Below is a sample “We’re Raising Our Prices” letter that you can adapt for use in your business. Note the reasons given for raising prices. Of course I just made them up, but the point is to use valid reasons that can be applied to your business. Insurance premiums, wage increases, transport costs, fuel costs, increased Australian dollar or foreign exchange rates, additional security measures, skills shortages, land taxes, decreasing profit margins, having to move to new facilities, and many others are all valid reasons. which you can use to increase your prices.

Can you see how they have made a limited offer to entice business owners to buy now? And with cash in advance? So not only do they get most companies to pay the highest prices, but they also get an immediate cash flow boost from the 10 companies that pay up front. And that they clearly detail the additional products and services they are offering. So while they have to raise their prices, they offer extras to sweeten the deal. You will see that a specific dollar amount was mentioned from the beginning. That is to get the attention of the owners. If that was hidden at the bottom of the letter, chances are they wouldn’t have even read that far. Would you read a letter that said “Save $4,975 when you shop now”? I guess you would. So keep in mind that you have to grab their attention from the very beginning. Then tell them you don’t want to raise prices, but because of (insert your business reasons), you must. It really is that simple. I mean, would you be offended if you got a letter like that?

Add a few extras to sweeten the deal

After you’ve explained how you should increase your prices, add a few extra products and services and you’ll find that no one really notices. If they are happy with your product or service, they will continue to use it. You can include additional value within your own business, as we have seen in this chapter. Or add some other business value, like the free “Insurance Consultant” consultation in the letter. In this case they have done both. They will provide some additional services and some gifts from another business.

Your action plan to increase your prices and add value

1. Create a valid USP for your business, something that will make your customers say “Wow, this lady really knows her stuff, what a great deal.” Involve all your staff; Make it something everyone is a part of. Remember that a good USP formula is… “You know when (insert a problem or frustration common to your industry or profession here), well, what we do is (show how you solve this problem better, faster, easier, or better). even cheaper than the others )”.
2. Stop competing on price, don’t be a retailer, if you have a price advantage over the competition, that’s fine. But don’t be a detail maker. Compete based on your USP and the tremendous additional value you offer your customers.
3. Add value and increase your prices – Add tons of extra value to your product or service. Make your business stand out so much that price becomes irrelevant to your customers.
4. Contact related but non-competitive businesses in your local area; Explain that it costs money to get a new customer. They should know this anyway. You’ll send them new clients for free, they just have to give away some of their time, or a free meal, or 3 free hours of gardening, and so on. If they know it costs $200 to get a new customer, there is no point in giving away a small sample of your product or service to get that customer. Particularly when you explain how that person can become a customer for life.
5. Give coupons, discounts, gifts, extras, etc. with every sale you make. Once you’ve gotten the other businesses to agree, give away some of your coupons, discount coupons, freebies, etc. with every purchase.
6. Add extra value from within your business: little things like extra service, thank you letters and calls, follow-up calls, cleaning up after follow-up visits, birthday cards or phone calls, being on time, making sure your customers understand what’s about to happen next, alerting your customers to useful information that could help them, sending flowers and gifts or scratch-off lottery tickets, etc., can make a big difference in how your customers perceive you. And it’s all a matter of perception. You see, you might be the most honest person to ever walk this earth. But if you’re a used car salesman, people will have a certain perception of you. It is not true, but it is true in their minds. And what you want is for your customer’s mind to say, “Wow, this guy is the best, most reliable car salesman I’ve ever seen.” By doing some or all of the little things above, your customers will perceive you as someone special, unique, different and caring.
7. Offer an outrageous guarantee, better than risk-free: when you take any risk out of doing business with you, your sales can’t help but increase. Even if you are much more expensive than your competitors, the fact that dealing with you is a ‘no risk’ situation will mean that more people will choose you. Most business owners seem too scared to offer an outrageous guarantee. They think that people will take advantage of them. The simple fact is that they won’t. You will probably find that maybe I out of 100 or I out of 1000 people take unfair advantage of your guarantee. And who really cares? Because, when you offer a better than risk-free guarantee, you’ll soon be making a lot more sales at a much higher price than you are now, that you certainly won’t care if 1% or more of people try to scam you.
8. Use testimonials to prove what you say is true: Testimonials from previous satisfied customers also help reduce any risk a customer may feel when doing business with you.
9. Send a letter to all your customers telling them you’re raising your prices. But before you do, there is a 1-month window of opportunity to buy at the above prices. Use the sample letter as a template. That way, you’ll get a cash flow boost from customers who come to buy at the old price, and when they all start paying the new, higher prices a month from now. While you’re at it, include a customer survey with the letter and ask them to tell you what they liked best about doing business with you, what they liked least, if they’re happy with your service or product, what you could do. better and so on. You can offer a prize, a gift, or an incentive for additional responses. When you receive them, pay close attention to what your customers tell you. Do much more of what they like and eliminate everything they don’t like. Then you can easily justify your increased prices.
10. Over time, make sure all of your marketing efforts clearly explain why your business is different—focus on the benefits your customers will get when they do business with you. Or tell them about the disaster they will avoid by doing business with you. Emphasize your risk-free guarantee, customer service, reliability, proven track record, twice the warranty of others, cheaper running costs, etc.

This is a sample letter that you can modify and use…….

Dear Customer,

Save $4,975 when you buy now

This is your last chance to buy at our old prices – we don’t want to, but we just have to raise our prices

First of all, don’t worry, if you renew your security contract with us in the next 30 days, you’ll not only save on our new prices, but you’ll also get an additional 10% off saving you a whopping $4,975 on your contract. current.

We really don’t want to do it, but we’re going to have to raise our prices. The rising cost of insurance premiums, recent industrial action resulting in wage increases for the security industry, rising fuel costs and land taxes mean we simply must raise our prices or we will go out of business.

We just want to take this opportunity to say “Thank you” for your business, we have enjoyed helping you protect your business and property.

We want you to be assured that you will continue to receive the same great service from us; in fact, we’re introducing the following new services for your benefit, all at no additional cost.

• Twice as many patrols: We will now inspect your property every 20 minutes, instead of 40. Your premises will now be safer than ever.
• Free nightly security escorts for your staff: We know that from time to time some of your staff work late at night and as you know “you can’t be too careful these days”. From now on, we will be there to safely escort you to your cars, and we will provide this service free of charge. Just give us a call 10 minutes before you want to leave, and we’ll be there.
• $500 Free “Insurance Consultation” – Over the last three years we have served over 50 local businesses. No ome has been stolen in that time. And because of our great track record, businesses that use us may be eligible for a significant insurance discount. So we’ve arranged a “free consultation” with our friends at Jakes Business Insurance to see if you can save some more money.
• $1,000 Free “Property Security Audit” – We want to maintain our 100% “Theft-Free” record. Therefore, we will offer you a free “Property Security Audit”. We will spend a day reviewing every inch of your business premises and provide you with a full written report. This will cover areas such as fire safety, alarms, personnel safety, “weak spots”, blind spots, etc.

So even though we are going to increase our prices, we are offering a higher level of service, and you may be able to save $1,000 on your insurance policy by using us. Hurry up…

We must clarify that this offer is strictly limited to the first 10 businesses that renew their security contract with us and pay the first two months in advance.

Feel free to call us at 1800,000,000 to discuss any of these changes. Our goal is to provide you with an even better level of service and protection than in the past. We enclose with this letter a complete list of our new prices and services, as well as the contracting forms.

Remember, on your current contract you’ll save $4,975 if you accept this offer. So pick up the phone and give us a call right now as we can only extend this offer to the first 10 companies that accept it.

Yours sincerely

business owner

Business Name

P.S. This offer is strictly limited to the first 10 companies that renew their security contract with us and pay the first two months in advance.

So you can see that by using this type of sample letter explaining and justifying your price increase you can build customer loyalty.

The above is just an example of what you can create with a little imagination.

Article written by

PETER TONKS MARKETING

www.plustenmarketing.com

Marketing by Peter Tonks.