Behind the Scenes: My Experience Releasing Clients and Raising Prices to Align with My Business Goals
Hello, Readers
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You might remember when I shared about raising prices and releasing clients. If you don’t, you can read about it here.
I made these changes to align the business to focus on Forecasting, create space to keep offering the Finacial Forecasting Experience, and help more people know and love their numbers.
I sent emails to 32% of my clients, releasing them or raising prices. It was hard to pull the trigger, but an unignorable force inside me urged me to create space, and I was listening.
I felt the bigness of this change that affected almost a third of my business and immediately needed to crawl into bed at 5 pm after pushing the send button.
I had set some things in motion and had no idea what the response would be. That part was out of my control (hello surrender), and I knew I would handle it all to the best of my ability.
I love to track things, so I tracked what happened. Tracking helps put things in perspective because we look at data instead of just feeling our emotions.
Here is what happened:
Of the ones released:
One was sad; we had worked together for years and had a loving email exchange to say goodbye.
One had some questions, asked for a referral, and we wrapped things up business-like.
One was afraid and needed reassurance and help with the transition.
One said a simple thank you, and it felt like flow. They have since found their perfect bookkeeping match.
Of the ones with price raises:
One said, I agree with your price increase, and it’s time to part ways. We both knew it was time for many reasons, and the price increase provided a choice point to help us end our work together.
One decided to leave because their business was in a cycle of lower revenue as they made space in their business too. I get it.
One had no issue, no comment, and business as usual.
One said thanks for letting me know.
One told me yesterday during our forecasting session that they had intended to end our engagement because of the price increase for three months now but got so much value each time they kept changing their mind and wanting to continue. I prayed that the value Forecasting provides be greater than the price, and Spirit answered that prayer. Forecasting works!
Reflecting on this, I feel a strong alignment for myself and my clients as I trust everything that happened was in everyone's highest and best good. I am not the keeper of the Universe, and by aligning with where my business wants to go, I surrender to the forces supporting all of us.
Even though I was scared to make these changes and overcame fear to do it, nobody died, and life went on. I feel proud of the love and care that went into the transitions.
It’s bittersweet because it’s difficult to give up working with clients you love, and exhilarating to have aligned my work with my company's direction. There was space for expansion.
Here are the financial results:
Revenue is down 20%
Hours spent are down 24%
(I think it’s interesting that those numbers are pretty close to each other, and the 80/20 rule showed up.)
So, as a company, we bought back 24% of our time to make space. That feels good.
I’m having a breakthrough as I process these numbers.
Even though I genuinely believe I’ve made the right decisions for the future of my business, I sit in this uncomfortable space as revenue goes temporarily down instead of up, up, up.
To calm myself and see the truth, I turned to my Forecast for comfort and reassurance now that everything had shaken out. I updated it like a fiend, hungry for the relief only numbers could provide.
Intellectually, I knew I was safe and provided for, and my nervous system needed support.
By looking at my Forecast, I could easily see I had enough revenue to meet the needs of the business and pay myself. My Forecast provided that!
It showed me proof that the business could afford to take this space.
The reality is it’s only 20% of my revenue, and my system wants to tell me I’m in danger when I’m not. Looking at that percentage instead of the dollar amount helps so much. When I look at the dollar amount, my mind wants to tell me I’m a fool to throw away perfectly good paying customers. When I look at the percentage, I can see that I released an unaligned 20%, retained an aligned 80%, and gained 24% more space to invest in growing a new part of the business.
Forecasting is powerful for so many reasons.
One of my favorites is its effect on calming the nervous system. I am thankful to have this financial tool to support me in business.
If you are curious about learning how Financial Forecasting can help you see and plan the future while supporting your nervous system, let me know if you are interested by joining the waitlist for the next class. I will send you the details soon.
In love,
Carol