Suede Offer Architecture

Suede separates the offer underneath the page from the copy used to present it. Improve the real value exchange—outcome, proof, effort, time, scope, bonuses, guarantee, price structure, and honest constraints—before polishing language around a weak proposition.

Before Starting

Check for product marketing context first: If .agents/product-marketing.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing.md, or the legacy product-marketing-context.md filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

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Core Philosophy

The offer is the thing, not the page. Better copy on a weak offer compounds slowly. A stronger offer with average copy converts immediately. Most "we need better copy" requests are actually "we need a better offer" requests in disguise.

This skill owns the offer underneath the expression. Route sales-page language to suede-copy, conversion-path work to suede-site-alchemy, tier structure to suede-pricing, launch orchestration to suede-campaign-in-a-box (creator and artist launches) or suede-marketing-plan (product and service launches), and upgrade prompts to suede-paywalls.

When this skill matters

You sell:

• Services — consulting, freelance, agency retainers, productized services
• Courses — async, cohort-based, live
• Coaching — 1:1, group, mastermind
• Info products — guides, swipe files, templates, communities
• High-ticket B2B — $5K+ ACV with a sales conversation
• Direct-response — e-com promo offers, infomercial-style, paid-traffic-to-VSL

When suede-pricing does more of the work

You sell:

• Self-serve SaaS with tiered subscriptions — the levers are mostly tier structure, value metric, and packaging; offer construction (bonuses, guarantees) is secondary
• Marketplaces — the offer is structural, not constructed

Skim this skill in those cases for the value equation framing, then route to suede-pricing.

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The Value Equation

Suede uses a four-lever value equation to diagnose whether the outcome, perceived likelihood, time delay, or required effort is constraining the offer.

              Dream Outcome  ×  Perceived Likelihood of Achievement
  Value  =  ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
              Time Delay     ×   Effort & Sacrifice

You move the four levers like this:

Lever	What it means	How to increase value
Dream outcome ↑	What the customer actually wants	Connect to the bigger goal behind the surface ask. Specify and name it.
Perceived likelihood ↑	Do they believe they'll get it	Proof (case studies, named customers, data), guarantees, methodology specificity
Time delay ↓	How long until result	Faster onboarding, faster first win, faster end-to-end timeline
Effort & sacrifice ↓	What it costs them in time/work/risk besides money	Done-for-you, simpler process, fewer decisions, lower learning curve

Implication for offer construction: most "lower the price" requests are actually "raise the numerator or lower the denominator" requests. Price is the comparison, not the value.

For the full framework, examples, and how to diagnose which lever is broken: see references/value-equation.md

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The Anatomy of a Complete Offer

A complete offer has six components. Skip any one and conversion suffers.

#	Component	Question it answers
1	Core deliverable	What do they get?
2	Bonus stack	What else do they get that makes the core feel undervalued?
3	Guarantee	What happens if it doesn't work?
4	Scarcity / urgency	Why now, not later?
5	Name	What is this thing called?
6	Price + payment structure	What do they pay and how?

Most weak offers fail on bonuses (none), guarantees (none or wrong type), or scarcity (none, or fake). Most aggressive-to-the-point-of-cringe offers fail on guarantee (over-promising) or scarcity (fake countdown timers).

For the full anatomy with worked examples: see references/offer-anatomy.md

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Reference Library

Reference	When to read
value-equation.md	Diagnosing which lever is broken on a stuck offer
offer-anatomy.md	Building a complete offer from scratch
guarantee-design.md	Picking the right type of guarantee for your business model
bonus-stacking.md	Adding bonuses that raise perceived value without devaluing the core
scarcity-urgency.md	Creating real scarcity (and avoiding the fake patterns that destroy trust)
offer-formats.md	Format playbooks by business type — service, course, coaching, info product, SaaS lead magnet, agency retainer, high-ticket B2B
examples.md	Anonymized worked examples — before/after for each business type

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The Diagnostic Loop

When the user says "my offer isn't converting" or "I want to improve my offer":

1. Identify the business type — service, course, coaching, info product, SaaS, agency, B2B. The right playbook is type-specific.
2. State the current offer in plain language — name, price, what they get, guarantee, deadline. Write it down even if it lives in scattered places now.
3. Run the value equation — score each of the four levers 1–10. The lowest is the binding constraint. Say the lowest lever out loud, with the specific evidence gap behind its score ("perceived likelihood: 4 — no named customer, no before/after number"). Do not score all four above 6; if the offer genuinely looks that strong, the score is not the finding — name what would have to be true for the current conversion rate to make sense, and go get that instead. A flattering scorecard produces no binding constraint, which means step 5 has nothing to work on.
4. Audit the anatomy — which of the six components is missing or weak?
5. Pick one lever to fix this iteration — don't rebuild everything. The biggest lever is usually the one currently scoring lowest.
6. Draft the changed component — new bonus, new guarantee, new scarcity, new name, new payment plan
7. Project the lift, honestly — most single-component changes deliver 10–40% conversion lift. Anyone promising 5x is selling something. Two consecutive iterations on different levers can stack to 2–3x.

Output: Offer Brief

Return the result of the loop in this exact structure — the same headings whether the offer is new or being repaired:

# Offer Brief — [offer name]

## Name
## Core deliverable
## Bonus stack
[Each bonus, and the objection it removes. No invented "$ value" figures.]
## Guarantee + conditions
[Type, the exact conditions, and who eats the cost when it's claimed.]
## Real constraint behind the deadline
[The actual reason now beats later — capacity, cohort start, price change.
 If there is no real constraint, write "none" and drop the deadline.]
## Price + payment structure
## Lever changed this iteration
[Which of the four, its score before, and what evidence moves it.]
## What I did not change and why

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When NOT to Use Offer-Design Tactics

Some offer patterns work but cost more than they're worth:

• Manipulative scarcity — fake countdown timers, "only 3 spots left" lies. Short-term lift, long-term trust collapse. Don't.
• Over-promising guarantees — "double your revenue or refund + $1,000." Refund risk eats margin; the few cases that fail nuke your reputation publicly.
• Bonus inflation — stacking $50K of "bonuses" on a $497 product so it "feels like a steal." Sophisticated buyers see this. Treat bonuses as additive, not exaggerated.
• Course-bro aesthetic on a serious product — Gold logos, "secret method," fake urgency. Pattern-matches to scam. Wrong room.

The Suede voice is direct, specific, and honest. Building offers well does not mean building offers loud.

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Banned Vocabulary

When drafting offer language (sales pages, emails, headlines), avoid:

• "Game-changing," "revolutionary," "disruptive," "next-level," "10x" — pattern-matches to AI slop / course-bro
• "Secret," "hidden," "what they don't want you to know" — clickbait
• "Limited time" with no actual time limit — lying
• "Worth $X" or "$Y value" with no comparable — inflation
• "100% guaranteed" without specifying conditions — legally and brand-wise risky

Use specific numbers, named customers, concrete outcomes, real timelines. Specificity beats superlatives.

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Boundaries

• Do not invent outcome evidence, comparable value, scarcity, deadlines, testimonials, guarantee economics, or refund terms.
• Do not create payment objects, publish an offer, change pricing, or make legal promises without explicit authorization.
• Do not recommend coercive urgency, inaccessible cancellation, or conditions hidden from the buyer.
• Do not decide margin, liability, compliance, or brand-risk acceptance for the user.

Routing

• Use suede-pricing for tiers, packaging, and value metrics.
• Use suede-copy for the sales page and suede-site-alchemy for the conversion path.
• Use suede-campaign-in-a-box (creator/artist) or suede-marketing-plan (product/service) to launch the offer; suede-launch-packaging only when the thing shipping is software and its install path. Use suede-paywalls for in-product upgrade prompts.
• Use suede-sales-enablement, suede-emails, or suede-marketing-psychology for approved execution.