pricing-strategy

name	pricing-strategy
description	When the user wants help with pricing, packaging, or monetization — 'pricing tiers,' 'freemium,' 'value metric,' 'Van Westendorp,' 'willingness to pay,' 'how much should I charge,' 'annual vs monthly,' 'per seat pricing,' 'should I offer a free plan.' For in-app upgrade screens, see paywall-upgrade-cro.
category	marketing
tier	on-demand

Pricing Strategy

Design pricing that captures value, drives growth, and aligns with customer willingness to pay.

Before Starting

Product context: If .agents/product-marketing-context.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing-context.md in older setups), read it first and tailor output to it; only ask for what it doesn't cover.

Gather (ask if not provided):

1. Business Context — product type (SaaS, marketplace, e-commerce, service); current pricing; target market (SMB, mid-market, enterprise); GTM motion (self-serve, sales-led, hybrid)
2. Value & Competition — primary value delivered; alternatives customers consider; competitor pricing
3. Current Performance — conversion rate, ARPU, churn; pricing feedback from customers/prospects
4. Goals — optimizing for growth, revenue, or profitability? Moving upmarket or downmarket?

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Pricing Fundamentals

The Three Pricing Axes

1. Packaging — what's included at each tier (features, limits, support level) and how tiers differ
2. Pricing Metric — what you charge for (per user, per usage, flat fee) and how price scales with value
3. Price Point — actual dollar amounts; perceived value vs. cost

Value-Based Pricing

Price on value delivered, not cost to serve: customer's perceived value is the ceiling; next best alternative is the floor for differentiation; your cost to serve is only a baseline, not the basis.

Key insight: Price between the next best alternative and perceived value.

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Value Metrics

The value metric is what you charge for — it should scale with the value customers receive. Good value metrics align price with value delivered, are easy to understand, scale as the customer grows, and are hard to game.

Common Value Metrics

Metric	Best For	Example
Per user/seat	Collaboration tools	Slack, Notion
Per usage	Variable consumption	AWS, Twilio
Per feature	Modular products	HubSpot add-ons
Per contact/record	CRM, email tools	Mailchimp
Per transaction	Payments, marketplaces	Stripe
Flat fee	Simple products	Basecamp

Choosing Your Value Metric

Ask: "As a customer uses more of [metric], do they get more value?" Yes → good value metric; no → price doesn't align with value.

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Tier Structure Overview

Good-Better-Best Framework

Good (Entry): core features, limited usage, low price. Better (Recommended): full features, reasonable limits, anchor price. Best (Premium): everything, advanced features, 2-3x Better price.

Tier differentiation: feature gating (basic vs. advanced), usage limits (same features, different limits), support level (Email → Priority → Dedicated), access (API, SSO, custom branding).

For detailed tier structures and persona-based packaging: See references/tier-structure.md

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Pricing Research

Van Westendorp Method

Four questions that identify the acceptable price range:

1. Too expensive (wouldn't consider)
2. Too cheap (question quality)
3. Expensive but might consider
4. A bargain

Analyze intersections to find the optimal pricing zone.

MaxDiff Analysis

Show sets of features; ask which is most/least important; results inform tier packaging.

For detailed research methods: See references/research-methods.md

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When to Raise Prices

Signs It's Time

• Market: competitors raised prices; prospects don't flinch; "It's so cheap!" feedback
• Business: very high conversion (>40%); very low churn (<3% monthly); strong unit economics
• Product: significant value added since last pricing; product more mature/stable

Price Increase Strategies

1. Grandfather existing — new price for new customers only
2. Delayed increase — announce 3-6 months out
3. Tied to value — raise price but add features
4. Plan restructure — change plans entirely

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Pricing Page Best Practices

Above the fold: clear tier comparison table, recommended tier highlighted, monthly/annual toggle, primary CTA per tier.

Common elements: feature comparison table, who each tier is for, FAQ, annual discount callout (17-20%), money-back guarantee, customer logos/trust signals.

Psychology: anchoring (show higher-priced option first); decoy effect (middle tier = best value); charm pricing ($49 vs. $50, for value-focused); round pricing ($50 vs. $49, for premium).

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Pricing Checklist

Before Setting Prices

• Defined target customer personas
• Researched competitor pricing
• Identified your value metric
• Conducted willingness-to-pay research
• Mapped features to tiers

Pricing Structure

• Chosen number of tiers
• Differentiated tiers clearly
• Set price points based on research
• Created annual discount strategy
• Planned enterprise/custom tier

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Task-Specific Questions

1. What pricing research have you done?
2. Current ARPU and conversion rate?
3. Primary value metric?
4. Main pricing personas?
5. Self-serve, sales-led, or hybrid?
6. What pricing changes are you considering?

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Related Skills

• churn-prevention — cancel flows, save offers, reducing revenue churn
• page-cro — pricing page conversion
• copywriting — pricing page copy
• marketing-psychology — pricing psychology principles
• ab-test-setup — testing pricing changes
• revops — deal desk processes and pipeline pricing
• sales-enablement — proposal templates and pricing presentations