| 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):
- Business Context — product type (SaaS, marketplace, e-commerce, service); current pricing; target market (SMB, mid-market, enterprise); GTM motion (self-serve, sales-led, hybrid)
- Value & Competition — primary value delivered; alternatives customers consider; competitor pricing
- Current Performance — conversion rate, ARPU, churn; pricing feedback from customers/prospects
- Goals — optimizing for growth, revenue, or profitability? Moving upmarket or downmarket?
Pricing Fundamentals
The Three Pricing Axes
- Packaging — what's included at each tier (features, limits, support level) and how tiers differ
- Pricing Metric — what you charge for (per user, per usage, flat fee) and how price scales with value
- 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.
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.
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
Pricing Research
Van Westendorp Method
Four questions that identify the acceptable price range:
- Too expensive (wouldn't consider)
- Too cheap (question quality)
- Expensive but might consider
- 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
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
- Grandfather existing — new price for new customers only
- Delayed increase — announce 3-6 months out
- Tied to value — raise price but add features
- Plan restructure — change plans entirely
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).
Pricing Checklist
Before Setting Prices
Pricing Structure
Task-Specific Questions
- What pricing research have you done?
- Current ARPU and conversion rate?
- Primary value metric?
- Main pricing personas?
- Self-serve, sales-led, or hybrid?
- What pricing changes are you considering?
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
