Twenty years of field notes.

A rate increase does not happen in isolation. It happens in conversation — with existing clients, with prospective clients, and sometimes with people in…

Rates are not set once and left alone. A rate that was appropriate at one stage of a practice can become a poor fit…

Holding a rate increase is different from announcing one. The announcement is a moment. The holding is a period — one that can last…

A rate increase can fail before the market ever has a chance to respond to it. The most common causes of rate increase failure…

The number is not the hard part. The number is the output of a harder process — one that requires honesty about what the…

The fear that surrounds a rate increase often centers on who leaves. The more useful question is who stays — and why. The clients…

A rate increase is not just a change in the number. It is a change in the filter. The rate — like every other…

The reasons practitioners give for not raising rates are almost always legitimate on the surface. They contain real concerns, real market awareness, and real…

The announcement of a rate increase is not where the rate increase begins. It is where it becomes visible. The actual work of a…

The period after a rate increase can feel disorienting. The announcement has been made, the date has passed, the new rate is in effect…

There is a period after a rate increase where the rate is held but not yet settled. The practitioner is quoting the new number,…

Clients give practitioners pricing information constantly. Not as deliberate data — most clients are not thinking about the practitioner’s rate when they speak. But…