Price Change Rollout

---
name: price-change-rollout
description: "Plan a price change as a migration, not an edit — grandfathering, cohort sequencing, renewal-timing, comms, and the guardrail metrics (GRR, contraction, leakage, win-rate) to watch. Reach for this when raising prices, repackaging, migrating models (e.g. seat to usage), or simplifying a price card. Pairs with packaging-and-tiering and the price-change-rollout-plan template."
---

# Skill: Price-Change Rollout

A price change is a migration of an installed base, not an edit to a price card. The
new number is the easy part; grandfathering, sequencing, timing, and comms are the
deliverable. A new price card with no migration plan is half an answer.

## Step 0 — One opinion up front
**Never migrate everyone at once.** Sequence by cohort and renewal date so you can
read the churn/contraction/leakage signal on the first cohort before you've committed
the whole base.

## Step 1 — Name the goal (it sets the mechanics)
Which change is this?
- **Margin recovery** (raise prices) — grandfathering + comms are the risk.
- **Repackaging** (move features between tiers) — contraction/upgrade paths are the risk.
- **Model migration** (e.g. per-seat → usage) — bill-shock + trust are the risk.
- **Simplification** (fewer tiers/SKUs) — orphaned customers are the risk.

## Step 2 — Set the grandfathering policy
Decide who stays on the old price, for how long. A price increase that hits the loyal
base first is how you manufacture churn. Common: existing customers grandfathered for
a defined window (e.g. 12 months or until a major renewal), new customers on the new
price immediately.

## Step 3 — Sequence the cohorts
- Order by renewal date and by risk (start with a cohort you can afford to learn on).
- Change **at renewal**, not mid-term, to respect contracts and reduce surprise.
- Define the go/no-go between cohorts: what guardrail reading pauses the rollout.

## Step 4 — Plan the comms
- The increase should **never first appear on an invoice.** Lead with the value
  narrative, then the change, then the bill.
- Give notice consistent with the contract and the relationship.
- Arm the team with the "why" and the concession ladder (see Step 6).

## Step 5 — Instrument the guardrails
Watch on the changed cohort (definitions in [`../../knowledge/monetization-metrics.md`](../../knowledge/monetization-metrics.md)):
- **GRR & contraction** — are customers leaving or downgrading more than modeled?
- **Discount leakage** — is the new list price holding, or is the field discounting it back?
- **Win-rate** (new business) — did the new price dent acquisition?
Set thresholds that trigger a pause/rollback *before* you start.

## Step 6 — Prepare the rollback / concession plan
Have the concession ladder ready (what you'll offer a churning key account) and the
rollback trigger defined. A change with no exit plan is a bet, not a plan.

## Output
A price-change migration plan using [`../../templates/price-change-rollout-plan.md`](../../templates/price-change-rollout-plan.md):
goal, grandfathering policy, cohort sequence + go/no-go, comms plan, guardrail metrics
+ thresholds, and the rollback/concession plan. Hand the revenue/margin impact model
to `finance`.