How to tell customers about a price increase: the phone call, the script and the timing

Ring your biggest and longest-standing customers yourself before anything goes out in writing. Tell them three things: what’s changing, when it starts, and the plain reason. Keep it under two minutes. Then send the written notice to everyone else, update your website and brief whoever answers your phone. Check your contracts for notice periods first. The rule underneath all of it: no customer should find out from an invoice.

Why so many owners are making this call right now

Most small businesses have been absorbing higher costs since winter. The Fair Work Commission’s 2026 review lifted modern award minimum wages by 4.75% and the National Minimum Wage to $26.44 an hour, from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026. The Fair Work Ombudsman has the details by award.

On the same date, Payday Super started. Super now has to reach your employees’ funds within seven business days of each payday, under the ATO’s super guarantee due dates. The quarterly lag that used to sit in your bank account has gone.

Put those together and a lot of owners are looking at their margins in October and deciding prices go up from 1 January or 1 February. That makes now the time to plan the conversation. Late December is not the time to send a surprise email.

Who gets a phone call, and who gets an email?

You don’t need to ring everyone. You need to ring the people whose reaction matters most. Sort your customer list into three groups.

Group	Who’s in it	How they hear
Ring personally	Your top customers by revenue, anyone on a contract or retainer, customers of five years or more	A call from you, then a written follow-up the same day
Personal email or letter	Regular customers who buy often but in smaller amounts	Addressed by name, with your direct number
Public notice	Walk-ins, one-off buyers, new enquiries	Website, price list, counter signage, quotes

In many businesses the first group is a short list. Ten or fifteen calls can cover a large share of revenue. That’s an afternoon, not a project.

Ring first so the people who matter most hear it in your voice. An email can read colder than you mean it. A call lets you hear the hesitation and deal with it on the spot.

Before you dial: a five-minute checklist

• Read the contract or terms. Does it set a notice period? Does it only allow increases on a review date? Some contracts tie rises to an index. Follow what you signed.
• Know your number. The percentage, the new price on their usual order, and the start date. Don’t work it out live on the call.
• Have one honest reason. “Wages went up 4.75% in July and our insurance renewed higher” is enough. Make sure it’s true.
• Decide what you’ll offer if they push back. A later start, a fixed price for 12 months, or a smaller scope at the old price. Decide this before the call, not during it.
• Pick a good time. Mid-morning on a Tuesday to Thursday usually beats Monday’s rush or Friday afternoon. If your customers are interstate, our best time to call planner helps you line up time zones.

What to say: the price increase phone script

Keep it short and calm. You’re giving news, not asking permission.

“Hi Sarah, it’s Dan from Coastline Cleaning. Have you got two minutes? I wanted to ring you personally before anything lands in your inbox. From 1 February our rates are going up by 6%. For your weekly clean, that takes it from $480 to about $509. The main reason is wages: award rates went up in July and we’ve held our prices since then. I’ll email the details today. Is there anything you’d like to ask me now?”

Illustrative example only.

Then stop talking. Let them respond.

What makes that work:

1. Ask for two minutes. It respects their time and tells them it’s not a sales pitch.
2. Say why you’re ringing personally. It signals they matter.
3. Give the number in dollars on their usual order. A percentage is abstract. “$480 to about $509” is real.
4. One reason, once. Long justifications sound defensive.
5. Hand over. A question at the end invites the objection now, while you can deal with it.

The WA Small Business Development Corporation gives similar advice: be clear about what’s changing, when and why, don’t suggest it’s about chasing profit, and make sure customers hear from you first.

What to say when they push back

Most customers take a reasonable, well-explained rise better than owners expect. Some will push. Here’s how to handle the usual responses.

“That’s a lot.”

“I understand. I didn’t make this decision lightly. If it helps your budget, I can hold the current rate until 1 March for you.”

Illustrative example only.

“Someone else quoted me less.”

“That’s fair to check. I’d ask what’s included, because we [your difference, said plainly]. If you’d like, I can look at whether a smaller scope would keep you close to the current price.”

Illustrative example only.

“I’ll have to think about it.”

“Of course. I’ll send the details today. Can I give you a call next Wednesday to see where you’ve landed?”

Illustrative example only.

Write down what each customer says. If three of your top ten push back on the same thing, that tells you something about your price or your timing.

Thinking about the cash side as well as the conversation? A rise takes time to show up in the bank, and if wages and super are already biting, a 60-second enquiry is a quiet way to check your options. There’s no credit check when you first enquire.

The cash-flow gap nobody plans for

Your costs went up in July. Your new prices start in January or February. Then customers pay on their usual terms. For a business invoicing on 30-day terms, the first higher payment may not land until March. That’s eight months of carrying the higher cost.

A few things make the gap smaller:

• Announce early, start sooner. Every month you bring the start date forward is a month of margin back.
• Apply new prices to new customers straight away. Existing customers get notice. New quotes can carry the new rate from today.
• Tighten collections at the same time. A rise does nothing if invoices sit unpaid. Our guide to chasing unpaid invoices by phone works alongside this one.
• Fill quiet weeks. If you lose a customer or two, calling past customers in a quiet month is the quickest way to replace the work.

Contracts and the unfair terms rules

If you use the same standard contract for many customers, a bit of care is worth it. Since 9 November 2023, businesses can’t propose, use or rely on unfair terms in standard form contracts with consumers and small businesses. A small business now includes one with fewer than 100 employees or turnover under $10 million, per Business SA. Courts can now impose penalties, and Consumer and Business Services SA notes the maximum for a business is the greatest of $50 million, three times the benefit gained, or 30% of adjusted turnover during the breach.

In practice, that means a clause letting you change prices whenever you like, with no notice and no way out for the customer, deserves a second look. That applies especially to contracts made, renewed or varied since that date. A clear review date, reasonable notice and a right to end the contract are the usual ways to keep a price clause fair. If your contract is unclear, ask your lawyer before you send the notice, not after a customer complains.

A worked example: 14 commercial clients, one afternoon

This is an illustrative scenario, not a real client.

Priya runs a commercial cleaning business in Geelong with 14 contract clients and a handful of one-off jobs. After July, her wage bill rose by about 5%, and her insurance renewal came in higher too. In mid-October she decides on a 6% rise from 1 February.

• Week one: She reads her service agreements. Most allow a price review with 30 days’ notice. Two have a fixed rate until March, so she leaves those until their review date.
• Week two: She rings her five largest clients on a Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Four accept. One asks for a later start, and she agrees to 1 March.
• Same week: Personalised emails go to the other seven contract clients, with her mobile number in each. She updates her quote template so every new enquiry gets the new rates.
• Week three: Two emailed clients ring with questions. Both stay.

She also notices that the new rates won’t reach her account until March. So she books a call with her bookkeeper to look at whether a small working capital buffer makes sense for January’s slower weeks.

A price rise is good news for a lender call

Owners sometimes worry a lender will see a price rise as a sign of trouble. Usually it’s the opposite. It shows you know your margins and you’re acting on them. A specialist will look at your turnover and bank statements. A rise with a clear start date, and a list of customers who’ve accepted it, helps explain where those numbers are heading. If you’re also talking to your bank about headroom, our guide on asking for an overdraft increase covers that call.

Covering the gap while your new prices kick in: let’s get started

You’ve done the hard part: the numbers, the calls, the awkward pauses. What’s left is the stretch between higher costs now and higher payments later. Business owners talk to us about that stretch all the time, from January wages before the new rates land to a buffer for the customer who walks.

Starting is easy. The online enquiry takes about a minute, and asking us won’t touch your credit file. A check only comes later, if you decide to go ahead. We keep your details with us and don’t send them to a pile of lenders, so you won’t get a string of strangers calling. A real specialist reads your enquiry and rings you to talk through your situation. Please fill the form in accurately: your turnover, what’s changing in your pricing, and how much you’d like. Then we can match the right option the first time.

Would you rather talk it through? Ring 03 4059 1829, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Melbourne time.

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