1. ./brands/{brand-slug}/brand-context.md

   -- brand identity, audience, USP

2. ./brands/{brand-slug}/product-marketing-context.md

   -- deep positioning, customer language, objections (read if it exists)

3. ./brands/{brand-slug}/sostac/01-situation.md

   -- competitive landscape, market positioning (read if it exists)

4. ./brands/{brand-slug}/sostac/03-strategy.md

   -- target segments, positioning, phasing

agent-browser

Setup: Before running research, check if

agent-browser

is available (

agent-browser --version

). If the command is not found, install it:

npm install -g agent-browser && npx playwright install chromium

. If installation fails, use

WebFetch

and

WebSearch

tools as alternatives for all research tasks in this section.

1. What is the current pricing structure? (tiers, price points, value metric)
2. What percentage of customers are on each tier?
3. What is the current MRR/ARR and average contract value (ACV)?
4. What is the trial-to-paid conversion rate?
5. What is the monthly churn rate by tier?
6. Who are the top 3-5 direct competitors and what do they charge?
7. Has any pricing research (surveys, interviews, win/loss analysis) been done?
8. When was the last price change and what happened to conversion and churn?
9. What segment does the brand primarily serve: SMB, mid-market, or enterprise?
10. Is pricing self-serve, sales-assisted, or sales-led?

[Floor]                                              [Ceiling]
Next best alternative cost          Customer perceived value (max WTP)
         |_______________________________________________|
                      Acceptable Price Range
                              ^
                          Sweet spot
                    (closer to ceiling for
                      premium positioning)

• Floor: What the customer currently pays for the problem (spreadsheets, a cheaper tool, a manual process, a freelancer). The floor is not your cost to serve -- cost-plus pricing leaves money on the table.
• Ceiling: The maximum the customer would pay before the pain of cost outweighs the value. Determined by willingness-to-pay research (Section 5; full scripts in

  ./references/pricing-research.md

  ).
• Sweet spot: Price between floor and ceiling. For premium brands, price closer to the ceiling. For volume plays, price closer to the floor.

• Problem: Ignores what the customer is willing to pay. In software, COGS is near-zero but value is high. You will systematically underprice.

• Example: If your tool saves a customer $50,000/year in labor, charging $5,000/year captures 10% of the value -- excellent deal for the customer, strong business for you.

• If you price significantly below competitors, customers assume lower quality (even if you are better).
• If you price above competitors, you must justify the premium with visible differentiation.
• Undifferentiated products compete on price. Differentiated products command premiums.

1. Correlation test: Does the customer's value increase as they use more of this metric? If yes, it is a valid metric.
2. Expansion test: As the customer grows and succeeds, do they naturally consume more of this metric? Expansion revenue depends on this.
3. Comprehension test: Can the customer easily predict their bill and understand why they are charged what they are? Unpredictable billing creates churn.

• Charging per user when users are consumers (not producers) of value -- leads to license sharing.
• Usage-based pricing when the product is hard to predict -- customers cap usage to control costs, limiting your growth.
• Flat fee when the product serves radically different customer sizes -- you will undercharge enterprise and overcharge SMB.

• Usage-based: expand automatically as volume grows.
• Seat-based: add users as team grows.
• Feature-gating: customers upgrade when they hit a limit they value.

• Value metric limits (seats, contacts, API calls, projects) -- quantitative gates that create natural upgrade triggers
• Power features (advanced analytics, automation, API access, custom integrations) -- qualitative gates for advanced users
• Workflow features (approval flows, multi-user collaboration, audit logs) -- organizational gates for teams and enterprises
• Support tier (community-only, email support, priority support, dedicated CSM) -- service differentiation
• Security and compliance (SSO/SAML, custom data retention, SOC2 docs, SLA) -- enterprise table-stakes

• Core features that define your product's promise -- gating these creates a "crippled free plan" that frustrates users
• Features necessary for the customer to reach their first success moment (aha moment)
• Integration with tools the customer already depends on (unless your integrations are a premium moat)

• Journey-based: Starter > Growth > Scale
• Role-based: Individual > Team > Enterprise
• Outcome-based: Launch > Grow > Dominate
• Brand-specific: name after your brand's personas or values

• Charm pricing: Prices ending in 9 ($49, $99, $199) outperform round numbers in most contexts. The exception is luxury/premium positioning where round numbers ($50, $100, $200) signal confidence.
• Anchoring: Lead with the highest price first (either the enterprise tier or the annual plan) to set the anchor. Everything after looks cheaper by comparison.
• Price-quality signal: In premium markets, a higher price communicates higher quality. Do not undercut if positioning as best-in-class.
• Monthly vs annual display: Show annual price as monthly equivalent ("$83/mo, billed annually") to reduce sticker shock while capturing the annual commitment.

• Increases of 10-20% rarely cause significant churn if communicated well.
• Increases of 20-40% require strong justification (major new value delivered).
• Increases over 40% require grandfathering existing customers and a long transition window.

• Three-column layout for three tiers. Most popular tier in the center with visual emphasis (border, badge, background color).
• Tier order: For premium brands, list most expensive on the left (anchors high). For accessibility-first brands, list cheapest on the left. Most common: cheapest left, enterprise right.
• "Most Popular" badge: Place on the recommended tier. This is the tier with the highest margin or the best fit for the core persona.
• Annual/monthly toggle: Default to annual. Show toggle at the top of the pricing section, above the tier cards.
• Enterprise CTA: "Contact sales" or "Talk to us" -- not a price. Offer a calendar link or contact form.

1. Tier name (large, bold)
2. Target customer descriptor ("For growing teams" -- 1 line, italicized or subdued)
3. Price (large number) + billing period ("per month, billed annually")
4. Annual savings callout ("Save $240/year")
5. Primary CTA button (full-width, prominent)
6. Feature list (5-8 items maximum; use checkmarks; lead with most important)
7. "Everything in [lower tier], plus:" pattern for mid and top tiers

• Maximum 20-25 rows (not 50). Group into categories (Core features, Collaboration, Analytics, Support, Security).
• Use checkmarks, X marks, and specific values (e.g., "10 users", "Unlimited", "Custom").
• Highlight the recommended tier column.
• Most important differentiators at the top of each category.

• Headline: Value-focused ("Everything you need to [achieve outcome]"). Not "Our Pricing Plans."
• Subheadline: Reinforce value, address price anxiety ("No hidden fees. Cancel anytime.")
• Annual/monthly toggle immediately below

• FAQ section (6-10 questions): "Can I upgrade or downgrade?", "What happens when I hit my limit?", "Do you offer a free trial?", "Is there a setup fee?", "What payment methods do you accept?", "Can I cancel anytime?", "Do you offer discounts for nonprofits/students/startups?", "What does enterprise include?"
• Trust signals: logo strip of recognizable customers, number of customers or reviews, money-back guarantee badge, security badges (SOC2, SSL)
• Final CTA: Repeat the primary CTA below the FAQ ("Still have questions? Talk to our team.")

• Stack tier cards vertically; show recommended tier first.
• Sticky CTA button at the bottom of the viewport.
• Collapse the feature table by default with "See all features" toggle.
• Reduce FAQ to 4-5 most critical questions.

• Win rate above 70-80% consistently (you are not losing enough deals on price)
• Customers express surprise at how cheap the product is
• NPS is high (above 50) -- customers love the product enough to pay more
• Significant new value delivered (major features shipped since last price review)
• Market rates have risen (competitor price increases)
• Churn is low and driven by factors other than price

1. Test on new customers first (60-90 days): Raise prices for new signups. Monitor impact on trial-to-paid conversion and MRR per signup. If conversion does not drop significantly, proceed to existing customers.
2. Grandfather a segment: Long-tenured customers (2+ years) or high-NPS customers may be grandfathered permanently or for 12 months. Communicate this as a loyalty reward.
3. Give 60-90 days notice to existing customers. Send communication the day of announcement.
4. Tie the increase to value: Announce new features or improvements alongside the price change. The communication should lead with what is new, not the price change.
5. Offer a lock-in option: Let existing customers prepay at the old price for 12 months. This generates upfront cash and softens the transition.
6. Monitor churn weekly during the transition. If churn spikes above 2x baseline, pause and reassess.

./references/pricing-research.md

• Annual increases of 3-8% (inflation-aligned) are generally accepted without churn impact.
• Increases of 10-20% tied to new value are manageable with good communication.
• Restructuring pricing (new tiers, new value metric) is riskier -- treat as a product launch.
• Frequency: price reviews annually. Avoid more than one significant price change per year.

1. Read brand context and SOSTAC (Section 0). Always. Pricing without positioning is guesswork.
2. Run the Pricing Diagnosis (Section 1): Classify the problem type. Ask the audit questions before delivering recommendations.
3. Run Research Mode if competitive data is needed: scrape competitor pricing pages with

   agent-browser

   before recommending price points.
4. Deliver specific recommendations: Named tiers, specific price points, specific feature gates -- not "consider a three-tier model." Real pricing decisions.
5. Produce the deliverable: Write the pricing strategy doc and pricing page copy to

   ./brands/{brand-slug}/campaigns/pricing/

   .
6. Recommend research next steps: If price points are uncertain, prescribe the right research method from Section 5 and link to the reference scripts in

   ./references/pricing-research.md

   (includes method selection quick-reference in Section 5).

• Conversion rate optimization on the pricing page (button placement, page speed, UX testing) -- route to CRO / web specialist.
• Pricing communications via email drip to existing customers -- use marketing-email skill for sequence design.
• Competitive intelligence beyond pricing (ad creative, SEO strategy) -- route to marketing-paid-ads or marketing-seo skill.
• Legal review of pricing terms, contracts, or refund policies -- flag for legal counsel.
• Financial modeling of pricing change impact on ARR / LTV -- recommend finance team involvement.
• Full go-to-market launch of a new pricing model -- route to marketing-sostac skill for SOSTAC plan update.