Raise Client Rates with these 4 Tips
As a small business owner, especially one who offers a service, it can be difficult to discuss your prices. When you are first starting out, it is hard to set your prices because no one really wants to talk about how much they charge for their services. Once you have been in business for a year (or several), you might decide that you want to raise client rates to increase your profit.
Here are some tips to increase your rates without losing your long-term clients.
• Just raise your rates. There is nothing wrong with raising your prices. Everything else goes up so you deserve to do the same, especially if it has been awhile since you have done so.
• Be confident in your rates. Be comfortable with your new rates. If you don’t feel like you deserve your new rates, your clients will not want to pay them. Instead, know that you work hard for your money.
• Give your clients plenty of notice of your rate change so they can plan ahead. Give them one or two months’ notice that you are going to be increasing their rates, especially if they are regular clients who use your services every month.
• Offer your clients new packages. Rate changes are a good time to offer packages to give clients new deals on exciting services that you offer. Certain clients may decide that they need more from you and want a better package of services from you. If you don’t offer packages, it may be time to put your services together and offer some monthly packages to long-term clients.
It can be hard to raise your rates because you might be afraid of losing your long-term clients. However, you just need to decide to do it and go for it. Be confident that you deserve a higher pay. You probably have worked for the same amount for several years so you deserve a raise! You may want to give your regular clients a month or two notice so that they can plan ahead. This may also be a good time to adjust your packages. You may be able to sell some packages to your regular clients if you haven’t been able to already!