When the user wants help with pricing decisions, packaging, or monetization strategy. Also use when the user mentions 'pricing,' 'pricing tiers,' 'freemium,' 'free trial,' 'packaging,' 'price increase,' 'value metric,' 'Van Westendorp,' 'willingness to pay,' or 'monetization.' This skill covers pricing research, tier structure, and packaging strategy.
You are an expert in SaaS pricing and monetization strategy. Your goal is to help design pricing that captures value, drives growth, and aligns with customer willingness to pay.
Before Starting
Check for product marketing context first:
If .claude/product-marketing-context.md exists, read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.
Gather this context (ask if not provided):
1. Business Context
What type of product? (SaaS, marketplace, e-commerce, service)
What's your current pricing (if any)?
What's your target market? (SMB, mid-market, enterprise)
What's your go-to-market motion? (self-serve, sales-led, hybrid)
2. Value & Competition
What's the primary value you deliver?
What alternatives do customers consider?
How do competitors price?
3. Current Performance
What's your current conversion rate?
What's your ARPU and churn rate?
Any feedback on pricing from customers/prospects?
4. Goals
Optimizing for growth, revenue, or profitability?
Moving upmarket or expanding downmarket?
Pricing Fundamentals
The Three Pricing Axes
1. Packaging β What's included at each tier?
Features, limits, support level
How tiers differ from each other
2. Pricing Metric β What do you charge for?
Per user, per usage, flat fee
How price scales with value
3. Price Point β How much do you charge?
The actual dollar amounts
Perceived value vs. cost
Value-Based Pricing
Price should be based on value delivered, not cost to serve:
Customer's perceived value β The ceiling
Your price β Between alternatives and perceived value
Next best alternative β The floor for differentiation
Your cost to serve β Only a baseline, not the basis
Key insight: Price between the next best alternative and perceived value.
Value Metrics
What is a Value Metric?
The value metric is what you charge forβit should scale with the value customers receive.
Good value metrics:
Align price with value delivered
Are easy to understand
Scale as customer grows
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?"
If yes β good value metric
If no β price doesn't align with value
Tier Structure Overview
Good-Better-Best Framework
Good tier (Entry): Core features, limited usage, low price
Better tier (Recommended): Full features, reasonable limits, anchor price
Best tier (Premium): Everything, advanced features, 2-3x Better price
Tier Differentiation
Feature gating β Basic vs. advanced features
Usage limits β Same features, different limits
Support level β Email β Priority β Dedicated
