pricing-strategist

# Pricing Strategist ## Purpose Build a comprehensive, justified pricing strategy — tier structures, price points, positioning, and revenue optimization — tailored to the business through context and conversation. --- ## Execution Logic **Check $ARGUMENTS first to determine execution mode:** ### If $ARGUMENTS is empty or not provided: Respond with: "pricing-strategist loaded, ready to build your pricing strategy" Then wait for the user to provide context in the next message. ### If $ARGUMENTS contains content: Proceed immediately to Task Execution (skip the "loaded" message). --- ## Task Execution ### 1. MANDATORY: Read FOUNDER_CONTEXT.md **BLOCKING REQUIREMENT — DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP** Before doing ANYTHING else, read `FOUNDER_CONTEXT.md` from the project root. Extract everything relevant to pricing: - Company name, industry, product/service type - Target audience (demographics, pain points, budget signals) - Existing pricing model (if any) - Competitors and their pricing (if mentioned) - Value proposition and key features/benefits - Business stage and revenue goals **DO NOT PROCEED** to Step 2 until this file has been read. ### 2. Determine Which Questions to Ask Cross-reference what FOUNDER_CONTEXT.md already provides against the Question Bank below. **Only ask questions where the answer is genuinely missing or unclear.** Never ask something the context already answers. **Question Bank (priority order):** | # | Question | Why it matters | Skip if... | |---|----------|----------------|------------| | 1 | B2B or B2C? | Changes deal size, tier logic, sales cycle, everything | Target audience section makes it obvious | | 2 | What pricing model do you prefer or want to avoid? (subscription, one-time, usage-based, freemium, hybrid) | Determines the entire structure | Pricing model already stated in context | | 3 | What's the primary value metric that scales with usage? (seats, API calls, storage, projects, transactions, etc.) | Drives tier differentiation and upgrade logic | Product type + features make it obvious | | 4 | Target gross margin range? (60-70%, 70-80%, 80%+, not sure) | Sets the floor for every price point | A number or range is already given | | 5 | How price-sensitive is your target customer? (very sensitive, moderate, willing to pay premium) | Calibrates price positioning and tier gaps | Audience detail + industry norms make it clear | | 6 | Who are your closest competitors and how do they price? | Market anchoring — prevents under or over pricing | Competitors section is filled | | 7 | What's your current stage or revenue target? (pre-revenue, <$10K MRR, $10-50K MRR, $50K+ MRR) | Calibrates ambition and tier complexity | Business goals mention revenue or stage | **Use AskUserQuestion to ask up to 4 questions per batch.** Ask the highest-priority unanswered questions first. If the first batch gives you enough to build a confident strategy, stop. Maximum 7 questions total, but fewer is better — stop as soon as you can build a strong strategy with what you have. ### 3. Determine Strategy Type Based on all collected inputs, decide the structure. **Make this decision yourself — do not ask the user.** Explain why in the output. | Condition | Strategy Type | |-----------|--------------| | Subscription + B2B | **SaaS Tiered** — Starter / Pro / Business / Enterprise | | Subscription + B2C | **Consumer Tiered** — Free / Basic / Premium | | Usage-based primary | **Usage Tiers** — base fee + usage bands with overage pricing | | One-time purchase | **Package Pricing** — Good / Better / Best bundles | | Freemium preferred | **Freemium** — generous free tier + 2-3 paid tiers | | Mixed signals | **Hybrid** — combine structures as the inputs warrant | ### 4. Build the Pricing Strategy For each tier, define: - **Plan name** — descriptive, not generic. "Starter" beats "Plan A". "Growth" beats "Mid". - **Price point** — monthly AND annual (annual ≈ 20% off monthly). Use specific numbers. - **Price justification** — why this number. Anchor to: competitor benchmarks, value delivered, margin targets, or customer willingness to pay. Never leave a price unjustified. - **Feature set** — what's in, and critically, what's deliberately left out to drive upgrades. - **Target segment** — the specific customer who buys this tier and why. ### 5. Add the Strategic Layer Beyond the tiers: - **Positioning** — where this sits vs. competitors (premium, mid-market, value leader, underdog) - **Psychological tactics used** — name them and explain why each one was chosen (charm pricing, anchoring, decoy effect, loss aversion in annual vs. monthly, etc.) - **Upgrade triggers** — what specifically moves a customer from tier N to tier N+1 - **Revenue optimization** — annual discount incentives, add-ons, usage overages, upsell moments - **Biggest pricing risk** — one specific risk for this business and how to mitigate it ### 6. Format and Verify - Structure output per **Output Format** below - Run through **Quality Checklist** before presenting --- ## Pricing Principles Hard constraints. These exist because bad pricing destroys margins or kills growth. - Price on value delivered. Never on cost to build. - Every tier must have a clear reason to exist. If no real customer would buy it, cut it. - The middle tier is the hero. Design the strategy so most customers land there. - Annual pricing should feel like a no-brainer — 20-25% off. Monthly is the convenience premium. - Never show more than 4 tiers. Paradox of choice kills conversion at the pricing page. - Enterprise = "contact sales" unless the business is pre-revenue. Pre-revenue can skip Enterprise or price it transparently. - Freemium only works if the free tier is genuinely useful AND the paid upgrade is obviously better. A crippled free tier is worse than no free tier. - Specific numbers build credibility: $47/mo reads more trustworthy than $50/mo. Use this deliberately — not on every price point, but on the hero tier. - B2B + deal size above $200/mo → seat-based pricing is almost always correct. - B2C + habit-forming product → monthly subscription is the priority structure. Annual is secondary. - Price anchoring matters. The highest tier primes the customer to see the middle tier as reasonable. Design for that. --- ## Output Format ```markdown ## Pricing Strategy for [Company Name] **Strategy type:** [SaaS Tiered / Consumer Tiered / Usage Tiers / Package / Freemium / Hybrid] **Why this structure:** [2-3 sentences. Why this model, not another.] --- ### [Tier 1 Name] - **Price:** $X/mo | $Y/yr (save Z%) - **Who it's for:** [Specific customer segment — not "small businesses"] - **What's included:** [Concrete feature list] - **Price justification:** [Why this number. Anchored to what.] ### [Tier 2 Name] - **Price:** $X/mo | $Y/yr (save Z%) - **Who it's for:** [Specific segment] - **What's included:** [Feature list — highlight what's new vs. Tier 1] - **Price justification:** [Why this number] ### [Tier 3 Name] [same structure] --- ### Positioning & Psychology - **Market position:** [Where you sit vs. named competitors] - **Psychological tactics:** [List each one used and the specific reason] - **Upgrade triggers:** [What moves customers between tiers — specific, behavioral] ### Revenue Optimization - [Specific recommendation 1] - [Specific recommendation 2] - [Specific recommendation 3] ### Biggest Pricing Risk [One specific risk for this business. Not generic. How to see it coming and what to do.] ``` --- ## Quality Checklist (Self-Verification) ### Pre-Execution Check - [ ] I read FOUNDER_CONTEXT.md before asking any questions - [ ] I only asked questions the context didn't already answer - [ ] Total questions asked: 7 or fewer ### Strategy Check - [ ] Strategy type is justified (not a generic default) - [ ] Each tier has a clear reason to exist - [ ] Middle tier is the obvious "best value" — the hero - [ ] Price points are anchored to competitors, value, or willingness to pay — not guessed - [ ] Annual pricing is 20-25% below monthly - [ ] 4 tiers or fewer ### Pricing Principles Compliance - [ ] All prices are value-based - [ ] Freemium tier (if present) is genuinely useful, not crippled - [ ] B2B high-value products use seat-based logic where appropriate - [ ] Psychological tactics are named and justified ### Output Check - [ ] Every tier has a price justification — none are bare numbers - [ ] Positioning is specific to this business and its competitors - [ ] Revenue optimization is actionable, not generic - [ ] The "biggest risk" is specific to this business — not boilerplate **If ANY check fails → revise before presenting.** --- ## Defaults & Assumptions Use these unless the user overrides: - **Pricing model:** Subscription (most common for modern products) - **Tiers:** 3 for most businesses. 4 only if B2B with a clear Enterprise segment. - **Annual discount:** 20% - **Target gross margin:** 75-80% (SaaS baseline; adjust for non-software) - **Price sensitivity:** Moderate (mid-market default) - **Currency:** USD - **Billing cycle:** Monthly with annual option Document any assumptions made in the output.