Stop Working for Free: Why It’s Time to Raise Your Salon Prices

Be honest. How much did your costs go up this year? 5%? 10%? More than that? Now tell me how much you raised your prices, and if the answer is nothing, congratulations, you just gave yourself a pay cut. That means you worked the same hours for less money and your clients didn't even know that you were subsidising them. So today we're going to have a no drama conversation around raising prices, no guilt, no awkwardness, and no losing clients. Hello, hello, hello. Phil Jackson here, your queen of salons, coming all over the airwaves with another dose of Wise Owl Wisdom. How on earth are you? Achingly well, I hope. Today we're continuing our little streak of episodes on money. So second or third episodes where we're talking about money. And today we're going to address the elephant in the room. We're going to talk about your fear of raising your prices. And this is a topic that comes up again and again and again in one-to-one coaching, group coaching, my Get Paid Properly program. All of the industry seems to be a little reluctant to raise prices because you're convinced your clients are going to leave or you're worried that they'll think you're greedy or you're afraid they'll say, I just can't afford it anymore. But here's what I know. I know that as an industry, we are undercharging. You are probably charging less than you should be. And that fear of increasing your prices is costing you thousands every single year, literally. So today I've put together a little bit of a kick up the bum, your step by step guide to getting your prices ready, because I know a lot of you are going to be thinking about price increases in January. So we're going to talk about when to announce them, how to announce them, what to say if clients push back and why this is actually the best thing for your clients. Yes, really. No fluff, no theory. This is the system that I've used with lots of salon owners over the years. We're going to fix your pricing and maybe fix your confidence rather while we're at it. So let's get uncomfortable for a bit. Let's do the maths that you're avoiding.

Let's talk about why you must raise your prices. Your costs went up this year. I guarantee it. Your product prices up. Utilities up. Insurance definitely up. Staff wages absolutely went up. Your cost of living absolutely went up this year. And if your prices stayed the same, it means you're working harder for less money. You're literally subsidising your clients hair and beauty appointments by reducing your profits, reducing your income. And that's not being noble. That's being unsustainable. So what you need to do is appreciate that your cost increases need to be passed on to your clients just for us to sustain and maintain our profit margins. It's not a bad thing to have a profitable business. It's actually the definition of why businesses exist to generate a profit. So what I want you to do is calculate how much your costs increased between 2024 and 2025. Don't forget your product costs, your rent, utilities, your insurance, all of those big recurring costs. How much did they go up by? Because that has to be your absolute minimum price increase. Anything less when you're actually slipping backwards. And if you've got team members, trust me, you will understand that trying to get them to do the same amount of work or more work for less money is a hiding to nowhere. You're going to lose team members really quickly because they're going to lose motivation. It's exactly the same for the salon owner. You're going to get demotivated, too. So we don't want to stand still. We don't want to fall behind. Why are we discounting our own time? It's a confidence thing. And I need you to get past this. I need you to own it. And I'm here to help you. When are we going to announce it? Well, the timing does matter. I personally would start to talk about your price increases probably mid-December. So if you're going to put an announcement on your reception desk, that's what it would go out. If you're going to email or use social media, I'm not a big fan of social media price increases. But, you know, if that's what you want to do, I would give three to four weeks notice minimum. That means usually means less resistance and clients appreciate not being ambushed.

I would put your live prices on January the 6th or the 13th, somewhere around there. Not January the 1st when everyone's broke and cranky. We want our new prices to arrive with fresh energy, not with a hangover. And don't wait till February. February is when everyone's credit card bills are coming in from December. You've missed that natural new year, new prices expectation. Don't wait until after Christmas to announce. December the 28th for a January the 2nd price increase is too short and it breeds resentment. Even though, do bear in mind, lots of your clients are going to be booking online and they will see your up to date prices when they book. So there's very few nasty surprises these days. And also if you announce too early in November, they're going to forget. And also you may see them again before they come in, before January rather. And if you see them twice, it's going to get a bit confusing because the price increase isn't going to be when they expect it. So you could tell all your clients individually at checkout, but it's a bit awkward and a bit inconsistent. So I like an announcement, like a notice at the till that people can see. We're going to have a professional approach to this and professional businesses announce their price changes professionally. They don't apologize and they don't do it inconsistently. So what are we actually going to say? Well, we need a brief but confident announcement. And I'll give you a structure that works. This could work as a notice on reception or if you wanted to turn it into an email or a social post. We're going to say from January the 6th, our prices will increase to reflect the rising business costs and our continued investment in premium products, advanced training and exceptional service. That bit is important. And if it were me, I would be increasing prices by a little more so that you can do something that clients notice. If you can increase your prices by an extra couple of percent and upgrade your experience somehow, even if it's as simple as getting a nicer cup of coffee, then people are going to start to see where that increase has been spent rather than just absorbed by inflation. I'd carry on to say we're committed to delivering the quality you expect. And this adjustment ensures we can continue to do that for the long term. Thank you for your continued support. We appreciate your loyalty. Then I'd have a QR code that links through to your new pricing or to your booking page. There's no apology because we're not doing anything wrong. We've got a clear date, a brief explanation, and we've shown our gratitude without groveling.

We want it to be visible, but not aggressive. A nice printed sign, though, not a scruffy handwritten A4 sheet. And we want that confidence to read as professionalism. If you start apologizing, that's going to read as doubt. More on this after this short message. So how do we handle it if a client does push back against our price increases? Well, I wouldn't be ashamed to script this for yourself and for your team and rehearse it a little bit. And I know it feels a bit clunky and a bit role play, which everybody hates, of course. But just getting used to saying these words in a professional way is actually going to put you in good stead and give you a lot of confidence if somebody does decide that they have a problem with your increases. But let's put this in perspective. Most of your clients won't say anything. And do bear in mind that if someone pushes back, this isn't a personal rejection. This is about an adjustment in your business. But just in case you get one or two who do question your increases, here's how you might respond. So if a client asks, why are your prices going up? Then I would reply with something like our costs have increased significantly this year. Our products, our utilities, our insurance have all gone up. And we need to adjust our prices to make sure we can keep providing the quality service you deserve. What if a client says something a bit more blunt? What if they say, I can't afford that anymore? Then we show understanding. This isn't about winning an argument. So I would say, I understand. And if the pricing doesn't work for your budget, could we maybe look at a different service option? Or perhaps we need to look at a longer time between appointments. What would work best for you?

Also, incidentally, this is a lot easier if you have tiers of service in your business. I know you hair people are amazing at tiered pricing. Beauty, you've got some work to do. But if you've got tiered pricing, it's easier because we can keep customers inside the business, just moving them down the ladder a little bit. Or if a client expresses surprise and they say this seems like a big increase, then we just say it's in line with inflation and the rising costs in our industry. Point out that you've actually kept your prices the same for six months or 12 months. And this is to bring us back in line. And if a client just leaves by saying, I'll have to think about it, take the pressure off. Of course, take your time. Just let us know. New prices start on January the 6th. And I'll repeat, the goal isn't to win an argument. It's to stay calm, stay consistent and stay professional. We never apologize. We never justify excessively. And we certainly don't jump into discounting and special deals. Your confidence here is everything. If you start acting like you're doing something wrong, they'll believe that you are. I would train your entire team on these short scripts because consistency matters. We're not a supermarket doing a flash sale. We're professionals adjusting to a financial reality. What happens after? Well, here's what actually happens when you raise prices properly. A couple of clients will leave. Those very price sensitive clients who are often usually actually the ones who drain your time and energy anyway. The discount hunters, the ones who aren't loyal, will leave. 85 to 90% of your customers will stay and pay the new prices without drama. And a few will stay but grumble. About 5% will grumble but carry on. And eventually they'll stop grumbling. The net result is you make more money with roughly the same client base. We've also made room in your roster for clients who actually think that your prices are perfectly reasonable. We've made room in the roster for some new clients to come in who don't have a problem with the new prices. And here's a little example that I always give. I can remember having a conversation with a customer who was running a London salon and they had to put their haircut price up to over £100 for the first time. And I pointed out that yes, there are some clients who will have a problem with that. There are some clients who will not pay £100 for a haircut.

But you're making room for those clients who don't think you can get a decent haircut for less than £100. Every time you price someone out of the market, you also price some new people into your remit. Real example, one salon raised prices by 7% this year. And after six months, we realised they'd lost about 6% of clients. And the increase in revenue was about 11%. That's fewer hours, more profit and better clients. And you know I love a bit of lifestyle first. The ones who leave you were going to leave eventually anyway. They were never truly the people who want your service and value you enough in the longer term. So I want you to start tracking your retention rate now. Start tracking your retention rate after the increase as well. Don't assume disaster. Actually measure it because most salon owners are shocked at how few clients will actually leave. Raising prices isn't going to trigger the client exodus that you imagine. It's the adjustment that profitable businesses have to make regularly. And personally, I'm recommending now two price increases a year. It means that your increases don't have to be as big. And I think the longer you leave it, the more pushback you're going to get from customers. So I would start looking at your December announcement for your January implementation and then get ready for your next increase or adjustment somewhere around June, July ready for the summer. Keep your confident communication. Train your team. Stick to your scripts. Don't apologize. You're not greedy. You're professional. You're not overcharging. You're catching up. You deserve to be profitable. You deserve to be paid properly for your expertise. Stop subsidizing your customers hair and beauty appointments by reducing your income. It's time to make the decision, make the announcement and move forward. Next week, we're going to be avoiding expensive Christmas mistakes. Just seven short days until I'm coming all over the airwaves again with my wise hour wisdom. If you'd like to be a guest on a future episode of the Build Your Salon podcast, please reach out and let me know.

Phil at buildyoursalon.com. I'd love to be sharing your success story early in 2026. And until then, take care.