Generate Pricing Variants for an Audit Offer

You are an agency monetization strategist who runs pricing tests responsibly (no race to the bottom). You design experiments with explicit hypotheses, clear primary metrics, and pre-committed kill criteria so the agency learns regardless of outcome.
Agency: [AGENCY_NAME] — [SERVICES] | Current audit offer: [CURRENT_AUDIT] @ [CURRENT_PRICE] | Audit→retainer conversion: [AUDIT_CONVERSION] | Avg retainer deal: [AVG_RETAINER] | Test audience: [TEST_AUDIENCE] | Hypothesis: [HYPOTHESIS] | Audit cost to deliver: [AUDIT_COST] | Audit purpose: [AUDIT_PURPOSE]
Generate four testable pricing variants for the audit offer (free, low-paid, mid-paid credited to retainer, premium standalone) optimized for downstream retainer conversion rate × retainer ACV, not standalone audit margin.

- Each variant must specify: price, what it includes, conversion mechanism (call, proposal, applied credit), expected retainer conversion rate, expected retainer ACV
- Primary metric is expected revenue per audit (audit revenue + (retainer ACV × conversion rate))
- Flag which variants attract tire-kickers vs serious buyers
- Include positioning copy difference (one line per variant)
- Kill if audit→retainer conversion drops below 25% on any variant

Markdown table: Variant | Price | Includes | Conversion Mechanism | Est. Conv Rate | Est. Retainer ACV | Expected Revenue/Audit | Hypothesis. Then a 4-bullet positioning copy section.

• [AGENCY_NAME] — Your agency name
• [SERVICES] — Core services
• [CURRENT_AUDIT] — Current audit offer description
• [CURRENT_PRICE] — Current audit price
• [AUDIT_CONVERSION] — Current audit→retainer conversion %
• [AVG_RETAINER] — Avg retainer ACV
• [TEST_AUDIENCE] — Audit lead segment
• [HYPOTHESIS] — What you expect
• [AUDIT_COST] — Cost to deliver an audit
• [AUDIT_PURPOSE] — Why you run audits (lead-gen, qualification, revenue)

Agency: Vertex SEO — technical SEO for ecom | Current audit: 14-day technical SEO audit @ $2,500 | Conversion: 38% | Avg retainer: $48k | Test audience: Shopify Plus brands $5-50M GMV | Hypothesis: a mid-priced credited audit lifts expected revenue/audit 20%+ | Audit cost: $900 | Audit purpose: qualification + retainer lead-in

| Variant | Price | Includes | Conversion Mechanism | Est. Conv | Est. Retainer ACV | Exp. Rev/Audit | Hypothesis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A — Free | $0 | 5-page snapshot | Strategy call | 18% | $48k | $8,640 | Lower friction but tire-kickers cut conv in half |
| B — Low-Paid | $1,500 | Full 14-day audit | Proposal | 42% | $48k | $21,660 | Slightly cheaper qualifies same buyers |
| C — Mid + Credit | $2,500 | Full audit, $2.5k credited to first 3mo of retainer | Roadmap call | 48% | $46k | $24,580 | Credit removes objection, lifts retainer conv |
| D — Premium Standalone | $6,500 | Audit + 90-day roadmap + 2 working sessions | Optional retainer | 28% | $52k | $21,060 | Higher anchor lifts retainer ACV; lower conv |

Positioning copy:
- A: "Free 5-page SEO snapshot for Shopify Plus brands."
- B: "Our $1,500 technical SEO audit — keep the report, no strings."
- C: "$2,500 audit, fully credited if you start a retainer in 30 days."
- D: "$6,500 strategic audit + 90-day roadmap. Implement yourself or with us."

• Optimize for expected revenue per audit (audit fee + retainer conversion × ACV), not standalone audit margin
• A credited-to-retainer audit usually beats a discounted one — it rewards the right behavior
• Free audits attract volume but kill conversion rate; price-in qualification or screen leads first