How Not to Raise your Prices

Many ask me how and when to raise prices. In this episode, you'll learn how NOT to. The story I am going to tell in this episode is real and happened recently. I am protecting the identity of the solo cleaner by calling them "Jen". Thankfully, this story ends well. Take heart and do NOT copy Jen's mistake!

What did Jen do and why? I teach a proven strategy for how to raise prices in my ISO Model. I've been using this strategy since 2006. It's smart. It's battle-tested. It's strategic. And it's for optimizers ONLY! Jen is not an optimizer yet. Jen has a solid stabilizer business with around 20 clients. She loves her business and has amazing, loyal clients that will stay with her long-term. All she has to do is continue to serve them. These clients will absolutely pay more per visit over time as every business raises prices as the cost of doing business increases year-to-year. Jen got a call from a commercial property manager. She heard about Jen and wanted her do electrostatic disinfecting in multiple buildings. It was a huge opportunity for Jen and the promises sounded like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. At the same time, Jen was in an emotional state as a close family member was in an accident and required a lot of Jen's TLC. Jen really needed to make more money and have more time. In Jen's excitement at the prospect of the commercial disinfecting, she hastily sent price increase letters by email to half of her reliable, recurring house cleaning clients. Jen thought that some would not say yes and others would not. It would earn her more money per house that stayed and clear up enough time to do the disinfecting work. It was a perfect plan in Jen's mind. But was it?

Here's what happened next. One client fired her. One grilled her for 3 hours during the next cleaning and found out that increases were only sent to half of her clients. One prepared to fire her. She had not heard back from the others yet and decided it was a good idea to reach out to me. As she explained her actions, I panicked with her as I heard so many missteps. Jen could literally lose half of her business in 1 week!

Read the rest of this article at the Solo Cleaning School website!