As you know, I encourage my clients to make the important shift from trading hours for dollars to offering packages. This is a key step for achieving your financial goals more quickly. It also simplifies your billing and fee collection when you sell packages vs. counting up the hours you worked and sending invoices.
But letting clients know about your changes takes a bit of finesse. This announcement can be a delicate communication that needs to be handled in the right way.
First, keep in mind that you want to let your current paying clients know ahead of time, before you make the change. And they are more likely to feel comfortable with the change if you share your rationale about why this is the best solution FOR THEM.
Write a letter that starts with what concerns they may have with your current billing system. You are setting up a problem they may have such as:
They might not want to bother us for changes
They might not want to pull out their checkbook every time we talk
They might hold off asking for help because they don’t know what the bill will be
Then follow up with how your pricing change will help them with these concerns. You might say something like, “Now we’re making it easier for you by having a retainer (package pricing, etc. – whatever you want to call it.) The point is to approach this as a way to reassure current clients that the new policy is in their best interest.
This is the kind of communication best handled with a letter rather than an email. No need to announce the change to your full data base in your newsletter because it’s not pertinent to people on the list who you haven’t worked with yet. When you think about it, your pricing change isn’t a selling point for prospects.
Shifting to package pricing is an exciting change for your business. How you handle it with your paying clients will make a big difference as to how they react. Follow these steps and you will find things should go smoothly.
Your Client Attraction Assignment
Is there an area of your business where you can make the shift to package pricing? If you are ready to make this change, congratulations!
When you prepare the letter to announce the new policy to your current paying clients, have someone you trust and respect read the letter. You want to be sure the wording makes your point clearly and the changes are communicated effectively, with your clients’ best interests in mind.
Fabienne Fredrickson is founder of ClientAttraction.com, ranked on the Inc. 500/5000 List of America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2011. ClientAttraction.com is devoted to teaching entrepreneurs around the world how to consistently attract ideal, high-paying clients, put their marketing on autopilot, shift their mindset towards abundance and take a no-excuses approach to creating a highly successful and meaningful business, while working less. Through her workshops, courses, coaching programs, and products, Fabienne shows her students how to go from 5-figures to 6-figures in their business and then from 6-figures to 7-figures, while experiencing freedom and creating an abundant life they love.
To order Fabienne’s FREE Audio CD, “How to Attract All the Clients You Need” by mail and receive her weekly marketing & success mindset articles on attracting more high-paying clients and dramatically increasing your income, visit www.clientattraction.com.