How to Respond When a Client Says “You Used to Charge Less”

After a rate increase, the previous rate doesn’t disappear from the world. Existing clients know it. Former clients mention it. Referral sources may quote it without realizing it has changed. At some point, the practitioner will encounter a conversation where someone says, in some form: “But you used to charge less than that.”

This moment is a test — not of the practitioner’s ability to justify the new rate, but of whether they experience the current rate as legitimate and settled.

Why This Moment Is a Test

What nobody explains about old rates being referenced is that the reference to the previous rate is not necessarily an argument. Sometimes it is simply a statement of what the person knew. Sometimes it is an attempt to negotiate. Sometimes it is an expression of mild surprise.

The practitioner who treats it as an argument will try to defend the new rate — explaining the reasons, offering justification, perhaps apologizing for the change. The practitioner who treats it as neutral information will respond from the current reality without apology.

The response the practitioner gives reveals how settled they are in the new rate. If the current rate is genuinely internalized as the right rate, the previous rate is simply a historical fact — not a position the practitioner can be talked back to.

What to Say

How strength responds to the old rate being mentioned: a direct, factual response is usually the most useful. “Yes, my rate has changed. My current rate is [rate].” This is honest, complete, and does not invite negotiation.

If the client is a prospective client who is comparing what they heard to what they’re now hearing: “Whoever mentioned it was working from my previous rate. As of [date], my rate has been [new rate]. Happy to answer any questions about the work if that’s helpful.”

If the client is an existing client who is noting the change: the conversation has likely already happened through the rate increase communication. If it hasn’t, this is the moment to have it directly.

What Not to Say

The response to avoid is any that suggests the previous rate is still available as an option: “Well, since you knew me then…” or “I can see what I can do for you…” or “Because you’re a referral from [person], maybe we can work something out.”

Not letting the old rate become an exception trigger: a client who mentions the old rate is not automatically entitled to it. The mention of the old rate is not itself a reason for a rate exception. If the practitioner has a policy about grandfathering or about exceptions, that policy applies — not the circumstance of the client having mentioned the previous rate.

The Role of Communicating Clearly From the Start

Communicating the rate change clearly to prevent confusion: one of the best ways to reduce the frequency of “you used to charge less” conversations is to communicate rate changes proactively to everyone who might refer or recall the old rate. This does not eliminate the situation entirely — some information always moves slowly — but it reduces how often the practitioner is in the position of correcting an incorrect expectation.

The identity that holds the current rate when challenged: the practitioner who holds the current rate when the old one is mentioned is the practitioner who is genuinely living in the present of their practice — not in the history of it. The old rate was right for when it was set. The current rate is right now. Both are true.

The Abundance GPS Skool community supports practitioners in holding their current rate clearly through every kind of conversation. Join us here.