Framework F091: Value-Based Pricing – Price According to Customer Perceived Value

Discover what your customers truly value—and price with confidence, not guesswork

Pricing isn’t just math. It’s psychology, perception, and strategy combined. If your pricing doesn’t align with what customers believe they’re getting, you lose deals, dilute brand value, and undercut your own growth.

This framework helps startups and innovation teams shift from internal cost-based thinking to value-driven pricing grounded in customer perceived value. You’ll map real value drivers, identify willingness to pay, and close the perception gap to support stronger pricing, higher conversion, and healthier margins​.

What You Will Achieve With This Framework

✔ Identify and rank top functional and emotional value drivers through customer interviews​
✔ Assess willingness to pay (WTP) across customer segments and identify pricing resistance points​
✔ Map the value perception gap—where your messaging and your customers’ beliefs misalign​
✔ Design draft pricing tiers aligned with perceived outcomes, not features​
✔ Use the Value Driver-Pricing Alignment Matrix to prioritize messaging and pricing leverage​

Who This Is For

  • Founders preparing to set pricing for the first time

  • Product marketers refining positioning based on customer value

  • Strategy and pricing leads in B2B or high-complexity innovation segments

  • Corporate ventures seeking a value-based pricing strategy post-pilot

When to Use It

Use this framework when:

  • You’re launching or relaunching and need pricing to reflect real impact

  • You suspect you're underpricing (or mispricing) based on vague internal logic

  • Customers ask for discounts—even when you deliver major results

  • You want to stop competing on features and start charging for outcomes

What This Framework Replaces

✘ Feature-based pricing disconnected from customer impact
✘ Cost-plus or competitor-copy pricing that ignores perception
✘ Value that’s real—but invisible to your market
✘ Discounting habits that weaken brand and margin

How It Fits Into Your Innovation Process

Use this after defining your value proposition (F081) and before pricing tiers (F082). It ensures your pricing is backed by insights, not assumptions—and gives your GTM strategy a strategic edge.

Framework Sections

1. Identify Top Value Drivers

  • Interview 10–20 prospects: “What matters most about solving this problem?”

  • Cluster responses into emotional and functional benefits​

2. Assess Willingness to Pay

  • Use flexible price range prompts to reduce anchoring bias

  • Segment WTP by customer type, size, and urgency​

3. Map the Value Perception Gap

  • Compare internal assumptions vs. customer priorities

  • Highlight over- and under-valued features or outcomes​

4. Build Initial Pricing Insights

  • Design 2–3 draft value-based pricing tiers (e.g., "Basic," "Professional," "Enterprise")

  • Align tiers with outcome intensity, not just feature lists​

5. Use the Value Driver–Pricing Matrix

  • Rate drivers by importance, differentiation, and impact

  • Anchor pricing to high-leverage value dimensions​

6. Final Checklist

  • Includes validation of value drivers, WTP analysis, pricing logic, and pilot readiness