Pricing Strategy

What the source does

• FilesystemNone observedNo reads or writes in the source
• NetworkNone observedNo outbound calls in the source
• ShellNone observedNo commands run in the source
• DependenciesPinnedNothing floats
• SecretsNone foundNo keys in source

Five audit layers

Gates applied: no behavioural pass.

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Audit 0.4.1 · source sha 6e3fcbdbb5cf · 19 Oct 2026Report an issue or request a re-scan

• Publisherborghei GitHub userOwner of the repository this skill is read from
• Source folderborghei/Claude-Skills/business-growth/pricing-strategyThe exact folder we audited
• LicenceNOASSERTIONAs the repository states it
• Commit pinned for this verdict6e3fcbdbb5cfA new audit runs when the source changes
• Repository statusNot archivedLast push 12 days ago
• Sandboxed runNot runSkills are read, not executed; layer L4 is skipped

Its description: SaaS pricing design and optimization covering value metric selection, tier architecture, price point research, pricing page design, price increase execution, and competitive pricing analysis.

---
name: pricing-strategy
description: >
  SaaS pricing design and optimization covering value metric selection, tier
  architecture, price point research, pricing page design, price increase
  execution, and competitive pricing analysis.
license: MIT + Commons Clause
metadata:
  version: 1.1.0
  author: borghei
  category: business-growth
  updated: 2026-06-15
  tags: [pricing, monetization, packaging, saas, value-based-pricing, revenue]
---
# Pricing Strategy

Production-grade SaaS pricing framework covering the three pricing axes (value metric, packaging, price point), value-based pricing methodology, tier architecture, pricing research methods, pricing page design, price increase execution, and competitive pricing positioning. Pricing is positioning -- the right price communicates as much about your product as your marketing does.

## Core Capabilities

- **Three pricing axes (in order)** — lock the value metric (how it scales), then packaging (what's in each tier), then test the price point (the number). Most teams skip to price point; that is backwards.
- **Value metric & tier design** — select a metric that scales with customer value and is hard to game; architect Good-Better-Best tiers with deliberate feature allocation and naming.
- **Value-based pricing** — price inside the corridor (above the next-best alternative, below perceived value), at 10-20% of documented value delivered.
- **Pricing research** — Van Westendorp, MaxDiff, competitor benchmarking, willingness-to-pay interviews.
- **Pricing page, price increases & competition** — page design (above/below fold, annual toggle), price-increase playbook (strategy, timeline, comms, impact), competitive positioning and health diagnostics.

## Use when

- The user asks to "design pricing", "set prices", or "choose a value metric"
- Pricing tiers need to be restructured (Good-Better-Best, add/remove tiers, repackage features)
- A price increase is planned and needs execution design (strategy, timing, communication, grandfathering)
- Conversion on the pricing page is flat or declining
- Freemium vs free trial decision needs to be made, or the freemium tier is cannibalizing paid
- Competitor pricing shifts require a positioning response
- The user says "our pricing feels off" or asks for a pricing audit

## Clarify First

Before designing the pricing, confirm these inputs. If any is unknown or vague, ASK — do not assume:

- [ ] **Operating mode** — design from scratch, optimize existing, or price increase (each has a different validation gate and workflow)
- [ ] **Value metric** — how price scales (seats, usage, etc.) (must be locked before tiers and price points)
- [ ] **Current pricing + the symptom** — existing tiers and the specific failure, e.g. "middle tier too narrow" (optimize mode needs a named failure mode before any change)
- [ ] **Target segment + willingness-to-pay** — SMB vs enterprise price sensitivity (sets the value corridor and price points)

Stop rule: ask only the 2-3 that most change the output. If the user says "just draft it," proceed and list your assumptions at the top of the deliverable.

## Operating Modes

- **Mode 1 — Design From Scratch:** No pricing exists or full rebuild needed. Work value metric → tier structure → price points → page design. *Validate:* value metric chosen before tier design; tiers locked before price points; price points tested against the corridor before page design.
- **Mode 2 — Optimize Existing Pricing:** Pricing exists but conversion is low, expansion flat, or customers feel mispriced. Audit, benchmark, find specific improvements. *Validate:* the diagnosis names a specific failure mode (e.g., "middle tier too narrow") before any change is proposed.
- **Mode 3 — Price Increase:** Prices need to go up without burning relationships. *Validate:* grandfather policy defined, communication window set (90+ days for annual customers), and expected churn modeled before the first notice.

## References

Load the reference that matches the task — keep this file lean and pull detail on demand:

- **[references/pricing-models.md](references/pricing-models.md)** — the three pricing axes, value metric selection (table, criteria, red flags), tier architecture (Good-Better-Best, feature allocation, naming), and value-based pricing corridor. Read when designing or restructuring pricing.
- **[references/research-and-page-design.md](references/research-and-page-design.md)** — Van Westendorp, MaxDiff, competitor benchmarking, WTP interviews, pricing page design, and the freemium vs free trial decision. Read when researching willingness-to-pay or designing the page.
- **[references/price-increase-and-competitive.md](references/price-increase-and-competitive.md)** — price increase strategy/timeline/comms/impact, competitive position map and positioning strategy, and pricing health signals. Read when raising prices or positioning against competitors.
- **[references/tools-and-diagnostics.md](references/tools-and-diagnostics.md)** — output artifacts, the three Python scripts (analyzer, sensitivity calculator, increase modeler), troubleshooting table, success criteria, and anti-patterns. Read when producing deliverables, running tools, or debugging a pricing problem.

## Scope & Limitations

**In scope:** Value metric selection, tier architecture design, price point research (Van Westendorp, competitor benchmarking, willingness-to-pay interviews), pricing page design specifications, price increase strategy and execution, freemium vs free trial decision frameworks, competitive pricing analysis and positioning, and pricing health diagnostics.

**Out of scope:** Pricing page visual design and CRO (use page-cro), in-app upgrade prompts and paywalls (use paywall-upgrade-cro), signup flow optimization after pricing page (use signup-flow-cro), churn intervention when churn is the root cause (use churn-prevention), and full competitive analysis beyond pricing (use competitive-teardown). Scripts do not integrate

Excerpt, first 6,000 characters of SKILL.md, verbatim from the audited commit. It is text from someone else’s repository, quoted so you can judge it before your agent reads it.

git clone https://github.com/borghei/Claude-Skills
git -C Claude-Skills checkout 6e3fcbdbb5cf

Works in

1. 2026-10-19
   !CAUTION B 89 / 100

   first audit · source 6e3fcbdbb5cf

Questions about Pricing Strategy

• github.com/borghei/Claude-Skills/tree/main/business-growth/prici — the audited source at commit 6e3fcbdbb5cf and every finding aboveObserved · 19 Oct 2026

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