Price Increase Letter Example (Templates That Work)

Most Price Increase Letters Are Written Wrong

I've raised prices across five companies. I've also coached thousands of agency owners through rate increases. The number one mistake I see? People write price increase letters like they're apologizing for existing.

They over-explain. They hedge. They bury the number in the fifth paragraph. They write things like "due to current economic conditions and inflationary pressures" - which is just noise that signals you're not confident in what you're charging.

Here's the truth: clients don't leave because you raised prices. They leave because the raise felt random, disrespectful, or panicked. A well-written price increase letter actually strengthens client relationships. It shows you're running a real business, not freelancing out of desperation.

Let me show you what these letters actually look like - and why each line is in there.

I've helped businesses generate over $100M through cold outreach, and here's what I've learned: the same psychological principles that make cold emails work at 30-40% reply rates also apply to price increase letters. When I was scaling my agency to a million a month, I discovered that being specific and direct in your communication - whether you're pitching or raising prices - gets exponentially better results than dancing around the point. The problem is most people write price increase letters like apology notes instead of confident business communications.

What Is a Price Increase Letter?

A price increase letter - sometimes called a rate increase letter or price adjustment notice - is a formal communication from a business to its clients or customers informing them that prices for products or services are going up. It states the new rate, when it takes effect, and gives enough context for the client to understand why.

That's it. It's not a negotiation. It's not a therapy session. It's a business communication - and the best ones treat it as exactly that.

What separates a good price increase letter from a bad one isn't the words you use. It's the posture behind them. If you write from a place of confidence - confident in your value, your results, your business - the letter reads that way. If you're writing from fear, that comes through too, no matter how carefully you word it.

This guide gives you templates you can use today, plus the framework behind them so you understand what makes each one work. Whether you're running an agency, a SaaS business, a consulting practice, or a service business, there's a version here for you.

When to Raise Your Prices

Before you write the letter, make sure you're raising prices at the right time. Timing matters - not just for client retention, but for your own confidence going into the conversation.

Here are the clear signals that it's time:

• Your costs have risen significantly. Labor costs, tools, software subscriptions, contractor rates - if your expenses have climbed and your pricing hasn't moved in over a year, you're working for less than you were before. That's a straightforward business case.
• Your margins have compressed. If you're doing more work for the same (or less) money, something has to give. Either you reduce scope or you increase price. Reducing scope usually means worse outcomes for the client. Raising price is the cleaner move.
• You've improved your service or product. Added team members. Built out better systems. Developed proprietary processes. If what you deliver today is materially better than what you delivered 18 months ago, your pricing should reflect that.
• You haven't raised prices in over a year. Annual adjustments are standard. Clients who work with service businesses expect this. What surprises them is when a vendor goes three years at the same rate and then jumps 40% in one shot. Small, regular increases are easier to absorb than sudden large ones.
• Your win rate is too high. If you're closing almost every deal you pitch, you're probably priced too low. Some price resistance is healthy. It signals the market respects what you're charging.
• Competitors have raised their prices. If comparable agencies or vendors in your space are charging more for similar work, staying at your current rate doesn't make you look like a deal - it makes you look underqualified.

The best time to send a price increase notice is right after you've delivered a meaningful win for the client. They just saw your value up close. That's the moment to reinforce it with a conversation about pricing.

The Psychology Behind Price Increases (And Why It Matters)

Understanding a bit of pricing psychology will make your letters more effective and your conversations about rates a lot less awkward.

Loss aversion works in your favor. People feel the pain of losing something more acutely than the pleasure of gaining something equivalent. When you frame a price increase as "lock in your current rate before X date," you're activating loss aversion - the client doesn't want to lose the current price. That's why the "lock in" language in several templates below converts so well.

Longer-tenured clients are less price-sensitive. Research consistently shows that customers with longer relationships are more tolerant of price increases from their service providers. The clients most likely to push back or churn are newer, less embedded clients who haven't built deep loyalty yet. This means your highest-risk accounts aren't your biggest or oldest - they're your newest ones. Keep that in mind as you segment who you're notifying and how.

One clear reason beats a list of reasons. When you give four or five justifications for a price increase, it reads like you're not sure any of them will land. One confident, specific reason signals certainty. "We've grown the team and the scope of what we deliver has expanded" is stronger than a paragraph listing inflation, tool costs, labor, overhead, and market rates. The latter sounds defensive. The former sounds like a business owner who knows what they're doing.

Transparency builds trust. Being direct about the fact that prices are going up - using plain language like "price increase" rather than euphemisms like "pricing adjustment" or "rate recalibration" - actually lands better with clients. Euphemisms feel slippery. Clear language feels honest.

Higher prices signal higher quality. There's a documented psychological principle at work here: people associate price with quality. When you raise your rates, some clients will actually perceive your work as more valuable, not less. Pricing low for too long can actually work against you - it signals that you don't believe in what you're selling.

Here's something I learned from sending millions of cold emails: people remember uncompleted tasks better than completed ones. This is called the "open loop" phenomenon, and it's why "Quick Question" consistently outperforms every other subject line I've tested. When you're raising prices, you're essentially creating an open loop - the client needs to decide what to do next. That's why your letter should acknowledge this tension directly rather than burying the news in paragraph three. I've seen clients lose 30% fewer customers simply by putting the price increase in the first two sentences instead of building up to it.

The Anatomy of a Good Price Increase Letter

Before the templates, understand the structure. Every effective price increase letter hits five points in this order:

• Lead with value, not the increase. Remind them what they've gotten. Don't open with the bad news.
• State the change clearly and early. Once you've acknowledged the relationship, say the number. Don't dance around it.
• Give a reason - one, not twelve. One clean reason is confident. Twelve reasons is insecurity dressed up as transparency.
• Give enough notice. 30 days minimum. 60 is better. It shows respect.
• Make the next step obvious. Tell them exactly what happens next so there's no ambiguity.

Price Increase Letter Example #1: The Agency Retainer Increase

This is the format I've used (and taught) most often - for agencies raising monthly retainers with existing clients.

Subject: Update to Your Monthly Retainer - Effective [Date]

Hi [First Name],

Working with [Company Name] has been one of the better client relationships we've had. In the past [X months], we've [specific result - e.g., grown your organic traffic 40%, closed 12 new leads from our campaigns, rebuilt your entire outbound sequence].

I'm writing to let you know that starting [Date - 60 days out], your monthly retainer will increase from $[current] to $[new].

The reason is straightforward: our team has grown and so has the scope of what we're delivering. To keep the quality of work you've come to expect, we needed to adjust our pricing to reflect that.

Your current agreement runs through [Date]. Nothing changes until then. After that, the new rate applies automatically unless you'd like to discuss adjustments to scope.

If you have questions, reply here or book 15 minutes with me: [Calendly link].

Thanks for being a great client.

[Your Name]

Why this works: It opens with a specific result (not vague praise), states the number clearly in paragraph two, gives one reason, and closes with a clear next step. There's no apology. There's no guilt-tripping. It reads like it came from a business owner who respects the client's time.

Price Increase Letter Example #2: The SaaS or Subscription Price Increase

SaaS price increases have a different dynamic. You're often emailing thousands of users, not a handful of clients. The tone needs to scale without feeling robotic.

Subject: Important: Changes to Your [Product] Subscription

Hi [First Name],

You've been a [Product] customer since [Month, Year], and we don't take that lightly.

We're writing to let you know that starting [Date], the price for your [Plan Name] plan will change from $[old] to $[new] per month.

What's driving this: we've added [1-2 specific features or infrastructure improvements] and invested heavily in [support / uptime / security]. This price reflects the product we've built - and the one we're continuing to build.

Your billing won't change until [Date]. If you'd like to lock in your current rate, you can do so by switching to an annual plan before then: [link].

Questions? Hit reply - a real person reads this inbox.

[Your Name]
[Title], [Company]

Why this works: The "lock in annual" offer is a conversion play embedded inside the price increase notice. It turns a potential churn event into a revenue acceleration. Include it whenever your product has an annual billing option.

Price Increase Letter Example #3: The Freelancer or Consultant Rate Increase

Freelancers and consultants often have the hardest time with this because it feels personal. It's not. It's math. Here's a clean version:

Subject: Rate Update for Our Ongoing Work

Hi [First Name],

I wanted to reach out directly before my rates change at the end of [Month].

As of [Date], my rate for [service type] will be $[new rate] per [hour/project/month]. That's up from $[old rate].

You've been a great client to work with - [optional: one genuine specific thing]. Because of that, I'm giving you first priority to lock in the current rate for any projects we scope before [cutoff date].

After [cutoff date], all new work will be billed at the updated rate.

Let me know if you want to get something on the calendar before then.

[Your Name]

Why this works: The "lock in current rate" offer creates urgency without being manipulative. It rewards loyal clients and gives them a reason to act quickly rather than sit on the fence and churn out of inaction.

Price Increase Letter Example #4: The Proactive Annual Increase

Some agencies and consultants build annual price increases into their contracts from day one. This is the smartest approach - it sets the expectation upfront, so the letter is a reminder, not a shock.

Subject: Your Annual Rate Adjustment - Effective [Date]

Hi [First Name],

As outlined in our agreement, we do a standard annual rate adjustment each [month]. Starting [Date], your monthly retainer will move from $[X] to $[X+Y].

This adjustment reflects [one-line reason: e.g., increased scope, team growth, or cost-of-living alignment]. Everything else about our engagement stays the same.

No action needed on your end. Your invoice for [Month] will reflect the updated rate.

As always, if you ever want to revisit the scope of what we're doing together, just reply here.

[Your Name]

This letter is short because the groundwork was laid in the contract. If you're not building annual increases into your agreements, grab the agency contract template - it covers this.

Price Increase Letter Example #5: The Long-Term or Legacy Client

Some of your oldest clients are the hardest to have this conversation with - not because they'll push back hardest, but because the relationship means more to you. Here's how to handle it.

Subject: A Note on Our Rates - [Client Company Name]

Hi [First Name],

You've been with us since [time frame], and I wanted to reach out to you directly - not via a mass email - because that relationship matters.

We're updating our rates for all clients effective [Date]. For you specifically, the new monthly rate will be $[new amount], up from $[current amount].

I'll be honest: you've been on our legacy pricing for longer than most. The work we're doing together has grown significantly since we first started, and it was time to bring things in line with what we're delivering.

I wanted to give you as much notice as possible - [60 days] - and let you know that as a longtime client, if you'd like to prepay at the current rate through [date], I'll honor that.

Let me know if you want to connect for a quick call. Otherwise, I'll follow up closer to the effective date.

[Your Name]

Why this works: It acknowledges the tenure of the relationship without making the client feel like they're being punished for their loyalty. The prepay offer at the current rate is the same psychology as the "lock in" offers above - activating loss aversion to drive a positive action. And reaching out personally (not via a mass send) for your highest-value relationships is the right move. It signals that they matter.

The cold email principles I teach work because they're hyper-specific. It's not "social media marketing" - it's "Instagram growth for realtors." The same specificity applies to legacy client price increases. One agency I worked with was raising prices on clients they'd had for 3+ years, and their first draft said something generic like "due to increased costs." I had them rewrite it to cite three specific improvements they'd made to the client's account in the past year, with dollar amounts attached. Their retention rate went from 73% to 94% just by making the value concrete instead of assumed.

Price Increase Letter Example #6: The SMS or Short-Form Notice

For service businesses with strong SMS relationships - contractors, home services, local businesses - a text message notice can work well as a supplement to the email, or for clients you know prefer mobile communication.

Hi [First Name], [Business Name] here. Heads up: our service rates are increasing on [Date]. Your new rate will be $[amount]. Full details in your email. Questions? Reply here or call [number]. Thanks for your business.

Why this works: It's short, clear, and gives them a next step. It doesn't try to explain everything over text - it points them to where the full explanation lives. Use this as a supporting touch, not a replacement for the main notice.

Price Increase Letter Example #7: The Proactive Notice for New Prospects

This one is underused. If you're in the middle of a sales process and you know a rate increase is coming, be upfront about it with prospects you're talking to now.

Subject: Heads Up Before We Finalize Scope

Hi [First Name],

Quick note before we lock in next steps: our rates are going up on [Date].

If we move forward and get an agreement signed before [Date], you'll be on our current pricing. After that, everything moves to the new rate.

Wanted to be straightforward about that so there are no surprises.

[Your Name]

Why this works: It creates honest urgency in a sales conversation without being pushy. You're giving the prospect a real reason to move fast. It also immediately signals that you're running a professional, organized business - which builds trust at exactly the right moment.

Price Increase Letter Example #8: When You're Raising Prices on a Specific Service (Not Everything)

Sometimes you're not raising across the board - you're adjusting pricing on one specific service, deliverable, or tier. Here's how to handle that.

Subject: Update to [Specific Service] Pricing

Hi [First Name],

I wanted to give you advance notice of an upcoming change to our [specific service] pricing.

Effective [Date], [specific service] will increase from $[old] to $[new]. All other services in your current engagement remain unchanged.

This change reflects the additional time and resources we've built around [service] since we launched it. What we're delivering now is substantially more involved than when we originally scoped and priced it.

Your current pricing holds through [Date]. After that, the new rate applies.

If you have questions about what's included or want to revisit scope, just reply here.

[Your Name]

Why this works: It's surgical. It tells the client exactly what's changing and what isn't - which removes ambiguity and prevents the client from assuming everything is going up when it's not. Specific beats general in these letters every time.

What to Include in Every Price Increase Letter

Regardless of which template you use, every price increase letter needs these elements:

• The specific new price. Not a range. Not "our rates are going up." The actual number. Vagueness breeds anxiety. Specificity builds trust.
• The exact effective date. "Later this quarter" is not a date. "March 1" is a date. Give them the date.
• One reason. Not a disclaimer about market conditions. One honest, specific reason. "We've grown the team," "we've added X deliverable to your scope," "we're aligning our pricing with the value we're delivering" - all fine. A list of twelve economic factors is not fine.
• What action (if any) they need to take. Do they need to sign something? Reply? Do nothing? Tell them. Remove all ambiguity about what happens next.
• A way to reach you. A reply-to email or a Calendly link. Make it easy for them to ask questions before they stew on an objection in silence and decide to shop around.

What Not to Do in a Price Increase Letter

I've seen enough bad examples to fill a book. Here are the patterns that kill client relationships:

• Opening with the increase. "I'm writing to let you know our prices are going up" - cold, transactional, no context. Start with value.
• Over-apologizing. "We're so sorry to have to do this, but..." signals you don't believe you're worth it. Clients pick up on that energy.
• Too many reasons. One clear reason is confident. Four reasons sounds like you're not sure any of them will land.
• Vague timelines. "Sometime in the next few months" is not a timeline. Give a specific date.
• No call to action. What do you want them to do? Reply? Book a call? Sign something? Tell them.
• Sending it too late. Telling a client their rate is going up in 7 days is disrespectful. Give 30-60 days minimum.
• Using euphemisms. "Rate recalibration" and "pricing adjustment" read as evasive. Call it what it is: a price increase. Clients respect directness.
• Being inconsistent across clients. If you're giving different clients different deals and those clients talk to each other, you'll lose both. Be consistent in what you offer as transition options.
• Sneaking it into an invoice. Never just change the invoice amount without prior notice. That's not just bad client relations - it's a fast path to disputes and lost contracts.

Timing and Delivery Matter as Much as the Letter Itself

The words in the letter only do so much. When and how you send it matters too.

Best times to send a price increase notice:

• 60 days before the new rate takes effect
• After you've just delivered a win (strong results, completed project, positive feedback)
• At the start of a new contract cycle, not in the middle of one
• When your client just signed a new project with you - they're in a positive frame of mind about the relationship

Worst times to send a price increase notice:

• Right after a mistake or delivery problem on your end
• During a client's busy season when they're already stressed
• Buried inside a longer email covering other topics
• Right before a holiday or long weekend when it'll sit unread

Delivery format: Email is standard and appropriate for most client relationships. For high-value retainers ($5K+/month), consider a quick call first - send the letter as a follow-up to the conversation. It's more human, and it gives you a chance to address objections in real time before the client stews on it alone.

If you're sending to a large list and want to track open rates and replies, a sequenced outreach tool like Smartlead or Instantly lets you see who opened, who didn't, and follow up accordingly. This is especially useful for SaaS or subscription businesses doing a large-scale rollout - you can build a short sequence: initial notice, a mid-point reminder, and a final heads-up before the effective date.

How to Segment Your Client List Before Sending

Not every client gets the same letter. Before you do a price increase rollout - especially if you're an agency or consultant with a meaningful client roster - segment your list into at least three buckets:

High-value, long-term clients. These get the personal touch: a call first (if the relationship warrants it), a personalized letter with their specific results mentioned, and possibly a transition offer like prepaying at the current rate or an extended lead time. These clients are worth the extra effort.

Standard active clients. These get a well-written, personalized-feeling email that uses their name and ideally references something specific about their account. The templates above work well here with light customization.

Smaller or newer clients. These can receive a more standardized notice. Still clear, still professional, but you don't need to invest the same level of personalization that you would for a $15K/month retainer client.

If your client data is spread across a CRM and you need to build this list quickly, a tool like Close CRM makes it easy to segment by revenue, tenure, or engagement level and launch personalized email sequences directly from the platform.

How to Handle Pushback

Some clients will push back. That's normal. Here's how to handle the three most common responses:

"Can you hold the rate for another 6 months?" - Only agree to this if you genuinely want to keep the client at the current rate. If you do, put it in writing and set a hard date. Don't let it become an indefinite delay. The way to handle this correctly is to say: "I can offer you the current rate through [specific date], after which the new rate applies. Let me send over an amendment to our agreement reflecting that." Get it in writing immediately.

"That's too much of an increase." - Don't negotiate the rate down. Instead, negotiate the scope down. "We can keep the rate at $X if we reduce the deliverables to Y." This protects your margins and forces a real conversation about value. It also keeps the decision in their court - they have to choose between paying more for everything they're getting, or getting less for the same price. Most will stay at the new rate.

No response at all. - Follow up once, five days before the effective date. Keep it short: "Just making sure you saw my note about the rate change taking effect on [date]. Let me know if you have questions." If they don't reply, proceed with the new rate. No response is not a "no." Don't freeze because someone didn't reply. Execute the change.

"I need to think about it." - Give them a specific deadline. "Totally understand - just so you know, the current rate is available through [date]. Let me know by then and we'll keep everything as-is or talk through adjustments." A deadline converts fence-sitters. Without one, "I need to think about it" becomes indefinite churn.

"Can you explain the increase more?" - This is actually a buying signal. They want to be convinced. Give them your one reason, expanded slightly: "We've added two people to the team working on your account, our tooling costs have grown substantially as we've scaled up what we deliver, and honestly, the work we're doing now is worth more than when we started. I wanted to make sure our pricing reflects that." Then stop talking.

When people tell you your cold email is spam, that's feedback, not failure. I once had someone tell me my email was the worst they'd ever read - then they booked a call, lectured me about it, and bought anyway. The same principle applies to price increase pushback. If a client pushes back, don't immediately cave or get defensive. Ask questions: "What specifically feels like too much?" or "What would make this work for you?" I've seen clients save 60-70% of pushback situations just by treating objections as negotiations rather than rejections. The key is having the confidence to hold your ground while staying curious about their concerns.

Should You Raise Prices Across the Board or Just for New Clients?

This is a question I get a lot. The honest answer: eventually, it needs to be both.

Raising prices only for new clients is the path of least resistance - no uncomfortable conversations, no risk of pushback. But it creates a fragmented business where legacy clients are subsidizing their own loyalty. That's not sustainable, and it trains your team to think of price increases as something that only happens to strangers.

The smarter move is to run your "new client rate" for 3-6 months before rolling the increase back to existing clients. That way you have market validation that the new rate holds - prospects are saying yes at the higher number - before you have the conversation with long-term clients. That data gives you confidence in the conversation.

If you have clients on truly legacy pricing - rates you set years ago that are now wildly below market - you may need to bring them up in stages over two or three increase cycles rather than in a single jump. A 10-15% annual adjustment is generally considered standard and reasonable. A 60% jump in one letter will almost always trigger a real conversation, and not always a productive one.

Annual Price Increases: Build Them In From Day One

The single best thing you can do to make this process painless forever is to include price increase language in every client contract from the first day of the relationship. Something simple:

"Rates are subject to annual adjustment. Any adjustment will be communicated in writing with a minimum of 60 days' notice prior to the effective date."

When that language is in the contract, your price increase letter stops being news. It becomes a formality. The client agreed to it when they signed. They expected it. There's nothing to debate.

This is one of the things I cover in the agency contract template - the clauses that set the right expectations from day one so moments like this are administrative, not dramatic.

Reviewing your pricing on a regular cadence - at minimum once a year - is healthy and normal. Small, predictable increases are far easier for clients to absorb than irregular large ones. If you've been with a client for three years and never raised rates, and you come in with a significant jump, you're creating a shock that didn't have to happen. Annual, modest increases keep the conversation routine.

How to Write a Price Increase Letter: Step-by-Step

If you'd rather build your own from scratch than adapt a template, here's the process I'd follow:

Step 1: Start with the specific result you've delivered. One sentence. Something real. "In the past six months, we built and launched your entire outbound system, going from zero to 40 qualified meetings booked." Not: "It's been a pleasure working together."

Step 2: State the new price and the date. Do this in paragraph two, not paragraph five. "Starting [Date], your monthly retainer will move from $X to $Y." That's all this sentence needs to do.

Step 3: Give one reason. One sentence. Specific. "Our team has grown, and the time we're investing in your account has grown with it." Not a paragraph. One sentence.

Step 4: Clarify what happens next. Does anything need to be signed? Will the invoice update automatically? Is there an option to lock in the current rate? Tell them exactly what the path forward looks like.

Step 5: Give them a way to reach you. A reply, a Calendly link, a phone number. Make contact effortless. The easier it is to ask questions, the less likely they are to silently decide to leave.

Step 6: Close without apology. "Thanks for being a great client" is fine. "I really hope this works for you and I'm so sorry for any inconvenience" is not.

Price Increase Subject Lines That Get Opened

The best letter in the world is useless if it doesn't get opened. Here are subject lines that work - clear, direct, and specific enough that clients know to open them:

• Update to Your Monthly Retainer - Effective [Date]
• Important: Changes to Your [Product/Service] Starting [Date]
• Rate Update for [Company Name]
• Your Annual Rate Adjustment - Effective [Date]
• A Note on Our Pricing - [Client First Name]
• Heads Up: Rate Change Effective [Date]

What makes all of these work: they don't bury the subject. They signal directly that this is about pricing. Clients who see a vague subject line and open it to find a price increase feel ambushed. Clients who see "Rate Update" in the subject know what's coming, and they open it with the right frame of mind.

Avoid clickbaity subject lines like "Exciting news about your account" - those set the wrong expectation and create a trust problem before the client even reads the first line.

The price increase principles I teach are the same ones that helped my agency generate $600,000 in annual recurring revenue in just 60 days. The specific subject lines that work for cold email also work for price increases, but most people overthink them.

In that breakdown, I explain the psychology of the "Quick Question" subject line and why it consistently gets 30-40% open rates. For price increases, I've tested "Quick Question" against "Important Update About Your Account" and "Pricing Changes for [Company Name]" - and "Quick Question" still wins by 15-20 percentage points. The reason is simple: curiosity beats corporate-speak every single time.

The Follow-Up Sequence

One email is rarely enough. Here's a simple three-email sequence that covers the full rollout:

Email 1 (60 days before effective date): The main notice. All the elements above. This is the letter. Give them the full picture and the full lead time.

Email 2 (30 days before effective date): A shorter reminder. "Just following up on my note from [Month] about the rate change taking effect [Date]. If you have questions or want to discuss anything, reply here or grab time with me: [link]." That's it. Three sentences. Don't repeat the whole letter.

Email 3 (5-7 days before effective date): Final heads-up. "Your updated rate of $[amount] takes effect on [Date] - just a few days out. Invoice for [Month] will reflect the new amount. Questions? I'm here." Keep it very short. By this point, if they were going to push back, they would have. This is just a courtesy.

If you want to track who opened each email and automate the sequence so no one falls through the cracks, tools like Smartlead let you build the entire sequence, set delays, and monitor responses - all from one dashboard. Worth using if you're rolling this out to more than a handful of clients at once.

Price Increase Letters by Industry

Different industries have slightly different norms around pricing conversations. Here's how to adapt the approach:

Marketing and creative agencies: Lead with results, always. Your clients pay you for outcomes. Reference specific metrics. The increase is justified by the work, so the work has to lead the conversation.

Accounting and professional services: More formal tone. Reference the service agreement. Give more notice (60-90 days is standard in this space). Clients in professional services environments expect contracts to be respected and updated formally.

IT services and managed services providers: Reference infrastructure investments, team certifications, or tool upgrades. These clients care about reliability and expertise - your justification should speak to those priorities.

Coaching and consulting: This is the most personal category. The relationship is often closer and the pricing conversation feels more loaded. Keep the letter warm but clear. The "lock in" offer works especially well here for long-term clients.

Home services and contractors: Shorter, more direct communication. SMS supplements email. Reference labor costs, material costs, or licensing costs - these are understood and accepted in this space. Don't over-explain.

SaaS and software: Volume sends require more automation. Consider segmenting by plan tier and sending tier-specific letters with the specific dollar amounts for each plan. The annual lock-in conversion is key here.

Build Pricing Confidence Before You Write the Letter

The real issue behind bad price increase letters isn't copywriting - it's that the person writing the letter doesn't actually believe they're worth the new rate. That comes through.

Pricing confidence comes from knowing your numbers, your market, and your value. Before you write any of these letters, do the internal work first:

• Pull your results data. What have you actually delivered for this client? Write it down before you write the letter.
• Know your market rate. What are comparable agencies or consultants charging right now? If you don't know, spend 30 minutes finding out.
• Do the math on your margins. If you're losing money on a client account, that's not a "maybe raise prices" situation - that's an urgent one.
• Decide on your walk-away position before the conversation. If the client says no to the new rate and won't negotiate scope, what do you do? Know the answer before you're in the conversation.

If you want to get your agency pricing and positioning dialed in, check out the 7-Figure Agency Blueprint - it goes deep on how to structure retainers so rate increases become easier every time.

I also cover price increase positioning and client retention strategies inside my coaching program for those who want direct feedback on their specific situation.

I tell every agency owner the same thing: if you're relying on referrals alone, you're wasting potential. One $20 million agency I consulted added $40 million in revenue in under 6 months just by sending a few dozen cold emails per week. The confidence you build from proactive outbound - knowing you can generate revenue on demand - completely changes how you approach existing clients. When you know you can replace a difficult client in 30 days through cold email, suddenly that price increase conversation feels a lot easier. Build your outbound muscle before you need it, and pricing confidence follows automatically.

What Happens After You Send the Letter

Most of the time? Less drama than you expected.

In my experience running and coaching agencies through dozens of price increase rollouts, the typical outcomes break down something like this: a majority of clients accept the new rate without any response at all - they just keep paying. A smaller group will reach out to ask questions or negotiate. And a small number will use it as a trigger to leave - but honestly, those clients were usually at risk anyway, for reasons unrelated to price.

The clients most likely to leave over a price increase are the ones who were already unhappy, already shopping alternatives, or were only with you because you were the cheapest option. Losing those clients might actually improve your business - freeing up capacity for better-fit, higher-value relationships.

After the increase takes effect, monitor your retention metrics for 60-90 days. Track which clients converted, which left, and what the net revenue impact was. That data becomes your baseline for the next increase cycle - and it will tell you if you have room to go higher sooner than you expected.

Quick Reference: Price Increase Letter Checklist

• Open with a specific value statement or result
• State the new price clearly - in the first or second paragraph
• Give one clear reason for the increase
• Specify the exact effective date (60 days out is ideal)
• Include a "lock in" offer if applicable (annual plan, scoped project)
• Tell them exactly what action (if any) they need to take
• Keep it under 250 words - brevity signals confidence
• No apologies, no guilt, no excessive explanation
• Send a follow-up reminder at 30 days and again at 5-7 days before the effective date
• Track opens and replies so no one slips through without follow-up

Frequently Asked Questions About Price Increase Letters

How much notice should I give before a price increase?
Minimum 30 days. 60 days is the standard I recommend for agency retainer clients and anything involving a formal contract. For SaaS or subscription businesses, 30 days is generally the legal and industry standard, but 60 days builds goodwill. The more embedded a client is with your service, the more notice they deserve.

How much should I raise prices by?
There's no universal right answer. Annual increases of 5-15% are generally accepted as standard for service businesses and easy to absorb. If you're significantly underpriced versus market, you may need to make a larger adjustment - in which case, consider staging it over two cycles. Anything above 20% in a single increase should come with either strong results documentation or a call before the letter.

Should I raise prices for all clients at the same time?
You don't have to, but keeping all increases on a consistent annual schedule makes the process more manageable and predictable. If you're doing a first-ever price increase and you have legacy clients at very different rates, you may need to phase the rollout over several months or two cycles. Just make sure your internal team knows who is at which rate and when the changes take effect.

What if a client threatens to leave?
That's a business decision, not a personal rejection. Before you automatically concede, ask yourself: what is this client actually worth, and at what rate does it make sense to keep them? If the math works at the current rate, you might offer to hold it for one more cycle. If it doesn't, letting them go is the right call. Running a business means making those calls.

Should I call clients instead of emailing?
For your highest-value clients - yes, call first, then follow up with the written notice. For everyone else, email is appropriate. A phone call to every client on a large roster isn't scalable, and it can actually create more anxiety than a well-written email. The goal is clarity, not ceremony.

Do I need to explain why I'm raising prices?
Yes - briefly. One sentence. You don't owe a detailed accounting of your business finances, but a single honest reason removes the "out of nowhere" feeling that makes clients anxious. "We've grown the team" or "the scope of what we deliver has expanded" is all you need.

The Bottom Line

Price increase letters fail when they're written from a place of fear. Write them from a place of confidence - confidence in the value you've delivered and the value you'll keep delivering.

The templates above aren't magic. What makes them work is the posture behind them: clear, respectful, direct. You're not asking for permission. You're communicating a business decision. There's a difference.

Use the checklist. Follow the five-point structure. Give real notice. State the number clearly. And stop apologizing for running a business that grows.

If you want to tighten up your broader client communication and outbound systems, the Discovery Call Framework is worth grabbing - it covers how to set expectations from the first conversation so moments like price increases are a lot less awkward later on.

Raise your prices. You've earned it.