One of my students asked me yesterday about my views on raising prices for my services. She said, “I want to increase my price, but I am just scared. I am worried that the clients will go, and this year is tough to find new clients.”
If you are a hairstylist, a salon owner, or a makeup artist, now is the time to understand when the right time to raise your prices is.
My Opinion
As for me, I increase the price many times in the year. I do not wait for the year to end. I just increase the price! But before I put the price up, I need to think about two important things:
1. I need to think about what value I am adding for my clients when I am raising the price.
2. Build trust with the client by counseling and guiding them regarding their hair issues.
Value Addition and Price Raise
When I think about what value I am adding, I think about helping my clients. This is when I need to help them, and I need to give them more information. A piece of information that solves many of their problems. If I solve their problems with the solution and information I give, then I can increase prices.
What others do
Most of the time, people say that they increase prices just once a year. This is probably roughly about five% people. However, for me, I have to disagree with this. It does not matter how much I want to increase, but I need to add more value when increasing my price.
Real-Life Example
Talking about the value here is an example of what I experience as a hairstylist and how I add value.
I always think about my client and listen to their problems very carefully. I try to understand what they need from me. I figure while talking to them what they are struggling hard to find the solution to. Ultimately, I just try to give them the solution to their problem.
Let’s talk about one of the major issues that my clients face: Dry Hair. People have blonde hair. They have dry hair all the time. They try many hair care products, but those products don’t work. Additionally, many of them also try different ways, natural, organic, etc., but it still doesn’t work.
Now when they discuss this, I listen to my client. Then based on my research and experience, I share what’s the best solution for them. In this case, I tell them four important things:
1. Use the right products
2. Use these products in the correct way
3. Apply the product enough
4. When and how often they need to do this
I share all these things, and then my clients are happy about that.
Trust Building
After I share all the information with my clients, the next step is to follow the instructions. I know many people struggle with understanding how to do the required process exactly step by step.
Here comes my next step. I will make a video, a tutorial that is a step-by-step guide to show them how to use that product to get the best result.
Now by doing this, I am achieving two goals:
1. I add value, give them a lot of ways to solve their problems,
2. I show I care about them.
So, let me recap what I do before I put my price up:
1. I add the value
2. I show that I care about them.
With the consultation that I do, I show them that I care. Once I have done that, I tell them that okay last time I did a specific service in these charges, but now my price has increased. Let me tell you, most of them are happy to pay. Why? Because they say that, they can’t find the information I gave them anywhere. Thus, this makes them happy, and they never feel like I charge them without any added value.
I hope this helps you all and you don’t worry about increasing the price any time of the year. Look forward to hearing from you about how you provided value and increased your prices.
-Giang Brooke
