Decide the figure and the date before January, tell existing customers in advance with a reason and a notice period, and simply use the new price for new enquiries.

Why the decision has to happen now

An increase that is still being thought about gets quoted at the old price, because a quote needs a number and the old one is available.

Each of those is a job at last year's rate for the whole of its duration, and there are more of them than anybody expects.

By the time a decision is made in March, a quarter of the year has been sold at the old figure.

Deciding in December costs an hour and applies from the first working day.

Separate the two decisions

Since they are frequently confused and have different answers.

New customers can be quoted a new price from any date you choose, without notice or explanation, because they have no expectation to adjust.

Existing customers on ongoing work or a retainer need notice, a reason, and a date.

Most of the difficulty people feel about raising prices is about the second group and is then applied to the first, which delays everything unnecessarily.

Set the new price for new enquiries now, and handle the existing arrangements as a separate exercise.

That split makes the whole thing considerably easier.

What to tell existing customers

The fourth is the one that reduces objections most. Saying that the rate is changing and the response times, the terms, and the person doing the work are not, tells somebody what they are still getting.

Give a reason, not an apology

Since the tone determines the reaction more than the figure does.

One sentence about costs, wages, or materials is enough, and it should be true and specific rather than a general statement about the economy.

Do not apologise repeatedly, since an apologetic message invites negotiation by suggesting the increase is optional.

Do not over-explain either, because a long justification reads as unease and produces questions.

State it as a decision that has been made, warmly and briefly, which is how a customer would state a price change to you.

Three or four sentences is the right length for the whole message.

A worked example

A business had not changed its rates since 2019 and had been meaning to for two years.

In December they set a new figure, effective the first of February, giving five weeks of notice.

They sent four sentences to each ongoing customer: the new rate, the date, one line about materials and wages, and confirmation that everything else was unchanged.

Of nineteen customers, fifteen acknowledged without comment, three asked a question and accepted the answer, and one left.

New enquiries from the second of January were quoted at the new rate with no explanation, and nobody asked.

The revenue increase over the year was substantially more than the one customer had been worth.

Expect to lose somebody

And plan for it rather than treating it as a failure.

A price increase that nobody objects to was probably too small, and losing a customer or two is the normal outcome.

The ones who leave are usually the most price-sensitive and frequently the most work, which is a pattern worth noticing.

Work out in advance how many you could lose and still be better off, which is usually a surprisingly high number.

That figure removes most of the anxiety, because it turns the question into arithmetic rather than nerve.

And where somebody genuinely valuable objects, you can make an exception deliberately rather than abandoning the whole increase.

Update everything the same day

Since a stale figure somewhere undermines the new one.

The website, any published price range, your quote template, your invoicing, and anything a customer might have.

Tell anybody who quotes on your behalf, with the date, so nobody is giving out last year's number in the second week of January.

Check any listing, directory, or third-party page carrying a price, since those are the ones nobody remembers.

Make a list of every place a price appears now, while you are thinking about it, because that list is what makes next year's change a ten-minute job.

Decide the next one too

A small discipline that prevents the four-year gap.

Agree now roughly when you will review this again, which for most businesses is annually at the same point.

Put it in the diary for next December, so it is a scheduled decision rather than something requiring resolve.

Regular small increases are considerably easier for customers than an occasional large one, and easier for you to state.

A business that has not raised prices since 2019 has a difficult conversation ahead precisely because it waited.

Honour the quotes already out

A small point of fairness that avoids an argument in February.

Anything quoted before the change should be honoured at the quoted figure, and it is worth saying so explicitly rather than leaving it to be discovered.

Set an expiry on quotes from now on, such as thirty days, which resolves this permanently and is standard practice most customers expect.

Without one, a quote given in November can be accepted in April at a price that no longer covers the work.

Add the expiry line to the template while you are updating the figures, since both changes are the same five minutes.

The counter-case

Timing and circumstance matter.

A business losing work already should be careful, since an increase into falling demand can accelerate it.

Some contracts fix rates for a period and cannot be changed regardless of what is decided in December.

And in a market where customers compare closely and switch easily, a visible increase carries more risk than it does in a relationship business.

Decide the figure and the date, use it for new enquiries immediately, give existing customers notice and a reason, and diarise the next review.

Before January

  1. Decide the figure and the date.
  2. Use it for new enquiries immediately.
  3. Give existing customers a month's notice.
  4. Four sentences, with one reason.
  5. Say what is not changing.
  6. Update every place a price appears.
  7. Diarise next December's review.

Step two is what makes this worth doing in December, since every quote given at the old figure sells another job at last year's rate.

What happens when this is left too long is covered in prices you have not changed since 2019.

Frequently asked questions

Why decide in December?

Because an undecided increase gets quoted at the old price, since a quote needs a number. By March, a quarter of the year has been sold at last year's rate.

What are the two decisions?

New customers can be quoted a new price from any date without explanation. Existing customers on ongoing work need notice, a reason, and a date. The difficulty is only about the second.

What should the message say?

The new figure, the date it applies from, one short reason, what is not changing, and a month or more of notice. Three or four sentences total.

How should it be worded?

As a decision that has been made, warmly and briefly. Repeated apology invites negotiation by suggesting the increase is optional, and long justification reads as unease.

Will I lose customers?

Probably one or two, and an increase nobody objects to was probably too small. Work out how many you could lose and still be better off, which is usually a high number.

What should I update?

The website, any published range, quote templates, invoicing, anybody quoting on your behalf, and any listing carrying a price. List every place now for next year.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Still deciding whether to raise prices?

Decide the figure today and use it from the second of January. Every quote at the old rate sells another year of it.

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