matteotitta Pricing research skill
Gather evidence-based pricing data through structured methodologies. Produces willingness-to-pay ranges, price sensitivity curves, and competitive pricing intelligence that feed into /pricing-strategy for packaging decisions.
Inputs
| Input | Required | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Product/feature to price | Yes | User specifies what's being priced |
| ICP profile | Recommended | /icp-research output |
| Competitor pricing data | Recommended | /competitor-research output or manual gathering |
| Current pricing (if exists) | Optional | User provides existing pricing |
| Target sample size | Optional | Default: 30-50 respondents per segment |
Scope boundary
This skill produces research data. It answers "what are people willing to pay?" and "what does the market charge?"
It does NOT answer:
- How to package features into tiers (that's
/pricing-strategy) - How to structure a freemium vs. trial model (that's
/pricing-strategy) - How to design a pricing page (that's
/landing-page-copy) - Whether to do usage-based vs. seat-based (that's
/pricing-strategyinformed by this research)
Think of this as the evidence gathering that makes pricing-strategy decisions defensible instead of gut-feel.
Methodologies (overview)
Four methodologies are documented in the premium reference. Choose by goal:
| Methodology | Best for | Sample size | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Van Westendorp PSM | Establishing acceptable price range from scratch | 30-50 per segment | PMC / OPP / IDP / PME points + range |
| 2. Gabor-Granger | Testing a shortlist of candidate prices | 30-50 per segment | Demand curve + revenue-max price |
| 3. Conjoint analysis | Pricing multi-feature products with modular packaging | 200+ | Per-attribute utility incl. price |
| 4. Competitive intel | Mapping the market before primary research | Desk research | Competitive pricing matrix |
Default starting point for B2B SaaS under $10M ARR: Van Westendorp + Gabor-Granger + competitive intel. That's 80% of the insight at 20% of the cost. Reach for conjoint only when packaging is genuinely complex.
Van Westendorp — the four questions (most-used pattern)
Present in this exact order:
- Too cheap: "At what price would you consider [product] to be so inexpensive that you'd question its quality?"
- Cheap (good value): "At what price would you consider [product] to be a bargain — a great buy for the money?"
- Expensive (getting pricey): "At what price would you consider [product] to be starting to get expensive — not out of the question, but you'd have to think about it?"
- Too expensive: "At what price would you consider [product] to be so expensive that you'd never consider buying it?"
The four cumulative-distribution intersections produce PMC (point of marginal cheapness), PME (point of marginal expensiveness), OPP (optimal price point), and IDP (indifference price point). Acceptable range = PMC→PME. Optimal zone = OPP→IDP. Full curve plotting + sample survey + practical notes: the premium reference.
When to use Gabor-Granger instead
You already have 3-5 candidate price points; you need a demand curve, not just a range; you want to estimate revenue impact of price changes; you're testing a price increase on existing customers.
Competitive pricing intel — do this first
Desk research before primary research, so you have context for interpreting WTP data. Public pricing pages + review sites + sales intelligence + indirect signals (ARPU implied from customer count + revenue). Track price points per tier, feature gates, billing options, pricing model, discounting signals.
Anti-patterns
Don't do these:
- Asking WTP questions without qualifying respondents first. Non-buyers will skew your data low.
- Blending segments in analysis. Enterprise and SMB WTP data mixed together is useless.
- Treating survey data as ground truth. WTP research shows what people SAY they'd pay, not what they'll actually pay. Real prices are typically 10-20% lower than stated WTP.
- Ignoring competitive context. WTP in a vacuum means nothing. Buyers compare.
- Running pricing research once and treating it as permanent. Markets shift. Re-run annually or when entering new segments.
- Skipping value anchoring. If respondents don't understand the value before you ask about price, their answers are noise.
- Using this skill to make packaging decisions. This is research. Packaging is strategy. Use
/pricing-strategyfor that. - Small sample overconfidence. Under 30 respondents, treat everything as directional, not definitive.
Final ship gate
Run /premortem --output before ship. See /premortem skill for the 5 execution domains (will-it-resonate / will-it-convert / will-it-stay-on-brand / will-stakeholder-push-back / will-it-degrade-over-time) and output template.
Trivial-case escape: ## Premortem\nNo failure modes — trivial change satisfies the contract for genuinely trivial outputs.