Even if we love the product, it’s not something we’re going to jump up and down with glee about. 

So it’s no wonder you’re nervous about increasing your prices for your current customers. 

You may think to yourself, ‘what if they complain?’, ‘what if they stop working with me?’ ‘what if they think I’m money-grabbing?’ or worse, ‘what if they head on over to the competition?’ 

So how do you increase your prices without losing customers?

Most People Are Understanding…If You Do It Right 

BUT, most people are reasonable. And we say most because of course you get a few that are entirely unreasonable. But if you attract the right customers to begin with, you should be fine. 

But they are only reasonable IF you do it the right way. 

This blog post will help you do that. Below, I’ve listed the 6 ways you can communicate a price increase that will keep your current customers happy. 

Before we get into it…

There are some people who try to advise you to use clever hacks when communicating your price increase, such as reducing the quantity or quality of your products rather than increasing your prices (anyone else notice that chocolate bars are getting smaller?)

This is not what this blog post is about. This blog post will help you communicate a price increase clearly and effectively, without the need for sneaky bullshit. Yes, we are mad about the chocolate bars, okay? 

So let’s get into it, shall we? 

1. Create public content around your price increase 

This is the biggie when it comes to building trust with your customers. 

If you want to increase your prices without losing customers then create public content around why. 

Imagine you’re raising your prices for your current customers and instead of explaining why in an email, you send them to a public blog post. This lets your customer know that this is a ‘company-wide’ policy and not something personal to them. 

Our favourite phrase is, people don’t care what you say, they care what you publish. You can say anything privately. But unfortunately, the only true way to show transparency is to create public content. 

It also allows you the space to fully explain your price increase and remind your customer of the benefits of working with you. 

An example of how to raise prices for your current clients 

We love this blog post from Sara Bussandri, which she sent to her clients that were receiving a discount for her writing services. We should know, we were that client! 

Sara explains in her post why she no longer offers a discount to her current clients (and any future clients). She makes it personal, by stating that when she started out she ‘fell into the trap of underpricing and underselling my services.’ And she also includes pictures of herself, to remind the reader that this is a person (and not a company). 

And then she goes into detail about why she no longer offers discounts. 

2. Say the actual words ‘my price is increasing’

We’ve seen companies use the words ‘price adjustment’ or ‘changes to our pricing’. Don’t do this. Don’t use fluffy language that tiptoes around the topic. 

Don’t use passive voice either, i.e. the price is being adjusted in 2022. By who, exactly? Fairies? An evil price-adjusting ogre? 

Nope. Own the message. State clearly, ‘We are raising our prices for x. And here’s why.’ This brings clarity to your customers who will appreciate your honesty and transparency. One sure-fire way to lose customers is to use confusing messaging when communicating your price increase. 

An example of a confusing price increase message

We remember receiving this email from a company that sold baby products. We were so confused. Are they raising their prices? Are they not? We get what they’re trying to do here but there’s no real incentive to buy now, and there’s no real communication as to whether the price is or isn’t increasing soon. 

If you’re going to increase your prices, stand firm in your decision and communicate it clearly! 

3. Sell them the benefits of your price increase (and avoid losing customers)

Just because you’re talking about increasing your prices doesn’t mean you have to turn into a negative-nelly. Use this opportunity to explore why you’re raising your prices and remind your customer of the value you deliver. 

Let’s say for example you’re a web designer and you want to increase the prices of your monthly maintenance plan for your current customers. You could explain how you’re investing in better software to keep your customer’s websites safer and more efficient. 

It’s important you flip the message from you to your customer. What do they care about? What do they value? How can you make them the heart of your message? 

An example of selling the benefits of your price increase 

When we increased our web design prices, we wanted to make sure that we communicated the benefits of working with us (and therefore why we were increasing our prices). 

So we created a blog post explaining why our prices were increasing. This wasn’t aimed at our current customers, but the principles remain the same, we moved the message away from us and our price increase and turned into the things that our customers cared about. 

4. Tell the story and make it personal 

When you’re asking someone to pay more money, there’s nothing worse than some impersonal, cold email, written in the third person. 

Just because you’re not ‘face-to-face’ doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take a personal approach. 

Remember to tell the story of why you’re raising your prices, use the words ‘I’ and ‘we’, and communicate with your customer like they’re an actual human-being. 

A Good Example of a Price Increase Notice to Customers 

I love this video from Cara MacKay, MD of Gillies and Mackay who make sheds and garden homes in Scotland. 

It feels like Cara is talking directly to you in this video, and she tells the story of the challenges Gillies and Mackay have faced with their timber supply. There’s no formal stuffy language or unclear messaging, Cara remains frank, personal and respectful to her customers. This video could’ve been sent to a thousand people, and yet it would feel personal to you. 

5. Give an actual reason for your price increase

This may seem obvious, but we see quite a lot of emails about a price increase but people don’t actually explain why they’re increasing their prices. It’s just taken as a given. A ‘just because’. This usually happens at the start of the year in January where maybe people expect the price will go up. 

But this is frustrating for your customer who won’t understand why you’re raising your prices and will simply assume that you’re doing it to get more of their money. 

So give an actual reason for your price increase.

6. There’s no need to say sorry for your price increase

It’s tempting to apologise for a price increase. We personally struggle with this because even though we know that raising prices is a must and absolutely justified, we still feel the need to apologise. 

But there’s no need to say sorry.  Remember, sorry is a feeling of regret, and we shouldn’t regret raising our prices. If you deliver a good product and offer value, then there’s zero reason you should be sorry about it. And actually saying sorry communicates that you’re uneasy about your decision. 

Where should you start with it all?

If you want to raise your prices, then grab a piece of paper and a pen (or your keyboard) and start writing down the reasons why your prices are increasing. With every reason, also write down how this benefits your audience. For example, the cost of materials is going up could be the reason you’re increasing your prices. But this benefits your customers because you’ve decided not to cut corners and get cheaper materials.

We’re not saying it’s easy, but trust us, once you start with this kind of content you’ll find it easy-peasy to come up with ideas. And above all else, your customers will appreciate your honesty and transparency. 

Lyndsay Cambridge

Owner at Jammy Digital, Digital Marketing Specialist and Writer of Young-Adult Fiction.

jammydigital.com

The post 6 Ways to Raise Your Prices in 2023 Without Losing Customers appeared first on Content Marketing & SEO Agency | Get More Sales From Your Website.

Well, stop. 

Step away from the keyboard. 

And don’t you dare sneakily update your prices on your website (not yet anyway.) 

Because there’s something we’d like you to do first. 

Something that will help you both increase sales, AND build trust and loyalty with your audience. 

We want you to create content around your price increase. 

Before we begin, this is aimed at you if you want to raise your prices for brand new customers (i.e. people who aren’t your customers already). If you need help on how to raise your prices for current customers, have a read of our article here. 

What is ‘Why I’m Raising My Prices’ content? 

This piece of content goes into detail about why you’re raising your prices. It explains what your prices are now when they’re going to increase, and what the new price will be. 

It’s an easy-peasy piece of content for you to create. But it’s also great for sales and delivers excellent customer service. 

Why is this content so effective? 

There are three main reasons why this piece of content works so well.

1. It’s sales content. It’s a piece of content that promotes the benefits of your products or services. It says ‘Hey, I’m raising my prices because I’m pretty awesome. Here’s why…’ 
2. It can act as a ‘heads-up’ to those who are on the fence about working with you, giving them an opportunity to buy from you at your lower prices. We did this with our blog post and earned 25K in a week. 
3. It’s incredibly helpful and transparent and builds trust with your audience. 

Why do I have to tell my audience why my prices are increasing? 

You’ve received one of those emails right? The ‘get in now before the price goes up tomorrow!’ type thing. You probably get one at least once a week. 

Hell, just walk past any furniture shop and there’s always a sale ending ‘soon’. 

The problem is, we’re used to this fake scarcity sales tactic. It just looks to your audience like you’re raising your prices to pressure them into buying from you. 

But the actual reasons behind you raising your prices are legitimate and justified. And when you sit down to think about it and consider why you’re raising your prices, you’ll probably come up with a whole host of great reasons. 

Think about your customer when it comes to explaining your price increase 

A lot of these reasons will relate to your customer and their experience. And when explaining a price increase, you should put your customer at the heart of it. Think about what will benefit them. 

Ultimately, take the narrative away from you and your price increase and put your customer at the heart of the message. 

For example, for web design, we explained that we were raising our prices because…

1. The projects became more time-intensive (because we spent more dedicated time with each client and took on fewer clients as a result)
2. We invested in more expensive tools and software (so the websites we created performed better and were more secure) 
3. We invested more in our own learning (and passed that onto our customers to make them more effective websites) 
4. We took on a more ‘consulting’ role during projects (so we could advise our clients on how to make their website a success, with help on content marketing to website copy)

The stuff in brackets above is what the customer cares about–the parts that actually benefit them. And that’s what led to us landing four new clients in one week from this one piece of content (earning us £25K). 

But we would not have done that if we’d simply emailed our list and told them our prices were going up without explaining why and how our customers benefit. 

Why does this content need to be public? 

We hear you. Creating public content around your price increase is scary, to say the least. What if your competitors see it? What if you put people off? What if you’re on the fence about raising your prices? 

Our favourite thing we like to say is ‘people don’t care what you say, they care what you publish.’ 

When something is published publicly it’s more trustworthy than something that is private. You can say anything privately or by email. But, public content is out there for the world to see, and when you’re talking about money, it’s instantly more trustworthy. 

Do you have to give a deadline? 

A big part of the success of when we did this was that we gave our audience the opportunity to buy from us at our current prices before they increased. 

However, you don’t have to do this. If it’s important you raise your prices and not offer your current rates that’s okay. You can still create this kind of content. It’s still incredibly helpful for your audience to understand why you’ve increased your prices and the benefits of what you offer. 

How do you promote your price increase content? 

The thing about price increase content is…people love to see it! 

Why? Because people love a good nosey that’s why. Our most popular blog post (in terms of social shares) is the one about why we’re increasing our web design prices. 

So don’t just create this content and shy away from any promotion. You have to take full advantage of your price increase and share it everywhere for it to be effective. 

Here are some ways you could promote it…

1. Send it to your email list 
2. Post on LinkedIn (company and personal page) 
3. Post on Facebook 
4. Go live on Facebook or LinkedIn 
5. Create Instagram stories or posts 

Make Sure You Promote this Time-Sensitive Content 

Remember, this is a time-sensitive piece of content because once your prices have gone up it becomes less interesting and relevant to your audience. 

So you need to give yourself time to promote it, and if you have a deadline where people can buy from you at your current prices you need to give your audience time to take up that offer. The amount of time will depend on what you sell. When we did this with our web design service, we gave a month’s notice as the investment ran into the thousands. You might not have to give that much notice with a cheaper product. 

What format should the content be in?

There’s no particular rule for what format your content should be in. Just that it’s public and shareable. We do everything via our blog. 

What if don’t want to publish your prices publically? 

Now, all of this is futile if you don’t actually publish your prices publicly. There’s no point saying your prices are going up if you don’t want to state how much they are now. 

If you don’t currently do this (or at least, give an indicator on price) then seriously consider doing so. The benefits for your business are huge, as highlighted in this blog post about why you should publish your prices on your website. 

The best question to ask yourself when it comes to publishing your prices is this, would you rather find out the price of something from a website. Or would you rather call someone and speak to them? 

Most people prefer the first option, right? Even if it’s not an exact price, just an indicator. We’d prefer to have an idea before we speak to someone in advance. 

Publishing your prices is just good customer service, as well as having a whole host of other benefits. 

Need some extra help? Try our blog post templates! 

If you’d like some extra support when it comes to writing your ‘price increase’ content, then check out our blog post template pack. This pack includes 10 blog post templates (including a raising your prices template) and saves you so much time when it comes to writing content. Check it out below. 

Martin & Lyndsay

The post Publish This Easy Piece of Content Before You Raise Your Prices (And See Amazing Results!) appeared first on Content Marketing & SEO Agency | Get More Sales From Your Website.