4 Ways To Raise Prices Without Losing Your Customers
As the cost of doing business keeps rising, here’s how you can approach price adjustments and ensure you also retain your customers.
During continuous inflation, it’s not easy to keep your prices steady, particularly when your operating costs are exceeding revenue. As much as you might want to keep prices the same, you have to adjust your prices to stay in business.
But how do you increase prices fairly so you don’t lose customers? Here are some ideas to try:
- Give advance notice.
Increasing prices without letting your customers know well in advance is not an option. So, always let them know that there will be a price increase ahead of time. This will give time to prepare for the change and it won’t come as a surprise.
2. Explain the reason for the increase.
Just letting your customers know about a price increase isn’t enough. Always explain the reason for the price adjustment. Your customers will appreciate being notified in advance and they’ll be more likely to accept the price increase without much protest if the reason for the increase is clear.
Whether the price hike is due to supply and demand changes, manufacturing costs, delivery expenses, or general overhead costs, giving your customers details will help them understand and ease into the change.
3. Offer more choices.
How about bundling your products and services? Instead of raising prices on individual products or services, offer package deals that include multiple items at a discounted price. For instance, if you own a nail salon, bundle your manicure, pedicure, and foot massage services together and sell at a discounted price. These types of offers could help you sell more and they’re perfect for creating the perception that your customers are getting more for less.
4. Be creative when changing your pricing.
Explore ways to justify the price increase. Consider what you could offer alongside your current product or service. Ideally offer extra benefits, or have policies that allow products to be returned, repaired, or replaced if they do not meet the specified quality. For instance, if you sell a product at ₦2500 and have to increase its price to ₦3,500, you could offer free delivery. This will help you give more value and make the new price feel bearable.
While price increases are unfortunate but necessary in an inflation, it is also important to be careful when changing prices and make sure they remain fair.
