A bewildered accountant called me last week. He told me that a client got really angry when his firm sent a notice of a price increase coming for 2026.
“The client was so angry. She wanted to know what else she would be getting for the higher fee. When I said all prices go up each year, she said she didn’t care and to cancel her as a client.”
Whew! I’ve heard this before and I’m sure others will experience it too.
The answer is not anger though.
The answer is to be aware of the landmines that can blow up a relationship and then do something about them.
1 – Poor marketing.
Marketing is what you tell clients and prospects about how your company helps its clients.
If all you talk about is a list of tasks (Packages or tiers) you better expect objections to fee increases. You have not helped clients understand that your professionals are always learning and increasing the impacts that learning creates for your clients.
This is so foolish!
You have so much substance to base fee increases on. Each new year brings changes to all aspects of accounting and you seamlessly incorporate them into your work.
That’s your marketing story and when you tell it well, your clients will not object to well-earned fee increases.
Marketing like this needs to be continuous throughout the year. You can do it with a monthly newsletter, and with personal notes to clients 2-3 times per year. In these notes you let them know how the firm’s knowledge and expertise is continually growing and what it means to them.
2 – Commodity offers.
Too, too many professionals create packages of their services. There’s a list of inputs that the client buys for some amount of money. You may offer 2 or 3 packages with different price points, and the client chooses, But it’s inescapable that the client believes they are buying tasks and time.
Then when you try to raise the fees, they get angry because they see this as charging more for the same tasks and time as before. They don’t care about your increased costs or inflation. They feel it’s a personal insult for you to charge more for the same things.
You avoid these objections with customization. Customize 2-3 options for each client, with fees proportional to the significance of the option, and let them choose. Each year the customization should reflect an increase in the significance of the impacts, which earns you a higher fee.
3 – No cultivating and nurturing.
If your associates never get to personally know each client they serve, they are just faceless vendors. You’ll get objections to increases every time.
Think of cultivating and nurturing as ongoing discovery. Ask what they love about their firm currently, and if there are changes or differences they want you to know about. Hearing about these firsthand provides insight you’ll use to customize their offers.
What’s stopping you?
Too many firms think all of this takes too much time!
Seriously?
What better use of your time is there? Each new conversation helps you customize your offers for higher fees completely for their benefit.
All of you who change people’s lives by applying your knowledge and expertise are continually improving because you’re always learning. Those CEUs and conferences and podcasts enable you to make a bigger difference in your client’s lives.
That’s what they will gladly pay for.
So, the next time you’re tempted to send out a blanket notice of fee increases, STOP! Call people, talk to them, find out what is important to them now and going forward.
That’s the crux of the IMPACT Based Pricing system. Clients’ needs increase, your capabilities increase, and fees should increase.
