How to Raise Your Prices on Current Clients

There comes a moment in most small businesses where you realize that the prices you started with no longer fit. It’s time to raise your rates!

Raising your rates 15% across 15 clients can have a big impact on your monthly cash flow. It can mean fun, profit, the shift from not making it to really having a good time!

At the same time, you already have clients paying your old rates. People you like working with. People who like you.

As importantly, these people are paying you, and you don’t want to lose them. But if you keep charging them your old price, what will new clients say? How will you feel? You’re already feeling a little resentful working for prices you haven’t raised in a long time.

Harumph… it seems like a sticky situation. But it doesn’t have to be. Let’s get your prices raised to where they need to be.

First: Slow down…

Because money brings up all kinds of issues, it makes contemplating raising your prices uncomfortable. When you’re uncomfortable, it can be hard to access wisdom in making choices.

All of this points to one thing: slow down.  Don’t rush. There’s no need to make this decision in the next ten minutes. Ahhh… feel better? Nice.

Your First Option: Leave Current Clients Be

Actually, you *don’t* have to raise prices on current clients. For most practitioners, clients have a relatively limited tenure. Whether it’s 3 months or 2 years, you can let them enjoy the lower price, and when they complete, that open client slot will be replaced with a new client at the higher price.

Or, you can bring up the rate raise at the end of the contract before beginning the next one. Because our clients, for instance, work with us six months at a time, the new rate can be discussed not in mid-contract, but at the time of renewal.

One thing you should do is let your client know that you have raised your rates and you are allow them to continue at their current rate.

Second Option: Raise Their Rates to Full Price

Sometimes you get that you’ve been *way* undercharging, and it’s beyond time to raise your rates. Leaving the price as-is just isn’t an option because of how it feels in your heart.

If you decide that this is where you are, you need to face the fact that you may indeed lose some of your clients. You can tell them something like, “It’s been awhile since my prices have raised, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time to raise my price. My new price is starting now for new clients, and for you as a continuing client will start next month.”

For some clients they’ll tell you, “I was wondering when you were going to finally raise your price!” Then happily step up to the new rate.

However, for others it will be a wake-up call. Maybe they’ve been doing good work with you, but they’ve also been a bit on auto-pilot. The price change gives them a moment to wake up to what their true needs are.

It might be to continue with a renewed sense of commitment at the new price, or the option might be that they realize they do need to let go and move on.

Third Option: The Half-Way Point

Sometimes there is a real conflict: your price is too low, and yet the client is doing real work and you don’t want to stop working with them. In cases like these you can work with the resonant price.

You can tell your client something like this: “It’s been awhile since my prices have been raised, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time.” Then wait. If they respond positively, there’s no issue.

If they tell you they can’t pay your new price, you can tell them, “I hear you! I was wondering if that was true for you. I sat with this in my heart, and I realized that the work you and I are doing is important. If this feels true for you, too, let’s go into our hearts and see what price we can come to that feels good to both of us, one that is between my new price and the old price.”

When they name a price, you can either accept it, or ask if they can nudge upward to your price. “I hear that you feel good paying $120. My heart felt better at $150. I’m curious how that feels for you?”

The Fourth Option: Customized

Rather than just rush to pick one of the three options and apply it across the board, you can work with each of your current clients individually. Anyone working with individual clients probably has a client load that isn’t too huge, even at capacity.

Go through your client list and identify which clients you would feel good about grandfathering in, which ones you are okay if they complete, and which ones you want to raise the price on but don’t want to lose.

Then you can approach each client and work it out individually. It shouldn’t take much extra time, and you’ll have the relief of finally being in healthy relationship with each of your clients, as well as having received a raise!

A client who took on the Customized fourth option, found that none of his current clients took on the new price, but rather than all started working with him for half as many sessions. The end result was that he was working half as much, but only lost about $200 total in monthly revenue, which was more than made up but new clients at a higher price.

What do you think, do any of these options work for you? Or have you tried something else? Share your experiences. Add your comment right below.

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