How to raise agency prices

Your first clients pay a price you set when you had nothing to show, and their work has grown since. Here is how to raise agency prices without losing them: charge your new price to new leads first, then move each current client on a date, with a call, an email and at least 60 days' notice. If you wait, you keep working hours nobody pays for, and every month the jump you need gets bigger.

Do these three things

About 2 hours today, then about 4 hours a day on messages and proposals, and 30 minutes for each client's call and email. Judge the new price after 10 proposals, and the rise once every client has paid one month at it.

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1. 1Today: list each client's price, the hours they took last month and their next billing date, and work out the hours their price pays for. Put your new price on every new proposal, payment link and your website from today.
2. 2Every day: send 100 personal messages to book calls at the new price. Once it holds on 10 proposals, call each current client, then email the new price and the date, with at least 60 days' notice.
3. 3Every Sunday: count proposals won and lost at the new price, and which clients said yes, took a smaller option or left. After every 10 proposals, raise the new price 20% if you won more than half.

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1. Work out what each client pays you per hour of work

Make one row for each client: what they pay, the hours their price pays for, the hours they really took, and when their next bill is due. This shows you which clients are underpriced, by how much, and how soon you can change it.

Start from your lowest price per hour, the least you can charge and still cover your pay, tax and costs. If you have not worked it out, do it first with the five numbers in pricing your marketing services; it takes 45 minutes. Then fill in the sheet:

Client | Pays now | Hours their price pays for (price × 0.65 ÷ lowest price per hour) | Hours used, last month | Hours used, the month before | What one hour earns (price ÷ hours used) | Share of your income | Notice in the agreement | Next billing date | Last complaint or worry

• Hours used. Take them from your time log. If you do not log time yet, log every piece of client work for the next 2 weeks, as in pricing social media management: client, date, piece, minutes. Do not guess.

• What one hour earns. Compare it with your lowest price per hour ÷ 0.65, the rate your packaged options are built on. Below it, that client costs you money you need for slow months and new tools.

• Notice in the agreement. Open each agreement or scope of work. If it says how much notice you must give for a price change or for ending the work, write it down. If it says nothing, write 30 days.

• Last complaint or worry. A client who is unhappy today is at risk of leaving already. Note it; step 3 says what to do.

• Tool: Google Sheets, free, and your time log.

• Time: 45 minutes, plus 1 minute to log each piece of work for 2 weeks if you have no log yet.

• You will have: one row per client, with the hours they took next to the hours their price pays for.

• It worked if: every client has hours from a real log, a share of your income and a next billing date.

• Common mistake: raising everyone by the same percentage. A client who takes 13 hours for an 8-hour price needs a different answer from one whose price already fits the work.

2. Put your new price on every new proposal first

Charge your new price to every new lead from today, and keep your current clients where they are for now. A new lead has no old price to compare with, so they tell you honestly whether the price holds. If new leads will not pay it, your current clients will not either.

Your new price. Use your three options, Starter, Core and Plus, priced from their hours with the sum in pricing your services: hours × your lowest price per hour ÷ 0.65, rounded up to the next $100. If you only sell social media, use your social media options. Price new work, such as AI visibility or white-label SEO, the same way, with what you pay others added in.

Change it everywhere a new lead sees it, in this order:

1. Your website and LinkedIn: "From $[Starter] a month", on your homepage, your pricing page and your LinkedIn profile.
2. Your payment links. In Stripe, make a new price for each option rather than editing the old one, so your current clients' subscriptions stay as they are until step 6.
3. Your proposal and agreement. Put the new prices in your proposal template, and say the price out loud before every discovery call ends.

Add one line to every new agreement, so the next rise is something the client already agreed to:

Price review: I review prices once a year, in [month]. Any change starts on the first day of a billing month, and I tell you in writing at least 60 days before.

Then put the price in front of enough people. Send 100 personal messages a day, every day, to businesses that fit your ideal customer profile. ChatGPT or Claude drafts each one from the person's website or profile; you add one true line about them, about 2 minutes each, so about 3 hours a day. That needs about 3,000 names a month: build them with a free lead list. Split the 100 across email, LinkedIn and the places your buyers ask for help. A new email domain needs a few weeks of warm-up, and LinkedIn limits connection requests each week, so spread the 100 over more places rather than sending fewer. Send three options in writing within 24 hours of every call, and follow up on day 3 and day 7. With no case studies yet, offer a paid first month, never a lower price.

Judge it after 10 proposals. The new price holds if fewer than 2 of the 10 were lost on price and at least 1 new client signed. If it does not hold, use the rule in pricing your services before you raise anyone: offer Starter first, or take work out of Core, but never cut your price per hour.

• Tool: your website editor, LinkedIn, Stripe, Google Docs, Gmail, and ChatGPT or Claude to draft. Log everything in one sheet or a CRM.
• Time: 1 hour today to change the price, then about 3 hours a day on messages and 20 minutes per proposal: about 4 hours a day, every day.
• You will have: the new price live for every new lead, the review line in every new agreement, and 10 proposals at the new price.
• It worked if: after 10 proposals, fewer than 2 were lost on price and at least 1 new client paid the new price.
• Common mistake: telling current clients before a single new client has paid the new price. If the price does not hold, you have upset the clients who pay your bills for nothing.

3. Decide each client's new price, start date and smaller option

Write a new price, a start date and a smaller option for each current client, using the rules below. The smaller option is the same price as today with less work, so every client has a way to stay that still pays you.

The new price for each client:

1. The price fits the work (hours used are within 20% of the hours their price pays for): the new price is today's price for the same work, from the sum in step 2. Raise it at most once a year.
2. The work runs over by 20% or more, 2 months in a row: move them to the option whose hours fit what they use, or take work out until it fits their price. This is scope creep, so the new price comes with a new scope.

The date:

• The gap is 25% or less: one step, on the first day of a billing month at least 60 days from the day you tell them.
• The gap is over 25%: two steps, half the gap first and the rest 6 months later. Tell them both dates now. This is the same rule as in raising prices without losing customers.
• The client brings 1 in 5 of your income or more: call before you write anything, and give at least 60 days. With 2 clients, that is both of them.
• The agreement asks for more notice, or the client is in the middle of a 3-month SEO term: start at the end of the term. A client who expects SEO results by month 3 should not get a new price at month 2.
• The client is unhappy right now: fix the problem first, then start the clock. Keeping a client comes before raising them.

The smaller option: the hours their current price pays for, with the work that fits in them. It is never "the old work at the old price, for good". A price with no end date means you keep two price lists, and the rise never happens.

Check the money. Add up your income now and after the rise. With 2 clients, losing one costs about half your income, more than any rise pays back. That is why step 2 comes first: the hours a client frees up go to a new client at the new price. Work out how long it takes you to win one, with your cost to win a client.

If you sell website projects: a finished site is not a retainer. Price the next project at your new rate, and offer the monthly work after launch at your new Starter price, as in turning website projects into monthly retainers.

• Tool: the client price sheet.
• Time: 30 minutes.
• You will have: for each client, a new price, one or two start dates and a smaller option.
• It worked if: every row has a start date on the first of a billing month, at least 60 days away, and a smaller option that fits the hours their current price pays for.
• Common mistake: keeping your first clients on the old price forever because it feels kind. A year later the gap is bigger, and you are still working hours nobody pays for.

4. Tell each client about the price increase on a call, then by email

Tell each client yourself on a short call, then send the same news by email that day: the new price, the date, the reason and the smaller option. A call shows the client they matter, and the email gives them the facts to forward to whoever pays the bills.

When. A new price from 1 January needs the call by 1 November, so for most agencies the time is now. Book 15 minutes, or use the end of your monthly call. Say the news in the first minute, then listen.

"Before we finish, one business thing. From [date], your monthly price goes from $[old] to $[new]. [Two steps: then $[second price] from [second date].]The reason: [the work grew from X to Y / new clients pay $[new] for this work today]. Nothing about the work or me as your contact changes.If that's too much right now, you can keep $[old] with [the smaller option]. I'll send it all in writing today. What questions do you have?"

The email. Send it the same day, from your own address, to the client and anyone who pays your invoices. Ask ChatGPT or Claude to draft it from the template and your call notes; you check every number and date. Give the real reason in one or two lines: what you added since they started, or what the same work costs new clients. Name one result from your monthly report if you have one. Do not apologise, and do not blame "rising costs".

Subject: Your monthly price from [date]Hi [first name],Thanks for the call. Here it is in writing, as promised.From [date], your monthly price goes from $[old] to $[new]. [Two steps: From [second date], it is $[second price].]Why: [the real reason, in one or two lines].What stays the same: [the work they keep, your reply time, you as their contact].If you'd rather keep $[old], I can do [the smaller option] for that price instead.Your new agreement, with the new price and a once-a-year price review, is attached. Reply with "yes" or "smaller" and I'll set it up.[Your first name]

Attach the new scope of work with the new price and the yearly review line from step 2. Set a reminder to send a short note 7 days before the first bill at the new price: "A reminder: your [month] invoice is $[new], as we agreed."

• Tool: your phone or Google Meet, Gmail, Google Docs, and ChatGPT or Claude to draft.
• Time: about 15 minutes a call and 15 minutes an email.
• You will have: a call and an email to every client, a new agreement attached, and a reminder set for 7 days before each first bill.
• It worked if: every client has heard it on a call and has it in writing, at least 60 days before their new price starts.
• Common mistake: an email with no call, or the new price in the last paragraph. The client reads it as a notice to a stranger and starts looking around.

5. Answer every reply within 24 hours with a set answer

Answer every client within 24 hours, with one of the set answers below, and write what they chose in your sheet. Do not invent a new deal for each client. A private discount for one becomes the price you get asked for next year.

Many clients reply "OK, fine". Thank them, and mark them "Yes". A client who says yes easily is a good one to ask for a testimonial or an introduction next month. For the rest:

• "That's too much": offer the smaller option at their current price. If they want to keep everything at the old price for longer, agree only in exchange for something: 3 months paid up front, a longer term, or a case study they let you publish.
• "Can we wait?": move the start back by one month, once, and keep the second date if there is one.
• "AI should make this cheaper": your price is for the work and the result, not the hours. In Productive's survey of 174 agencies in March 2026, clients were asking for discounts because of AI no more often than six months before, and agencies that changed their pricing were moving towards charging for the result, not the time.
• "We're leaving": thank them, ask "was it the price, or something else?", and give them 30 days. Finish every piece you owe, hand back every account login and file, and send a short closing note. Write the reason in their words. In 2 months, send a win-back email if what they left over has changed.
• No reply: follow up on day 3 and day 7 in the same thread, then call. Silence is not a yes.

Hi [first name],Thanks for telling me straight. My price is set by the work, so I can't do the same work for less. Two ways to keep going:
Keep $[old] a month with [the smaller option].
Keep $[old] for 3 more months if you pay those 3 months now, then $[new] from [date].
Which suits you better?[Your first name]

Hi [first name],Thank you for telling me, and for being one of my first clients. Could I ask one thing: was it the price, or something else? One word is enough.Your last month runs to [date]. Before then I'll finish [what is owed], and send you every file and login so nothing is left with me.If anything changes, I'd be glad to work with you again.[Your first name]

• Tool: Gmail and the client price sheet.
• Time: about 10 minutes a reply.
• You will have: an answer from every client, written in the sheet: yes, smaller option, one month later, or leaving.
• It worked if: every reply got an answer within 24 hours, and no client got an offer that is not in this step.
• Common mistake: dropping the rise for the first client who pushes back. Ask what is behind it first. Often it is one piece of work they do not need, and the smaller option keeps them.

6. Change the price in your billing on the start date

Set each client's new price in your billing so it starts on their date, not before, then check the first bill at the new price. A bill that is wrong on the first month undoes the trust the call built.

If you bill with Stripe: open Subscriptions, select the client's subscription and click Actions › Update subscription. Set an end date for the current phase on the day before the new price starts. Click +Add phase, change the price to the new one, save the phase, then click Schedule subscription. For a two-step rise, add a second phase for the second date. Stripe moves the client on each date by itself. Do not edit the price in a way that starts today, or Stripe may charge a part-month difference.

If you send invoices: change the amount in your invoice template from the first invoice at the new date, and put the new price and date in the invoice line.

Once the new price is live, check each client's work against their option every month, in your monthly review, and keep client approvals tied to the new scope. A client who moved to the smaller option gets only the smaller option's work.

• Tool: Stripe Dashboard, or your invoice template.
• Time: about 5 minutes a client.
• You will have: each client set to move to the new price on their own date.
• It worked if: every first bill at the new price matches the sheet: the right amount, on the right date, with no part-month charge.
• Common mistake: changing the subscription today instead of from the date. If a part-month charge goes out, refund it the same day and say sorry.

7. Count every Sunday and decide your next price rise

Every Sunday, fill in one row: proposals at the new price and what happened to them, and what each current client chose. Then change prices by the rules below, not by how one conversation felt.

Week | Messages sent | Calls | Proposals at the new price | Won | Lost: price | Lost: other | Clients told | Yes | Smaller option | One month later | Left | Reason for leaving | Income a month (before → now) | Hours freed

Ask every new client where they heard about you, so you know which messages bring clients who pay the new price. Then use these rules:

• After every 10 proposals, you won more than half: your price is still too low. Raise all three options 20% for the next 10 proposals. Current clients are not moved again until their yearly review.

• After every 10 proposals, you lost most on price: offer Starter first, or take work out of Core. Never cut your price per hour.

• A client left: put their freed hours into finding one new client at the new price. Send the 100 messages a day to the kind of client who stayed.

• Every current client has paid one month at the new price: check your income against the sheet from step 3. If it went up, the rise worked. The next one is at the yearly review, with 60 days' notice.

• Every week is full and the price holds: it is time to hire your first contractor for the work that takes you longest, and plan how to scale your agency without working every hour.

• Tool: Google Sheets.

• Time: 20 minutes each Sunday.

• You will have: one row a week, the outcome for every current client, and a rule for your next price.

• It worked if: after 10 proposals you can say how many were lost on price, and every current client's outcome is in the sheet.

• Common mistake: raising again after one easy yes, or dropping the price after one no. Wait for 10 proposals, then move by the rule.

Your agency price rise checklist for the next 3 months

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Step 1 · Work out what each client pays per hour of work

• Fill in one row per client in the client price sheet.

Step 2 · Put your new price on every new proposal first

• Put the new price on your website, LinkedIn, payment links and proposal template.
• Add the yearly price review line to every new agreement.
• Every daySend 100 personal messages to book calls at the new price.
• Every daySend three options within 24 hours of every call and follow up on day 3 and day 7.
• After 10 proposalsJudge whether the new price holds.

Step 3 · Decide each client's new price, date and smaller option

• Write each client's new price, start date and smaller option by the rules.

Step 4 · Tell each client on a call, then by email

• Call each client, then send the price change email the same day.
• Set the 7-day reminder for each client's first bill.

Step 5 · Answer every reply within 24 hours

• Every dayAnswer every client reply with one of the set answers.

Step 6 · Change the price in your billing on the start date

• Schedule the new price in Stripe or your invoice template and check the first bill.

Step 7 · Count every Sunday and decide your next rise

• Every SundayFill in one row of the Sunday sheet.
• After every 10 proposalsChange the new-client price by the rule.

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