Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Jessica,
If most of your customers are business people they'll understand the need to increase prices though you may have to explain the reason for the increase.

On the other hand, it will help if you add some extra level of service...no cost to you...that creates value. For example if you're a speaker you can commit to an extra breakout session. If you're a travel agent you can begin publishing an e-newsletter.

Then, don't forget to tell them you are doing everything possible to keep your costs down. You'll have to work hard, but your can keep all your customers....except the ones that are there for the CHEAPEST deal.

Michael

Hi jessica

你没有提到什么样的产品或service you deal with. neither you have mentioned why you need to increase price, how much price will you increase? What is your product positioning? are you premium or value-for-money?

Ways to communicating Pricing increase depends on all these. Its very difficult to understand what is the actual position of the product.

however, here are your options of communicating price increase with a POSITIVE note

1. you can communicate to your existing customers about the price increase occuring in 60/90 days and have a brisk sales. in this manner you are actually informing your consumers that Price WILL Increase. (provided that you have a database of consumers)

2. Alternatively, you can also run a Sales Promotion, No need to communicate the price increase to existing consumers, just declare a Sales Promotion in which anyone buying 1 product will get something FREE (may be gift, do the cost benefit analysis). The communication of this promotion may be made like this "This GIFT costs $10 in shop, but NOW you can have this GIFT free with purchase of every PRODUCT" or something like this. This will make the new price acceptable to the consumers, both existing and prospective.

3. You just increase the price, NO need to communicate the existing consumers. you can send some gifts later on an occasion, like on 1st anniversary of your business or birthday of consumers (if you have a database).

IMHO, options 1 & 2 are for price increase by single and double digit repectively for Value-FOr-Money products while is option is for Premium products.

to communicate any of the above mentioned options, you can send flyers, newspaper inserts, press ads, banners etc.

btw, check the following link on a similar question posted here earlier.
//www.369da.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstid=5215

hope this helps.

cheers!!