Putting Your Prices Up: Giving Notice, Honouring Quotes Already Given and Bridging the Weeks While Old Prices Run Out
Putting prices up notice honouring quotes is the part of a price rise that owners dread most — not the arithmetic, but the telling. The new price list is easy. The hard part is telling regular customers before it takes effect, keeping your word on every quote already given, and bridging the weeks while old prices run out. Done badly, a price rise costs you customers you did not need to lose.
The principle is straightforward: nobody should discover your new prices from an invoice. Every customer should hear the news from you first, in good time, with the date and the promise that quotes already given will be honoured.
Putting Prices Up Notice Honouring Quotes: The Six-Week Sequence
A calm putting prices up notice honouring quotes routine runs over several weeks, not a single day. This sequence gives regulars time to adjust and gives you time to deal with every quote already out in the world.
- Fix the new prices and the date they start, and write both down before telling anyone.
- List every quote, estimate and booking already given at the old price, with its date and expiry.
- Tell your most valued customers personally, before any general announcement.
- Send one clear written notice to everyone else, naming the date, the reason, and the promise on existing quotes.
- Update the price list, website and booking page the same day the notice goes out.
- Send a short reminder in the final week, and honour every old-price quote.
Notice is not a single event; it is a sequence with a personal beginning, a written middle and a reminder at the end.
Giving Notice That People Can Actually Plan Around
Good notice answers four questions: what is changing, when does it start, why is it happening, and what happens to quotes already given. Keep the reason to one honest sentence — costs have risen, or the service has grown, or both — and resist a long apology.
How much notice is enough? For regular customers, a month is a sensible minimum, and six weeks is kinder for a larger rise — enough to cover one full buying cycle, so a monthly regular hears the news in person before being charged the new price. Our guide to checking whether your prices still cover your costs can help you decide whether the time is right.
Choose the channel your customers actually read — email, a messaging app, a printed note at the counter, a letter with the next invoice. One channel, used well, beats three used badly. And keep a copy of every notice you send, with the date: if a customer later says they were never told, the copy settles it in seconds.
Honouring Quotes Already Given
A quote is a promise, and breaking it is the fastest way to turn a price rise into a lost customer. Every quote, estimate and booking made at the old price should be honoured on its stated terms until the date agreed. If a quote has no expiry date, pick a fair one now and tell the customer. That promise is the centre of putting prices up notice honouring quotes.
Make a list before the notice goes out: go through the diary, the inbox and the order book, and write down every open quote with its customer, price and date. Then confirm each one in writing, with its expiry, so there is no confusion about which price applies to which job. This is the part of putting prices up notice honouring quotes that takes the most time — and matters most, because a customer quoted one price and charged another will not come back.
If a quote is very old and the work has never been confirmed, it is fair to re-quote at the new price — but say so plainly, and give the customer a short window to accept the old figure if they commit now. What is never fair is to stay silent and charge the new price on an old quote. Our guide to promising customers a price freeze is worth reading before you put any date on a quote.
Bridging the Weeks While Old Prices Run Out
Between the notice and the start date lies the bridge that putting prices up notice honouring quotes must cross: some customers still paying old prices on honoured quotes while others are already on the new ones. Income during the bridge will be lower than once the new prices fully apply, so expect it and plan for it.
Three habits keep the bridge steady. First, keep the two price lists visibly separate — one for work quoted before the change, one for everything after — so nobody charges the wrong one. Second, track the value of old-price work still to be done, so you know how much of next month’s income is already fixed at the old level. Third, do not spend the rise before it arrives.
FAQ
How much notice should I give before a price rise?
A month is a sensible minimum, six weeks kinder for a larger rise — enough to cover one full buying cycle, so regulars hear it in person before being charged the new price. That is the notice half of putting prices up notice honouring quotes.
Do I have to honour quotes given at the old price?
Yes. Putting prices up notice honouring quotes means every quote already given is honoured on its stated terms until its agreed date. If a quote has no expiry, set a fair one now and tell the customer.
What if a customer threatens to leave over the rise?
Stay calm and restate the reason in one sentence, plus the date and the promise on their existing quote. Many will stay once they see the rise was communicated fairly and in good time.
How do I handle the changeover week?
Keep the old-price and new-price lists separate, track the old-price work still to be done, and make sure every member of staff knows the start date and the rule on old quotes.
Conclusion: Tell Them Early, Keep Your Word, Mind the Bridge
Putting prices up notice honouring quotes comes down to three habits: tell customers early and personally, honour every quote already given, and plan the cash flow through the weeks while old prices run out.
If pricing is one of several money habits you are working on, BCC Financial’s Financial Planning guides can help you think it through in order. Start with the list of open quotes — that is where the promise lives.
This article is general educational information only and is not financial advice. Pricing and customer terms vary by business, so consider professional advice — and see the US Small Business Administration’s marketing and sales guidance for a general introduction to pricing and customer communication.
