Three of the five questions I collected from beauty business owners this week were the same question in different clothes. How do I word a price increase. How do I inform clients of a price increase. How do I justify a price increase to my customers.
That last word is the problem. Justify.
You are not building a case for the defense. You are telling your clients what their treatment costs from a given date. The second you start justifying, you hand them the job of deciding whether your reasons are good enough. Most of them were never going to ask.
Say it once, say it early, say it in writing
Four weeks of notice is plenty. Send it in writing before you say it out loud in the treatment room. A client who reads it on her phone gets to have her reaction in private, and in my experience that reaction is usually nothing at all.
Do not announce it on social media. Your prices are a conversation with your clients, not a press release for people who have never booked with you.
The message
Change the dates and the treatments. Keep the shape.
"Hello [name]. From 1 December my treatment prices are changing. [Treatment] will be £[price] and [treatment] will be £[price]. Anything you have already booked before that date stays at the current price. Everything else stays exactly as it is: same room, same products, same time set aside just for you. Thank you for your loyalty. I will see you on [date]."
Now read it again and notice what is not there. No apology. No breakdown of your rent, your stock costs or your energy bill. No "I hope you understand". No "unfortunately". No "I have had to make the difficult decision".
Why the reasons come out
Reasons invite negotiation. If your price went up because your supplier put up the cost of wax, a client can reasonably ask what happens when wax gets cheaper again. If your price went up because your skill, your time and your results are worth more than they were two years ago, there is nothing to argue with.
This is also why you do not need a long message. Length reads as nerves. Six lines reads as a business decision that was made before anyone was told.
When someone pushes back
One or two will. Have the line ready so you are not improvising with a client in the chair.
If she asks why: "Prices go up every couple of years to keep the standard where it is. Your appointment on the 14th is at the current price."
If she says she cannot afford it: "I completely understand. If it helps, [cheaper treatment] is £[price] and gives you most of the same benefit. Shall I move you across to that one?"
Notice that both answers end by moving her forward into a booking rather than leaving the conversation sitting open.
The part nobody tells you
You will lose a client or two. Not because of the price, but because they were already drifting and this gave them the exit. The ones who stay are the ones who were paying for you, not for a number. After twenty seven years in this industry I have put my prices up more times than I can count, and the thing I still have to tell myself is this: the discomfort lasts about two days. The income lasts all year.
If writing these messages is the bit that stalls you every time, Pricing Made Easy is £19.99 and gives you the scripts for price rises, deposits and discount requests, so you can send them without rewriting the wording seven times first.
