--- title: Raise Your Prices Without Making It Weird description: The math behind a sensible increase, the right time to make it, and scripts that don’t sound like an apology written by a committee. category: Money author: Shawn Duncan published: 2026-10-05 updated: 2026-10-05 canonical: https://businesscoachshawn.com/blog/raise-your-prices-without-making-it-weird site: Shawn Duncan Business Advisory --- # Raise Your Prices Without Making It Weird The math behind a sensible increase, the right time to make it, and scripts that don’t sound like an apology written by a committee. ## Key takeaways - Measure the increase against gross profit, not just customer count. A little lost volume doesn’t automatically mean less money. - Apply new pricing to new quotes first. Give existing customers clear notice and honor your commitments. - Use a short, specific script. If someone needs a lower price, offer less scope—not the same work at a discount. - Track quote acceptance, average ticket, gross profit, and actual cancellations before deciding whether the increase worked. Your suppliers raised their prices. Your insurance renewed higher. Your employees would also like to keep buying groceries. But your prices are still sitting there like it’s three years ago. You don’t need permission to charge more. You need a defensible number, sensible timing, and something better to say than, “Unfortunately, due to these unprecedented times…” Nobody wants that email. ## Start with the profit, not the panic A price increase means charging more for the same defined work. Not quietly adding fees. Not shrinking the service and hoping nobody notices. The useful question isn’t, “Will anybody leave?” Some might. The question is, **“How much business could we lose before we’re financially worse off?”** Here’s an illustrative monthly example for a service business: - 100 jobs at $500 each = $50,000 revenue. - Direct costs of $300 per job = $30,000. - Gross profit = $20,000. - Overhead of $15,000 leaves $5,000 before tax, assuming no other expenses. Gross margin is the percentage of revenue left after the direct costs of delivering the work. Here, it’s 40%. That money still has to cover overhead before anything becomes net profit. Now raise the price 10%, to $550. Keep direct costs at $300 per job. - Gross profit per job rises from $200 to $250. - At 100 jobs, gross profit becomes $25,000. - At 90 jobs, revenue is $49,500, but gross profit is $22,500. - With the same overhead, that leaves $7,500 before tax instead of $5,000. You lost 10% of the jobs. Revenue barely moved. Profit rose 50%. That’s an example, not a promise. But it beats making decisions based on one bloke saying you’re expensive. ## Work out your actual breathing room In that example, keeping the original $20,000 gross profit requires 80 jobs at the new $250 gross profit per job. **Old total gross profit ÷ new gross profit per job = jobs needed to hold gross profit steady.** So the business could lose 20% of its jobs and preserve gross profit, under those assumptions. That’s a break-even boundary, not a sales target. The catch: costs must behave the way your spreadsheet says they do. If fewer jobs mean fewer materials and subcontractor invoices, those costs disappear. If your employees remain on the clock with nothing scheduled, their wages don’t. Don’t count idle payroll as a saving. Run the calculation using costs that actually change with job volume. Check overtime, payment fees, commissions, and your labor percentage too. Use separate calculations for services with different costs. A higher average ticket is useful. A higher ticket hiding a worse job mix is bullshit with a nicer invoice. ## Pick a clean moment to change the number Raise prices when your numbers justify it—not when you finally get angry enough. Good triggers include rising delivery costs, consistently full capacity, or discovering that a common service earns too little after direct labor and materials. A packed calendar alone isn’t proof. Check the job margins. For new customers, use the new pricing on new quotes from a specific date. Honor accepted quotes and contractual commitments. For outstanding quotes, follow their stated validity period rather than moving the goalposts. For recurring customers, give clear written notice before the change. Thirty days might be a workable planning window, but contracts and applicable rules may require something different, including consent. Don’t combine an increase with unresolved service failures. Fix the missed visits, billing errors, or unfinished work first. Otherwise you’re asking customers to pay extra for the thing they’re currently complaining about. ## Say it plainly, then stop talking Customers need the new amount, the effective date, and what it covers. They don’t need your autobiography. **For a recurring service:** “From September 1, your monthly service will be $220, up from $200. This covers the same scheduled visits and service scope. The change reflects higher delivery costs. If you’d like to discuss a different service frequency, call us before your next renewal.” Use the cost explanation only if it’s true. Don’t invent a supplier crisis to justify correcting an underpriced service. **For a new quote:** “The price for that work is $550. That includes preparation, installation, and cleanup.” No apology. No nervous discount before they’ve even answered. **When someone says, “That’s too expensive”:** “I understand. We can keep the full scope at $550, or quote a smaller scope if that suits your budget. Which would you prefer?” Only offer reduced scope when it’s safe and practical. Never remove essential steps to manufacture a cheaper number. **When a loyal customer objects:** “Thanks for sticking with us. The new rate is $220 from September 1. If that no longer fits, we can discuss a less frequent schedule.” Respect the relationship. Don’t make loyalty mean permanent undercharging. ## Watch behavior, not just complaints Before launch, record four weeks of quote acceptance, average ticket, job volume, and gross profit. After launch, compare similar work and customer types. Account for seasonality and small sample sizes. Track actual cancellations separately from objections. “I don’t like it” and “cancel my service” are different events. Ask lost prospects why they declined. Price may be the issue. Slow responses, unclear quotes, and poor reviews may be doing damage too. Give staff the scripts and update your SOPs so nobody improvises a secret discount policy. ## What to fix first on Monday Pick one common service. Calculate its current delivery cost and gross profit. Test a proposed price against losing 5%, 10%, and 20% of its volume. Then set the effective date, update the quoting system, and brief the team. **Fix one underpriced service first. Don’t turn a necessary price change into a six-month committee meeting.** --- Source: https://businesscoachshawn.com/blog/raise-your-prices-without-making-it-weird Author: Shawn Duncan, business advisor to established small businesses (Austin, Texas). Advisory: https://businesscoachshawn.com/ · Marketing: https://businesscoachshawn.com/marketing · Systems: https://businesscoachshawn.com/systems