When your expenses go up, your fees must, too. Here’s how to communicate the increases to your customers.
By Jennifer Paulson
When your costs go up, you might have to consider increasing your prices. It’s not an easy conversation to have with your customers, but it could be the difference in maintaining your business and falling far behind—or even losing your business.
Here are five tips to consider when passing on a price increase to your customers.
1. Be honest. Explain exactly how your expenses are changing—price increases on hay and fuel are likely your biggest financial strains. Figure out a percentage change from in the past, and share that to drive home how your business is taking a hit.
2. Consider a short-term increase. It’s hard to slap your customers with a price increase, and the inflation issues could be short-term. Take a close look at your financials and determine if a short-term increase in fees or a temporary surcharge could help during the next few months. Set a date that you’ll reevaluate the situation, and keep your customers informed.
3. Leverage itemized billing. In this situation, itemized billing can be your biggest asset. Your customers see, line by line, where the increases are coming from. When they see that inflation-influenced items increase but other items stay the same, it strengthens trust and understanding of the situation.
4. Choose a professional means of communication. These discussions shouldn’t be gossip in the barn aisle. Now is the time to use your e-newsletter template or, at the very least, an email sent to all your customers. Everyone should learn about the changes in the same manner, at the same time.
5. Keep the conversation open. Just as increases in your overhead are hard to swallow, an increase in boarding and training expenses could be tough for your customers to stomach. Open communication can help them see that you value them—not just their checkbook—and want to make the situation work for everyone, including yourself.
