Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/121374
painless price increases Is It Time for a Change? The big fear with raising your prices is that your clients are going to leave you and go somewhere else. In truth, if you've been working at developing strong relationships with your clients, there will likely be no appreciable drop in client volume if you raise your rates. Don't let the fear of losing a client stop you from making sure each session is profitable. If this fear is stopping you from raising your prices, here's something to try. Take a dozen client files at random. Look at each one and ask yourself: Will this person stop seeing me if I increase my prices 5 percent? 10 percent? 15 percent? 20 percent? My guess is that when you look at the reality of a fee increase with specific clients, you will see that most would tolerate a significant increase. You may even have some clients say they're surprised you didn't raise your prices sooner. Profit Margin & Perception A price increase immediately boosts your income because virtually every cent of the increase goes directly into your pocket. For example, let's assume that your gross sales are $40,000 per year and your net income after expenses is $25,000. A small 10 percent price increase immediately adds $4,000 to your bottom line without any additional work or expense! The greater your expenses, the more dramatic the effect will be on your profits. This is very evident if you are contracting therapists. Let's say you pay your therapists $35 for performing a $50 service and your clinic expenses are $10 per service, so your profit is $5. In this case, a 10 percent fee increase ($5) would mean a 100 percent increase in your profits! The price of your services has a big impact on how people perceive the quality and value of your work. If you don't revere the value of your offering and price it accordingly, don't be surprised when your clients don't value it either. In a way, you could be doing your clients a disservice by charging too little. Linda's original email the price of your service has a big impact on how people perceive the quality and value of your work. 74 massage & bodywork may/june 2013