seconds (test this on a fresh viewer) |
| 22 | Tier landing distribution healthy | ~5-10% decoy / 70-80% target / 10-25% anchor (per last 90 days) |
| 23 | No "Contact Us" below $30K ACV | Numbers visible for everything under mid-market threshold |
| 24 | Annual vs monthly delta is meaningful | Annual prepay = ≥25% discount tied to commercial value, OR removed |
Dimension 4 — Operating Practice (6 checks)
| # | Check | Pass criteria |
|---|
| 25 | Discount policy documented | Tiered approval thresholds (e.g., 0-10% rep, 10-20% manager, 20%+ VP) |
| 26 | Pocket-price waterfall reviewed | Pocket-price waterfall updated + reviewed quarterly |
| 27 | Renewal price increase cadence | Documented annual cadence + 90-day-prior renewal notice |
| 28 | Expansion playbook | Documented expansion-pricing triggers + motion |
| 29 | Quarterly pricing review | Calendar-blocked review with product + sales + finance reps |
| 30 | Failed-test registry | Documented log of pricing tests run + outcomes (especially the failures) |
Workflow
1. Load inputs
From brand-config.json:
pricing.* section (all subfields)
customer.psps[]
From the operator's pricing page URL (if provided):
- Use
WebFetch to grab the live page
- Parse tier structure, copy, value metric
2. Run each of 30 checks
For each check, output one of:
- ✅ PASS
- ⚠️ PARTIAL (with what's missing)
- ❌ FAIL (with the specific gap)
- 🔘 NOT APPLICABLE (with the reason)
3. Calculate score
Score per dimension:
- Dim 1: PASS count × 12.5 (max 100)
- Dim 2: PASS count × 12.5 (max 100)
- Dim 3: PASS count × 12.5 (max 100)
- Dim 4: PASS count × 16.7 (max 100)
Overall = weighted mean: Dim 1 × 0.25 + Dim 2 × 0.25 + Dim 3 × 0.25 + Dim 4 × 0.25.
4. Identify the top 3 levers
Rank failed/partial checks by:
- Magnitude — what's the expected revenue/margin impact?
- Reversibility — how easy to undo if it doesn't work?
- Diagnostic depth — do we know enough to act, or do we need more data first?
Top 3 = highest magnitude × reversibility × diagnostic-depth.
5. 90-day remediation order
For each of the top 3 levers, output:
Lever 1: {description}
Why: {magnitude + impact framing}
Action: {specific sub-skill route — e.g., "Run pricing-pocket-waterfall"}
Owner: {who}
Timeline: {week 1-3 / week 4-6 / week 7-12}
Success metric: {how we'll know it worked}
6. Output format
Pricing Audit — {company}
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
OVERALL: {score}/100
Dimension 1 — Diagnostic Data: {score}/100
✅ {n} pass / ⚠️ {n} partial / ❌ {n} fail
Dimension 2 — Reference Frames + Copy: {score}/100
✅ {n} pass / ⚠️ {n} partial / ❌ {n} fail
Dimension 3 — Tier Architecture: {score}/100
✅ {n} pass / ⚠️ {n} partial / ❌ {n} fail
Dimension 4 — Operating Practice: {score}/100
✅ {n} pass / ⚠️ {n} partial / ❌ {n} fail
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
TOP 3 LEVERS (90-day remediation):
1. {lever 1}
2. {lever 2}
3. {lever 3}
DETAILED CHECK RESULTS:
[full 30-row table]
Self-check
References
../../pricing/references/pricing-framework.md — framework underlying each check
../pricing-diagnostic/SKILL.md — the lighter 3-surface diagnostic
../pricing-tribunal/SKILL.md — for material decisions surfaced by the audit