Changing your pricing model? Here’s how to communicate change with your clients (with samples)
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Implementing change within your organization requires careful management—not just with your colleagues, but also with your clients. For example, if the process of sending an annual fixed price engagement letter is new to your firm, then you’ll have to effectively communicate this with your clients.
The earlier you start preparing your clients for change, the better. Once you make the decision to move forward and change the way you engage with clients, you should send them an email, newsletter, or even a letter explaining the changes in detail while ensuring you are outlining when the changes will take effect. Once you’re ready to send the proposals out, you should send a reminder email in advance that goes through the new changes once more.
In an ideal scenario, your communication will be one-to-many—however, every firm has that handful of clients that will need things to be explained in more detail (potentially over the phone or in person).
Identify these clients early and make sure you schedule some time in your calendar to speak to them about the upcoming changes. With enough reminders and explanation, you will find the bulk of your clients will quickly accept the new process and embrace the changes.
Email examples
Below, we’ve listed out some example emails that outline different ways in which you can communicate upcoming changes with clients.
Email to advise clients that changes are coming (billing on completion, with an option for monthly recurring invoicing).
Dear <client>,
We have made some exciting changes to the way we work together. Starting from <date>, we will be sending you an electronic engagement for all the work that we will be doing for you moving forward. This engagement will clearly list out all the services we provide and what the fees are for this work. There will be no more paper and manual engagement letters and no more time-billing or surprise invoicing. We know you will have some questions, so we’ve tried to answer as many as possible below:
Why the change?
The goal for this change is to provide both parties with the utmost clarity and certainty around our services and fees. It’s increasingly important for businesses to understand and manage their cash flow, so this is one small step to making that easier for both your business and ours.
How often will I receive an engagement?
You will receive a new engagement annually that reconfirms our services and fees. You will also receive a new engagement if we need to make any changes to our services—for example, if you would like us to do additional work that’s outside our original scope.
Will I receive an engagement for each business I own?
Yes, you will receive an engagement for each business.
Will anything change to the way invoices are paid?
Simply enter your payment details into our new engagement tool’s secure payment gateway. This means that you don’t need to worry about manually paying us multiple times—instead, we will take payment for services when completed in line with our current payment terms. You’ll receive your invoice of all completed work before we take payment. This will give you an opportunity to review our work and raise any questions before the payment is processed.
Now that I’ll be able to work out my total annual fee, is there any way in which I can split this into monthly installments?
Absolutely! If you’re interested in moving to a monthly fixed-fee arrangement to smooth your cash flow, please contact us by <date> and we will give you more details surrounding the process.
Is there anything else I need to know?
We understand that this is very different to how we have worked with you previously. However, we firmly believe that it’s a change for the better. If you do have any questions, as always, please feel free to contact us.
Kind regards,
<thenameofyourfirm>
(Pro Tip: If you're a Ignition customer, use billing on completion with an option for monthly recurring invoicing)
Dear <client>,
We have made some exciting changes to the way we work together. Starting from <date>, we will be sending you an electronic engagement for all the work that we will be completing for you moving forward. This engagement will clearly list out all the services we provide and what the fees are for this work.
We’ll also be moving to monthly recurring invoicing, whereby your total annual fees will be evenly divided by twelve monthly instalments and charged on a monthly basis.
There will be no more paper manual engagement letters and no more time billing or surprise invoices. We know you will have some questions, so we’ve tried to answer as many as possible below:
Why the change?
The goal for this change is to provide both parties with the utmost clarity and certainty around our services and fees. It’s increasingly important for businesses to understand and manage their cash flow, so this is one small step to making that easier for both your business and ours. By paying the same amount each month, you are smoothing your cash outflows which then makes budgeting for your expenses much easier.
How often will I receive an engagement?
You’ll receive a new engagement annually that reconfirms our services and fees. You’ll also receive a new engagement if we need to make any changes to our services—for example, if you’d like us to do additional work outside our original scope.
Will I receive an engagement for each business?
Yes, you will receive an engagement for each business .
Will anything change to the way invoices are paid?
Simply enter your payment details into our new engagement tool’s secure payment gateway. This means that you don’t need to worry about manually paying us multiple times —instead, we will take payment for services when completed in line with our current payment terms. You’ll receive your invoice of all completed work before we take payment. This will give you an opportunity to review our work and raise any queries before the payment goes ahead.
Is there anything else I need to know?
We understand that this is very different to how we have worked with you previously. However, we firmly believe that it’s a change for the better. If you do have any questions, as always, please feel free to contact us.
Kind regards,
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