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Deciding to Raise Your Rates

Posted 09-10-2011 at 12:11 PM by D_Victoria_Virtual_Assistance

We've all heard the expression, "You've come to a fork in the road." This usually symbolizes a choice you need to make. Do you go right or veer left?

As the owner of your business, you will be faced with many different forks in the road. Decisions that you will need to make; some will be easy and others will be extremely hard. One such decision you may face, is the decision to raise your rates.

The decision to raise your rates can come with a multitude of emotions: excitement, fear and even self-doubt.

The best way to face a tough decision such as this is to look at it from all sides. Then, ask yourself some key questions.

Let's say you have determined that your rates are too low.

To help you come to a decision you could ask yourself the following questions:

If my rates remain the same, what will the outcome be? Can I live with that outcome?
If I raise my rates, what will the outcome be? Can I live with that outcome?
Finally, ask yourself why you need to come to this decision in the first place.

The biggest fear that comes with raising your rates is the loss of clients. When you ask yourself "If I raise my rates, what will the outcome be?" Your initial answer may be, I may lose clients.

I urge you to move beyond that and really envision what the outcome can be. If you raise your rates, yes, you may lose clients. But, by doing so, you have opened up time for clients who are willing and able to pay you for what you are worth.

Finally, if you do decide that a rate change is in your near future, be sure to devise a plan for implementing the increase and then stick to it!

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Raising my rates was one of the most difficult things I have done as a business owner (it's right up there with firing a client, or two). It DID get easier, but only after a number of years and many instances of discussing rates with clients.

I think the most important lesson I learned was to never show indecision or make excuses for a rate increase. If you've decided to do it and you are comfortable with your decision then there is no reason to feel bad or waver when you deliver the news.

That was a hard one for me though as in the beginning I think my 'rate increase' emails often read as if I was asking permission to charge more - never a good tone to set

And yes, I've lost at least two clients directly due to rate increases, but those 'losses' turned out to be blessings in disguise.

I think one way to get over that fear of losing the client and the income is to bring on new clients at the higher rate so that you have a bit of a cushion, just in case your other clients do have a hard time with the rate increase.

Great post Darlene! (and congratulations on winning the Blog Challenge!)