gtm-pricing
Installation
SKILL.md
<quick_start> ICP scoring: 80+ = Ideal | 60-79 = Good | 40-59 = Marginal | <40 = Pass
Positioning statement:
For [target] who [need], [product] is a [category] that [benefit].
Unlike [alternative], our product [differentiator].
Value-based pricing: Price at 10-20% of quantified value delivered
Opportunity score: /100 across Market Fit, Technical Fit, GTM Fit, Personal Fit, Economics </quick_start>
<success_criteria> GTM strategy is successful when:
- ICP documented with scoring criteria (firmographics, technographics, psychographics)
- Positioning statement follows April Dunford framework
- Pricing anchored to quantified value (not cost-plus)
- Tier structure follows Good/Better/Best with clear feature gates
- Opportunity scoring identifies red flags and good signals
- Battle cards created for top 3 competitors
- Launch checklist completed (pre-launch, launch, post-launch) </success_criteria>
<core_content> Comprehensive guide for B2B go-to-market strategy, pricing, and opportunity evaluation.
Quick Reference
| Framework | Purpose | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| ICP Development | Define ideal customer | Before any outreach |
| Positioning | Differentiate in market | Product launch, pivot |
| Messaging Hierarchy | Consistent communication | Sales enablement |
| Competitive Intel | Understand landscape | Deal strategy, positioning |
| Value-Based Pricing | Price by value delivered | Setting initial prices |
| Tier Structure | Package offering | Feature gating decisions |
| Opportunity Scoring | Evaluate fit | New client/project decisions |
Part 1: Go-To-Market Strategy
ICP Development Framework
Build your ICP across three dimensions, then score each prospect:
Dimension 1 -- Firmographics (who they are):
- Company size: employee count range, revenue range
- Industry: primary verticals, secondary, and explicitly excluded
- Geography: target regions, excluded regions
- Company type: startup, growth-stage, enterprise, SMB
- Funding stage: bootstrapped, seed, Series A-D, public/PE-backed
Dimension 2 -- Technographics (what they use):
- Required stack: must-have tech, nice-to-have, incompatible
- Tech maturity: early adopter, early majority, late majority, laggard
- Current solutions: CRM, ERP, industry-specific tools
- Integration requirements: what your product must connect to
- Pain indicators: manual processes, disconnected systems, spreadsheet workarounds
Dimension 3 -- Psychographics (how they buy):
- Awareness stage: unaware, problem-aware, solution-aware, product-aware
- Buying committee: economic buyer, technical buyer, user buyer, champion, blocker
- Decision criteria: primary (speed, cost, features) and secondary
- Risk tolerance: budget concerns, implementation risk, change management, vendor stability
ICP Scoring Rubric:
| Score | Label | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 80-100 | Ideal | Prioritize -- full outreach cadence, executive sponsorship |
| 60-79 | Good | Pursue -- standard cadence, qualify thoroughly |
| 40-59 | Marginal | Conditional -- only if specific signal changes (budget, timing) |
| <40 | Pass | Decline -- opportunity cost too high |
Behavioral Signals to Watch:
- High intent: searched for competitor alternatives, visited pricing page 3+ times, downloaded buyer's guide
- Medium intent: attended webinar, engaged with case study, connected on LinkedIn
- Low intent: blog subscriber, social follower, newsletter open
ICP Validation Checklist:
- TAM/SAM/SOM calculated with minimum 1,000 companies in ICP
- Historical win rate against ICP >30%
- ICP customers have lowest churn and highest NPS
- Sales team, CS, and product all agree on the profile
See reference/gtm.md for full YAML ICP worksheet templates and an example ICP (MEP contractors).
Positioning (April Dunford Framework)
The 5 Components of Positioning:
- Competitive alternatives -- What would customers use if you didn't exist? (Not just direct competitors -- include spreadsheets, manual processes, hiring, doing nothing)
- Unique attributes -- What do you have that alternatives don't? (Features, architecture, team expertise, data, integrations)
- Value -- What does the unique attribute enable for customers? (Time saved, revenue gained, risk reduced, cost avoided)
- Target customer -- Who cares most about that value? (The segment where your strengths matter most)
- Market category -- What market do you position in? (Existing category, subcategory, or create new category)
Positioning Statement Template:
For [target customer segment] who [key need/pain],
[product name] is a [market category]
that [primary value proposition].
Unlike [competitive alternative],
our product [key differentiator tied to unique attribute].
Messaging Hierarchy (3 levels, max 3 differentiators each):
| Level | Audience | Message Type |
|---|---|---|
| Strategic | C-suite, board | Business outcomes, ROI, risk reduction |
| Solution | Directors, VPs | Capability, integration, workflow improvement |
| Persona | End users, admins | Features, UX, daily workflow benefits |
Competitive Battle Card Essentials: For each top-3 competitor, document:
- Overview: founded, HQ, funding, target market, pricing model
- Strengths (acknowledge honestly -- credibility requires it)
- Weaknesses mapped to your advantages
- Common objections with value-based responses
- Win strategy: lead differentiator, proof point, reference story
- Questions to ask the prospect that expose competitor weaknesses
See reference/gtm.md for battle card template, positioning examples, and competitive positioning framework.
GTM Motion and Launch
GTM Motion Selection:
| Motion | ACV | Sales Cycle | Team Needed | CAC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product-Led Growth (PLG) | <$5K | Days | Growth/product | Low |
| Sales-Assisted | $5-50K | Weeks | SDR + AE | Medium |
| Enterprise | $50K+ | Months | AE + SE + CSM | High |
| Partner/Channel | Variable | Variable | Partner Manager | Variable |
Channel Mix: 60-70% primary motion, 20-30% secondary, 10% experimental.
Launch Checklist Milestones:
- T-30 (Pre-launch): ICP validated, positioning finalized, messaging hierarchy complete, battle cards created, pricing approved, sales team trained, demo environment stable
- T-0 (Launch): Website updated, outbound sequences activated, press release distributed, social campaign live, partner notifications sent
- T+30 (Post-launch): Win/loss analysis started, messaging refined from feedback, pipeline reviewed, competitive response documented, metrics dashboard active
See reference/gtm.md for full launch checklists, channel strategy details, and complexity-to-resource matching.
Part 2: Pricing Strategy
Value-Based Pricing Method
Step 1 -- Quantify customer value:
Total Value = Time Savings + Revenue Impact + Cost Avoidance
Time Savings: Hours saved/month x Hourly rate x 12
Revenue Impact: Additional revenue enabled per year
Cost Avoidance: Costs eliminated or reduced per year
Step 2 -- Set price at 10-20% of quantified value:
- 10% = conservative (easy sell, high perceived value)
- 15% = balanced (standard B2B SaaS)
- 20% = aggressive (strong differentiation required)
Step 3 -- Validate against willingness-to-pay:
- Van Westendorp price sensitivity: ask "too cheap / cheap / expensive / too expensive"
- Competitive benchmarking: where do alternatives price?
- Customer interviews: "Would you pay $X for Y outcome?"
Pricing Models
| Model | Best For | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat rate | Simple products | Easy to understand | Doesn't scale with value |
| Per seat | Team tools | Predictable, scales with org | Discourages adoption |
| Usage-based | APIs, infra | Aligns cost with value | Unpredictable revenue |
| Tiered (Good/Better/Best) | Feature differentiation | Anchoring, clear upgrade path | Complex to design |
| Hybrid (seat + usage) | Enterprise SaaS | Predictable base + upside | Complex billing |
Tier Design (Good/Better/Best)
Tier structure principles:
- 3-4 tiers optimal (more creates decision paralysis)
- Middle tier should be your target -- it gets the "Most Popular" badge
- Top tier makes middle tier look reasonable (price anchoring)
- Free tier only if PLG motion (land, qualify, viral growth)
Feature Gating Rules:
| Gate By | Examples | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Scale | Users, API calls, storage, projects | Usage naturally grows with value |
| Sophistication | Advanced analytics, AI features, workflows | Features require maturity to use |
| Control | SSO, SAML, audit logs, custom roles | Enterprise compliance needs |
| Support | SLA, dedicated CSM, phone support | Willingness to pay for service |
Never gate: Security features, data export, basic integrations. Gating these breeds resentment and churn.
Discounting Strategy
| Type | Trigger | Range | Use When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume | Commitment to scale | 10-30% | Large seat count, multi-year |
| Term | Annual commitment | 15-25% | Monthly-to-annual conversion |
| Competitive | Switching from competitor | 20-40% | Match remaining contract value |
| Strategic | Reference customer, logo value | Up to 50% | Brand-name + case study commitment |
Protect your pricing -- never discount when:
- Customer hasn't articulated the value they'll receive
- No competitive pressure exists
- You're early in negotiation (discount later, not first)
- Customer is purely price-shopping (they'll churn anyway)
Alternatives to discounting: Extended payment terms, additional training/onboarding, extended trial period, success-milestone feature unlocks, multi-year lock-in at current rate.
Key SaaS Pricing Metrics
| Metric | Target | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| LTV | >3x CAC | ARPU / monthly churn rate |
| CAC Payback | <12 months | CAC / ARPU |
| NRR | >100% | (Start MRR + expansion - contraction - churn) / Start MRR |
| Gross Margin | >70% | (Revenue - COGS) / Revenue |
See reference/pricing.md for per-model deep dives, price increase playbook, services pricing, productized service model, and revenue model templates.
Part 3: Opportunity Evaluation
Quick Score (/100)
| Dimension | Points | What to Assess |
|---|---|---|
| Market Fit | 25 | Problem clarity (10), market size (8), timing (7) |
| Technical Fit | 20 | Can I build it (10), infrastructure fit (5), maintenance burden (5) |
| GTM Fit | 20 | Sales complexity (8), channel access (7), competition (5) |
| Personal Fit | 20 | Interest/energy (8), growth potential (7), lifestyle fit (5) |
| Economics | 15 | Revenue potential (8), time to revenue (4), risk/reward (3) |
Score Interpretation and Action
| Score | Action | Next Step |
|---|---|---|
| 80-100 | STRONG PURSUE | Prioritize immediately, allocate resources |
| 60-79 | EXPLORE | Worth a time-boxed deep dive (1-2 weeks) |
| 40-59 | CONDITIONAL | Park it -- revisit only if a specific factor changes |
| 0-39 | PASS | Decline -- opportunity cost too high |
Red Flags (Automatic Deductions)
Any of these should subtract 10-20 points from your score:
- Unclear payment terms: "We'll figure out compensation later"
- Expanding scope pre-start: Requirements growing before contract signed
- Pressure to decide fast: "We need an answer by Friday" on a major commitment
- Misaligned incentives: Their success doesn't require your success
- Economics don't work even optimistically: If best-case math doesn't pencil, walk away
- Single-threaded champion: Only one person wants this; no organizational buy-in
- No budget allocated: Interested but no approved spend
GTM Complexity Levels
| Level | Buyer | ACV | Cycle | Decision Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLG | Individual user | <$2K | Days | User = buyer, self-serve |
| Low-Touch | Manager | $2-15K | 1-4 weeks | Light demo, quick approval |
| Mid-Market | Director/VP | $15-100K | 1-3 months | Committee, multiple stakeholders |
| Enterprise | C-suite | $100K-1M | 6-18 months | RFP, security review, legal |
| Complex | Board-level | $1M+ | 12-36 months | Transformation project |
Match complexity to your resources:
- Solo / side project: target Level 1-2 max
- Small team: target Level 2-3
- Funded startup: target Level 2-4
- Enterprise sales org: target Level 3-5
5-Minute Viability Test
Before deep-diving any opportunity, answer four questions:
- How much will one customer pay? $____/month
- How many customers can I realistically get in 6 months? ____
- What does it cost to serve one customer? $____/month
- How many hours/week will this take? ____
Quick math:
- Monthly revenue at 6 months: #2 x #1
- Monthly costs: #2 x #3
- Monthly margin: Revenue - Costs
- Effective hourly rate: Margin / (hours x 4.33)
- If hourly rate < $100 --> needs rethinking
Build vs Partner vs Buy Decision
| Signal | Build | Partner | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core differentiator | Yes | ||
| Commodity capability | Yes | ||
| Complementary strength | Yes | ||
| Time-critical | Yes | ||
| Learning value high | Yes | ||
| Maintenance burden high | Yes | Yes | |
| No good alternative exists | Yes |
See reference/opportunity.md for detailed scoring rubrics per dimension, full scorecard YAML templates, unit economics worksheets, cost structure analysis, break-even calculations, and build-vs-partner decision trees.
Reference Files
reference/gtm.md- ICP YAML templates, behavioral signals, validation checklist, channel strategy, launch playbooks, battle card template, positioning examplesreference/pricing.md- Model deep dives, tier design, price increase playbook, services pricing, discount framework, SaaS metrics dashboardreference/opportunity.md- Full scoring rubrics (5 sections), scorecard YAML, unit economics, cost analysis, break-even formulas, build/partner/buy decision trees </core_content>
Emit Outcome Sidecar
As the final step, write to ~/.claude/skill-analytics/last-outcome-gtm-pricing.json:
{"ts":"[UTC ISO8601]","skill":"gtm-pricing","version":"1.0.0","variant":"default",
"status":"[success|partial|error]","runtime_ms":[estimated ms from start],
"metrics":{"pricing_models_evaluated":[n],"tiers_designed":[n],"gtm_channels_mapped":[n]},
"error":null,"session_id":"[YYYY-MM-DD]"}
Use status "partial" if some stages failed but results were produced. Use "error" only if no output was generated.