Free Email Template: How to Communicate Price Increases to Your Clients and Members

With inflation putting pressure on everyone’s finances, there’s a lot to process and adjust to in this new economic climate. It can be hard to balance the needs of your business with the wants and needs of your customers. A price increase isn’t something that inconveniences your clients, because you know that by reviewing your finances and adjusting your fees accordingly, you are ultimately doing what’s best for your business AND for them. It’ll help you keep providing the quality services and programs they’ve come to rely on.

That being said, knowing that it’s right doesn’t make it any easier or feel any less awkward to communicate price changes. But it’s in the interest of everyone. Without it, your business might not be able to continue to run, and your clients will lose out completely.

Communication is key

Breaking less this kind of news in a way that will be well-received is as simple as taking the time to craft the email with intention. Authenticity and empathy are key communication strategies to use when you regularly deal with your community. If you're curious to get more in depth on communication strategies that will help your programs thrive, check out this blog post featuring our Chief Revenue Officer, Shai Haddad.

Now back to the tricky email you are about to send: To make sure you communicate this necessary measure for your business successfully, we’ll cover four crucial best practices and then, at the end, you’ll have the option to download our template which you can modify and use whenever you need!

The core necessities

#1 Communicate in advance and often

When adjusting prices, it’s important to give your members plenty of advance warning. This varies with the type of service or membership you offer. If it’s an annual membership, a notice a month to six weeks in advance is recommended. For a monthly subscription, two to three weeks. For à la carte services, clients should be notified of the change a minimum of one week in advance. Make sure you communicate this change more than just one time. Ideally, three times is the magic number.

#2 Give an authentic explanation as to why it’s happening

It might feel hard to explain exactly why this price increase needs to happen. Right now, there are so many factors at play, but the bottom line is that the cost of almost everything has gone up in recent months and that means the costs to run your business are also increasing. Whether it’s staff, equipment or facility maintenance that is more expensive, the emphasis should be put on the fact that you want to maintain the quality service they are used to and that this price increase measure is so that you can keep giving that to them.

#3 Give it a positive spin

There’s always a way to make something good out of a situation that might be less than ideal. You know how the saying goes, when life gives you lemons... This email might just be the right time to email anyone that has shown interest in your activities that if they sign up before the cut-off, they will lock in the old pricing. Additionally, for current members or clients, you can offer to lock in current pricing if they make a longer-term commitment, such as upgrading from a monthly membership to an annual one.

#4 Give them the opportunity to reach out and share their concerns

This one is easy and straightforward, but it can be very off-putting to your clients if you forget to mention it. Make sure they know the best ways to contact you, whether it be phone, text, email or even Instagram Messenger. Once that’s established, earnestly let them know that it would be a genuine pleasure for you to hear from them and that you want to know any thoughts, concerns or feedback that they may have.

Now draft that email!

Money has a funny way of being the topic we all want to avoid, but it’s always better when it’s out in the open, communicated clearly and authentically. But don’t sweat it, successfully letting your customers or members know about a change in fees is as simple as following the four best practices we’ve just reviewed. With them, your customers and members will trust that you are doing what's best, and ultimately, what will keep you providing amazing services, activities and programs for them.