When and How to Raise Your Prices (Without Losing Your Best Clients)

In 2010 I was charging $15 an hour for my time. I genuinely couldn't understand why anyone would pay me $50.

A few years later I was charging $1,000 a day. Later, $15,000 a day. The work got better, sure. But the biggest change was that I finally believed the number.

So when should you raise your prices? When almost everyone says yes, when you're full or close to it, when your results have improved or when your price hasn't moved in a year. And how? Raise for new clients first, give current clients notice, change the offer along with the number and practice saying it until your voice stops shaking.

Here's the longer version.

Seven signs it's time to raise your prices

You don't need all seven. Two or three is plenty.

1. Nearly everyone says yes. If almost every person you get on a call with signs up, your price isn't doing its job. A healthy price makes some people pause. That pause is how you know it's in the right range.

2. You're full, or close to it. If your calendar is packed and you have a waitlist, you have more demand than supply. Every business on earth raises its price in that situation except, somehow, coaches and consultants.

3. Your results have improved. You know more than you did when you set your price. Your clients get better results, faster. Your price should reflect what you deliver now.

4. Your price hasn't moved in a year. Your costs have gone up. Your skills have gone up. If your price stayed still, you've effectively given yourself a pay cut.

5. Clients tell you it's a bargain. "Honestly, I'd have paid double" is not a compliment to your pricing. It's information.

6. You resent the work. If you find yourself dreading a client session, check whether the price matches the effort. Resentment often means you're giving more than you're charging for.

7. You can't afford to deliver it well. If you can't pay for help, tools or your own development at your current price, the price is holding back the quality of the work.

When to wait before raising your prices

Sometimes the problem isn't the price. Before you raise it, check these.

You're not getting enough calls. If only one or two people a month hear your offer, a price change won't fix that. It's a reach problem. Work on getting sales consistently first.

People like the call but don't buy. If lots of people get on calls and few say yes, the offer may be unclear, or the way you present it may be getting in the way. Look at how you run your sales calls before you touch the number.

You haven't delivered a result yet. If you're just starting out and still building proof, it's fine to charge a starter price for your first few clients. Just set a date to raise it.

Work out the price your goal needs

Here's a question most people never ask: what price would your business need to hit the income you want with the time you have?

Say you want $100K a year and you can take on 30 clients a year without burning out. That's about $3,300 per client. If you're charging $1,500 now, you could be fully booked and still be well short of your goal.

Do this math for your own business. Then compare it to what you charge. The gap tells you how far you have to go, and whether you should get there in one step or two. I walk through the whole picture in how to grow your business from $30K to $100K a year.

Raise for new clients first

The lowest-risk way to raise your prices is to change them for new clients only.

Update your sales page and your proposal. On your next sales call, say the higher number. Watch what happens over the next ten calls or so.

Most people are surprised. Prospects who've never seen your old price have nothing to compare it to. To them, the higher price is just the price.

Tell current clients early and plainly

When you're ready to raise prices for existing clients, give them notice. At least 30 days. More if they're on a long engagement.

Decide in advance whether you'll keep current clients at their rate for a while. Some coaches keep loyal clients at their old rate for six months or until their current engagement ends. It's a kind gesture, and it isn't required.

Here's a short email you can adapt:

Hi Sam,

I wanted to give you plenty of notice of a change. From March 1, my rate for ongoing coaching is going up to $650 a month.

Because you've been with me since the start, your rate will stay at $500 until the end of August. After that, it'll move to $650.

Working with you has been one of the highlights of my year, and I'm looking forward to what we do next. Any questions, just hit reply.

Notice what's not in there. No apology. No long justification. No "I hope this is OK." Just the change, the date and a warm note.

Change the offer, not just the number

The easiest price raise to sell is one that comes with a better offer.

That doesn't mean adding more of your time. It means making the result clearer and the path to it easier:

• Rename it around the outcome rather than the format.
• Add structure: a clear start, a plan and a defined end.
• Add something that saves the client effort, like templates, a checklist or a review of their work.
• Take out the parts nobody uses.

If you've been selling "four coaching sessions" for $800, try selling "a 60-day plan to sign your first three corporate clients" at a price that matches what three corporate clients are worth to them. Same expertise. Very different value in the client's eyes.

My full guide to pricing strategies covers how to build a set of offers at different prices so people can step up with you over time.

Price for judgment, not information

There's another reason to look at your prices right now. AI tools can give anyone a decent answer to a general question for free. If your offer is mostly information, its value is falling.

What people still pay well for is judgment. Someone who looks at their specific situation, tells them what to do first and holds them to it. That's worth more than ever, because there's so much more information to wade through.

So price for that. If you want to go deeper, I wrote about how to price your expertise when AI is doing it "for free".

Practice saying the number

This sounds small. It isn't.

Your clients take their cue from you. If you say your price with a wobble in your voice and an apology at the end, they'll hear that it's too much. If you say it plainly and then stop talking, they'll hear that it's the price.

Say it out loud. To the mirror, to your partner, to the dog. Say it until it sounds boring. "The investment is $3,500." Full stop.

When I went from $1,000 a day to $15,000 a day, the thing that changed most wasn't the work. It was that I could look someone in the eye and say the number without flinching, because I knew what a day with me could save them.

Watch the numbers for a quarter

After you raise your prices, give it at least three months before you judge it. Track:

• How many sales calls you hold.
• How many say yes.
• Your total revenue.
• How you feel about the work.

You might close a few fewer people and earn more overall. That's usually a win. You'll have more time for each client, which tends to mean better results, which makes your next raise easier.

If you see a drop in calls, that's a marketing question. If you see a drop in yeses, revisit the offer and how you present it. Don't rush back to the old price at the first no.

Where coaching fits

Raising your prices is simple on paper and hard in practice, mostly because it's your own nerves you're negotiating with. An outside view helps more than people expect.

In Momentum Accelerate, the level for businesses earning $30K to $99K a year, your Momentum Coach helps you work out what your offer is really worth, restructure it if it needs to change and hold your ground when the first person hesitates. Read more about growing your business with Momentum.