# Pricing Strategy — Willingness-to-Pay Research Reference

*Part of the Pricing Strategy skill: https://wavect.io/.well-known/agent-skills/pricing-strategy/SKILL.md*

Three methods for measuring real willingness to pay before you set a price: the Van Westendorp price sensitivity meter, the WTP ladder interview, and the pricing-page A/B test.

## Willingness-to-Pay Research — The Full Methodology

### Method A: Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter

**The four questions (ask each ICP-matching prospect individually):**

1. "At what price would [Product] be so cheap that you'd question the quality?"
2. "At what price would [Product] be a great deal — cheap, but not suspiciously so?"
3. "At what price would [Product] start to feel expensive, but you'd still consider it?"
4. "At what price would [Product] be too expensive to consider, regardless of quality?"

**Sample size requirements:**
- B2B SaaS: minimum 30 qualified ICP-matching prospects (not existing customers,
  who are anchored to your current price)
- Consumer: minimum 100 respondents
- Enterprise: minimum 15 economic buyers (the titles that actually sign)

**Plotting the results:**
- Q1 responses = "Too Cheap" line (rising curve)
- Q2 responses = "Bargain" line (rising curve, shifted right)
- Q3 responses = "Expensive" line (falling curve)
- Q4 responses = "Too Expensive" line (falling curve, shifted left)

Key intersections:
- **Optimal Price Point (OPP)**: Q2 "Bargain" crosses Q3 "Expensive"
- **Acceptable Price Range**: between where Q1 "Too Cheap" crosses Q4 "Too
  Expensive" (lower bound) and where Q3 "Expensive" crosses Q2 "Bargain" (upper bound)
- **Indifference Price Point**: Q1 crosses Q4 (the price where equal numbers
  say "too cheap" and "too expensive")

Price at the OPP or slightly above. If your current price is below the OPP,
you are undercharging. If it is above the "Acceptable Range" upper bound,
you have a conversion problem.

### Method B: Willingness-to-Pay Ladder Interview

In a 1:1 interview (15 minutes), after establishing context:

1. Ask for a reference point: "If you had to compare this to something you
   already pay for, what would you compare it to? What does that cost?"
   (This reveals the mental anchor they will use to evaluate your price)

2. Present a price above your target: "If this cost €[2× target], would you
   still use it?" Listen for the reaction, not just the answer. Hesitation
   followed by "probably not" = the 2× price is above their ceiling.

3. Step down: "What about €[1.5× target]?" / "What about €[target]?"

4. Find the resistance point: at what price does the reaction shift from
   "yes" to "maybe" to "no"? The "maybe" zone is your acceptable range.

5. Ask the most important question last: "What would justify paying €[2× target]?"
   The answer tells you what features or outcomes need to exist to push the
   ceiling up.

### Method C: Pricing Page A/B Test

**Setup:**
- Two variants: current price vs. 25% higher (not 10% — too small to measure)
- Run simultaneously (not sequentially — seasonality distorts results)
- Minimum 200 visitors per variant for statistical significance (use a Bayesian
  calculator — do not stop the test when one variant "looks" better)

**Metric to optimize:**
Revenue per visitor = Conversion rate × ACV

A page with 5% conversion at €100/month = €5 revenue/visitor
A page with 3% conversion at €150/month = €4.50 revenue/visitor (lower)
A page with 3% conversion at €200/month = €6 revenue/visitor (higher — ship this)

Never optimize conversion rate alone. A lower conversion rate with higher ACV
usually indicates a better-qualified customer who will also have lower churn.