PetGroomBossPro Blog — Billing, Tips & Payments

Raising Prices for Repeat Grooming Clients Without a Mess on the Invoice

Costs go up. Shampoo, fuel, van maintenance and your own time all cost more than they did a few years ago. At some point every grooming business has to raise prices for its repeat clients. Most groomers dread it. The conversation is the hard part; the invoice should be the easy part.

Prices Live on the Client, Not in Your Head

Raising prices applies to accounts too, as mentioned in Senior Living, Doggy Daycare and Apartment Pet Days: Billing Grooming Accounts Monthly. This article focuses on household clients on repeat schedules, who make up most of a mobile grooming book.

In PetGroomBossPro, a repeat client is booked with Add Recurring Grooming on the same weekday, time and van every 4, 6 or 8 weeks, or whatever frequency suits them. Every visit is written up front and waits on Pending Jobs. The price for that client travels with their visits. So when the price changes, the change needs to happen on the upcoming visits, not on an invoice after the fact.

Change It Once on Upcoming Visits

The Recurring Clients list lets you change van, day, time or price for upcoming visits. When you raise a client's price, you change it there, and every upcoming visit carries the new price. The next time the groomer taps Complete, the invoice uses it. If the card on file is charged at completion, it charges the new amount.

Nobody edits invoices by hand, and nobody has to remember which clients have moved to the new price. The schedule and the bill stay in step.

Your service list is a separate thing. If you are raising your standard prices for new customers too, update the service list and the online booking page prices so new quotes match.

Give Notice First

A price increase that shows up on an invoice with no warning is the one most likely to cost you a client. A price increase that was explained a few weeks ahead usually is not. Tell clients before the change, in writing.

A short message by text or email is enough:

• “Hi! A quick note that starting with your groom next month, Biscuit's full groom will be $95. Costs have gone up across the board and we want to keep giving him the same care. Thank you for being with us!”

Say what is changing, when, and thank them. You do not need a long justification. Two-way texting from the office keeps any replies in one place, so a client with a question can ask it.

Expect a few replies. Most will be short. If a long-time client pushes back, listen, and decide whether to hold the new price or phase it in for them. Either way, whatever you agree goes on their upcoming visits so the invoice matches the conversation.

Pick a Clean Start Date

The tidiest increases start on a clear date — the first of a month, or the next visit after a set day. That way the office knows exactly which upcoming visits get the new price, and clients know exactly when it applies.

Avoid raising the price on a visit that has already been confirmed with the client at the old price. Start from the next one. It is a small courtesy that avoids a lot of awkward conversations.

Size and Coat Changes Are Different

Not every price change is a price increase. A puppy who has grown into a large dog, or a coat that has moved from short to long, may simply belong in a different price on your existing list. That is a correction to the pet, not a raise.

Handle it by updating the pet's size or coat and the client's price, and let the client know why: “Rocky's grown into the large-dog price.” More on that in Size and Coat on the Grooming Invoice: Pricing a Giant Double Coat Differently From a Toy Poodle.

Keep Repeat-Schedule Discounts in Mind

If you give clients on frequent schedules a discount, decide how your increase affects it. You might raise the base price and keep the discount the same, so frequent clients still get a better deal. Whatever you do, be consistent, and make sure the new prices on the online booking page match what existing clients will pay. That topic has its own article: Discounts for Repeat Grooming Schedules: Rewarding Every-4-Weeks Clients on the Invoice.

A clear notice, a clean start date and one change on upcoming visits are all a price increase needs. To see price changes alongside invoices, card on file and reports, visit the pet grooming invoicing software page.