saas-pricing-strategist – Marketing & SEO skill for AI agents

When to Use

• Use when this upstream workflow matches the user's stated goal.
• Use when the task requires the procedures documented in this skill.

SaaS Pricing Strategist

Use a pricing strategist’s framework; do not claim personal client experience or measured revenue impact. You combine economic theory, behavioral psychology, and real market data to find the price that maximizes revenue.

Pricing Framework

Step 1: Understand the Value Metric

The value metric is what you charge for. It must:

1. Grow with customer usage — as they get more value, they pay more

2. Be predictable — customers can forecast their costs

3. Be simple to understand — no calculator needed

Common Value Metrics:

| Business Type | Good Value Metrics | Bad Value Metrics |

|---|---|---|

| Project Management | Users, Projects | Features, Storage |

| Email Marketing | Contacts, Emails sent | Users, Storage |

| Analytics | Events, Page views | Users, Dashboards |

| API Service | API calls, Tokens | Users, Endpoints |

| Storage | GB stored, GB transferred | Users, Files |

| CRM | Contacts, Revenue managed | Users, Fields |

Step 2: Determine Price Range

Use the Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter — ask 4 questions:

1. At what price would you consider the product so cheap you'd question its quality? (Too Cheap)

2. At what price would you consider the product a bargain? (Cheap)

3. At what price would you consider the product expensive but still worth it? (Expensive)

4. At what price would you consider the product too expensive to consider? (Too Expensive)

Plot the curves to find:

• Optimal Price Point: Where "Too Cheap" and "Too Expensive" intersect
• Indifference Price: Where "Cheap" and "Expensive" intersect
• Acceptable Range: Between the marginal cheapness and marginal expensiveness intersections, not between the optimal and indifference points. Verify curve definitions and respondent consistency before calculation.

Step 3: Tier Design

Follow the Good-Better-Best framework:

┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐
│   Starter   │  │   Growth    │  │   Scale     │
│   $29/mo    │  │   $79/mo    │  │   $199/mo   │
│             │  │             │  │             │
│ • 5 users   │  │ • 25 users  │  │ • Unlimited │
│ • 1K events │  │ • 10K events│  │ • Unlimited │
│ • Basic     │  │ • Advanced  │  │ • Everything│
│   reports   │  │   analytics │  │ + Priority  │
│             │  │ • API access│  │   support   │
│             │  │             │  │ + SSO       │
│             │  │             │  │ + Audit log │
└─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘
    ↑ Anchor        ↑ Target         ↑ Aspiration
    
Illustrative positioning: Growth. Label a plan “Most popular” only with actual supporting purchase data.

Step 4: Psychological Pricing Tactics

| Tactic | Effect | Example |

|---|---|---|

| Charm pricing | Left-digit effect | $79 not $80 |

| Anchoring | High tier makes mid-tier look reasonable | Show Enterprise first |

| Decoy effect | Make target tier look like best deal | Add "feature gap" to push up |

| Annual discount | Lock in + lower churn | "Save 20% with annual" |

| Freemium gate | Drive adoption, convert later | Free up to X, pay above |

| Per-seat expansion | Natural revenue growth | More users = more revenue |

Step 5: Competitive Positioning Matrix

Price ↑
      │
$200  │                    ● Competitor D
      │         ● Competitor C
$100  │                    
      │    ● You (target)
$50   │ ● Comp A    ● Comp B
      │
$0    └──────────────────────────→ Features
      Basic     Good     Best

Pricing Page Copy Template

## [Product Name] Pricing

### Simple, transparent pricing. No hidden fees.

[Toggle: Monthly / Annual (Save 20%)]

| | Starter | Growth | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $29/mo | $79/mo | $199/mo |
| Value Metric | Up to 5 users | Up to 25 users | Unlimited |
| Core Feature | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Advanced Feature | — | ✅ | ✅ |
| Premium Feature | — | — | ✅ |
| Support | Community | Email | Priority + Slack |
| | [Get Started] | [Choose Growth] | [Contact Sales] |

All plans include: [Free features everyone gets]

Pricing Experiment Framework

When testing pricing changes:

1. Measure: Revenue per user (not just conversion rate)

2. Segment: New vs. existing users, by source, by company size

3. Duration: Run for at least 2 full billing cycles

4. Guard rails: Set max revenue drop threshold (e.g., 10%) before stopping

5. Rollback plan: Always have a quick way to revert

Common experiments:

• A/B test tier prices (±20%)
• Test freemium vs. free trial
• Test annual discount (15% vs. 20% vs. 25%)
• Test per-seat vs. flat pricing
• Test add-on pricing vs. all-inclusive

Red Flags in Pricing

🚩 "Let's just undercut everyone" — Race to the bottom, unsustainable

🚩 "One price fits all" — Leaving money on the table from enterprise

🚩 "Free forever for everyone" — No conversion path = no revenue

🚩 "We'll figure out pricing later" — Hard to raise prices after launch

🚩 "Price based on our costs" — Price based on VALUE, not cost

🚩 "Too many tiers" — More than 4 tiers causes decision paralysis

Examples

User: Apply this skill to my current task.
Assistant: Follow the workflow in this skill, cite limitations, and ask before risky steps.

Limitations

• Imported upstream skill; verify credentials, permissions, and safety boundaries before execution.
• Does not replace environment-specific validation, testing, or maintainer review.