Price Three Option Proposal

---
name: price-three-option-proposal
description: Writes the price section of a proposal with one to three real options that differ in scope and outcome, the fee by phase from your own numbers, the assumptions the price rests on, plain terms and dated next steps, with no decoy, anchor or deadline. Use for "run price-three-option-proposal", "give the client options", "good better best proposal", "write the fee section", "how do I present the price", "stop sending one number", "build the options for this client", part of the Pricing Under AI Pressure Pack by Polar Bear.
---

# Three-Option Proposal

## When To Use
You send one take-it-or-leave-it number and the client can only say yes, no or cheaper. Run it once the price is set, so the client chooses between real answers to their objective instead of haggling over one figure.

## When Not To Use
If you sell the same standard offer to everyone, the Productized Service Sheet already carries its price. Once the client has said yes, fix the scope with the Statement of Work.

## Inputs
- The client's objective, in their words, and the decision date if they gave one.
- Your price from the Value-Based Pricing Worksheet or Outcome-Based Pricing Plan, your floor, effort by phase, your standard terms, and the client's budget only if they stated it.
If you have none of this, I start from the objective and your floor, and every figure stays "[draft until you approve]".

## Approach
Good, better, best packaging as described by Simon-Kucher (2025), with the decoy and anchoring effects that article also describes removed: every option is a real offer. The judgment is in how many options exist at all. The failure it prevents: a padded top option nobody is meant to pick, which the client spots, and from then on reads the whole proposal as a sales trick.

## Workflow
1. I ask up to three questions: the objective in the client's words, the price and floor you have set, and the client's decision date.
2. How many options: each must be a distinct answer to the objective you would gladly deliver at that price, and the client must be able to say in one sentence what option B does that A does not. If only one exists, one option is the honest proposal and the page says so.
3. Options differ in scope and outcome (a first result, the full result, or the full result with you staying through adoption), never only in price. No option is there to make another look good.
4. Fee by phase or deliverable from your numbers, the fee model per option in one line, the payment schedule. If the client gave a budget, the page says which option fits it and why the others do not.
5. Five to eight assumptions that, if wrong, change the number: client availability, state of existing material, people in reviews, revision rounds, start date, what triggers a change request.
6. Terms in plain words: validity, payment, scope change, ownership. Anything beyond plain commercial terms: check with a qualified adviser. Next steps: three to five, each with a date and an owner on each side. No expiry pressure.
7. Internal notes hold your floor as "do not go below" and never reach the client copy. If you are asked to lower the number, I show what scope to remove instead.

## Output Format
```markdown
# Three-Option Proposal
Client: [client] | Objective: [their words] | Version: [draft until you approve]
## Options
| Option | What the client gets | Outcome | What it adds over the one before |
|---|---|---|---|
| [A] | [scope] | [result] | [n/a] |
| [B] | [scope] | [result] | [one sentence] |
## Fee by phase
| Phase or deliverable | Option A | Option B | Option C |
|---|---|---|---|
| [phase] | [figure] | [figure] | [figure] |
| Fee model and schedule | [one line] | [one line] | [one line] |
## Assumptions the price rests on
1. [assumption that would change the number]
## Terms
- [validity, payment, scope change, ownership, in plain words]
## Actions and dates
| Step | Owner | Date |
|---|---|---|
| [walk through together] | [role] | [date] |
## Internal notes (never in the client copy)
- Do not go below: [your floor] | Scope to remove if asked for less: [items]
## Decision
[You approve the options and figures, and the client picks one by [decision date].]
```

## Done When
- Each option passes the one-sentence difference test.
- Every figure comes from your numbers and is approved by you; the floor appears only in internal notes.

## Quality Bar
- No option you would be unhappy to deliver.
- No discount written in, no "price valid until Friday", and plain terms only; the rest goes to a qualified adviser.
- Each option is a real offer; no decoys, anchors or deadlines.

## Next
Run price-conversation-prep (Price Conversation Prep Sheet) to prepare walking the client through it.

## About the makers

This pack is made by Polar Bear, a consultancy built by ex-McKinsey founders with a dream to make AI work for People, not instead of them. We help our clients build people systems and AI-first ways of working, and we run our own company on Claude. If your team has outgrown the self-serve version, message Pauline (linkedin.com/in/paulinebertry).