mohitagw15856
513e1d3ce7
- Synced 97 existing skill SKILL.md files from skills/ to their plugin bundle copies - Added 7 new skills to plugin bundles: - seo-content-brief, media-pitch -> pm-gtm - tax-planning-checklist -> pm-finance - change-management-plan -> pm-hr - sales-forecasting-model -> pm-sales - workshop-facilitation-guide -> pm-operations - teaching-lesson-plan -> pm-cross Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
138 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
138 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
---
|
||
name: pricing-strategy
|
||
description: "Structure pricing strategy decisions, packaging options, and tier design for SaaS and digital products. Use when reviewing or setting pricing, designing pricing tiers, evaluating freemium vs paid, or preparing a pricing change. Produces a pricing strategy recommendation with model rationale, tier structure, competitive positioning, and rollout plan."
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
# Pricing Strategy Skill
|
||
|
||
Build pricing that reflects value delivered — not cost to build. Structure every pricing decision with customer segmentation, value metric identification, competitive context, and a packaging recommendation.
|
||
|
||
## Pricing Foundations
|
||
|
||
Three questions to answer before any pricing decision:
|
||
1. **Who is our buyer?** (Role, company size, willingness to pay)
|
||
2. **What value do we deliver?** (Quantifiable outcome — time saved, revenue generated, risk reduced)
|
||
3. **What is our pricing model?** (Per seat, usage-based, flat, hybrid)
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## Pricing Models
|
||
|
||
| Model | Best For | Risk |
|
||
|---|---|---|
|
||
| **Per Seat** | Collaboration tools, team software | Disincentivises adoption as team grows |
|
||
| **Usage-Based** | APIs, infrastructure, consumption tools | Revenue unpredictability for both sides |
|
||
| **Flat Rate** | Simple tools, early-stage | Leaves money on table from power users |
|
||
| **Tiered** | Products with clear user segments | Feature gatekeeping frustrates users |
|
||
| **Freemium** | Viral/PLG products with low marginal cost | Conversion to paid is hard to engineer |
|
||
| **Value-Based** | Enterprise, outcomes-driven products | Requires strong ROI story |
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## Freemium Decision Framework
|
||
|
||
Use freemium when:
|
||
- ✅ Marginal cost per free user is near zero
|
||
- ✅ Product is inherently viral (network effects or sharing)
|
||
- ✅ Free tier creates genuine value (not just a demo)
|
||
- ✅ Clear upgrade trigger exists (feature, volume, or team size)
|
||
- ✅ Conversion benchmark is realistic (2–5% free-to-paid is typical)
|
||
|
||
Avoid freemium when:
|
||
- ❌ Support cost per free user is high
|
||
- ❌ No natural upgrade trigger in the product
|
||
- ❌ Core value requires features you'd need to gate
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## Packaging / Tiering Framework
|
||
|
||
Recommended 3-tier structure for SaaS:
|
||
|
||
| Tier | Target | Price Signal | Key Features | Lock-in Mechanism |
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||
| **Free / Starter** | Individual, early discovery | $0 | Core value, usage-limited | Invite colleagues, export limit |
|
||
| **Pro / Growth** | SMB, growing teams | $[X]/seat/mo | Full features, higher limits | Team collaboration, integrations |
|
||
| **Business / Enterprise** | Mid-market, enterprise | $[X]/seat/mo or custom | Admin, SSO, SLAs, dedicated support | Security, compliance, volume |
|
||
|
||
Tier design rules:
|
||
- Each tier should be genuinely sufficient for its target segment
|
||
- The upgrade trigger should be felt naturally — not manufactured
|
||
- Price jumps of 3–5x between tiers are normal and defensible
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## Competitive Pricing Context
|
||
|
||
| Competitor | Model | Price | Key Differentiator |
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
||
| [Name] | [Model] | [Price] | [What they lead with] |
|
||
|
||
Positioning options:
|
||
- **Premium:** Price 20–40% above market. Justify with enterprise features, support, or brand.
|
||
- **Parity:** Match the market leader. Win on product or distribution.
|
||
- **Value:** Price below market. Win on volume. Dangerous without strong unit economics.
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## Output Format
|
||
|
||
### Pricing Strategy Recommendation — [Product] — [Date]
|
||
|
||
**Current State:** [What pricing exists today, if any]
|
||
**Problem to Solve:** [Why pricing is being reviewed]
|
||
|
||
**Recommended Pricing Model:** [Model name + rationale]
|
||
|
||
**Value Metric:** [The single unit that scales with customer value — e.g., "active users", "API calls", "documents processed"]
|
||
|
||
**Proposed Tiers:**
|
||
|
||
[Table using 3-tier structure above]
|
||
|
||
**Free-to-Paid Upgrade Trigger:** [Specific moment or threshold that creates natural upgrade pressure]
|
||
|
||
**Competitive Position:** [Premium / Parity / Value + reasoning]
|
||
|
||
**Pricing Change Rollout (if applicable):**
|
||
- Grandfathering: [Yes / No — recommendation and rationale]
|
||
- Communication plan: [How to tell customers + timing]
|
||
- Rollback plan: [Under what conditions you'd revert]
|
||
|
||
**Risks:**
|
||
- [Risk] → Mitigation: [Action]
|
||
|
||
**Metrics to Monitor Post-Change:**
|
||
- Conversion rate (free to paid)
|
||
- Churn rate by tier
|
||
- Average revenue per user (ARPU)
|
||
- Expansion revenue
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## Required Inputs
|
||
|
||
Ask the user for these if not provided:
|
||
- **Product or service** being priced
|
||
- **Current pricing** (if any — and why it's being reviewed)
|
||
- **Target customer segments** (size, role, willingness to pay)
|
||
- **Key competitors and their pricing** (if known)
|
||
- **Business model** (SaaS / Marketplace / Usage-based / Other)
|
||
- **Primary goal** (grow adoption / increase ARPU / reduce churn / new market entry)
|
||
|
||
## Quality Checks
|
||
|
||
- [ ] Value metric is defined (the unit that scales with customer value)
|
||
- [ ] Free-to-paid upgrade trigger is specific (not "when they need more")
|
||
- [ ] Competitive positioning is chosen and justified (premium / parity / value)
|
||
- [ ] Pricing change rollout plan includes grandfathering decision
|
||
- [ ] Counter-metrics are defined to catch perverse incentives
|
||
- [ ] Risks have specific mitigations (not just listed)
|
||
|
||
## Guidelines
|
||
|
||
- Never price based on cost — price based on value delivered to the customer
|
||
- Always A/B test price changes where possible; use geographic holdouts if A/B isn't feasible
|
||
- Recommend annual pricing with 15–20% discount — improves cash flow and reduces churn
|
||
- If enterprise pricing is "contact us", recommend adding a price floor to qualify inbound
|