When to Grandfather Existing Clients Into the Old Rate

Grandfathering — keeping existing clients at a previous rate while new clients are brought in at the higher rate — is one of the more common approaches practitioners take when raising rates. It feels considerate. It honors relationships that have existed for some time. And it avoids the most direct version of the rate conversation.

Whether it’s the right choice depends on what the grandfathering is actually doing, and for how long.

When Grandfathering Makes Sense

What nobody explains about grandfathering is that there are at least two distinct versions of it. The first is time-limited: “I’m raising rates for new clients, and existing clients will move to the new rate within six months.” The second is indefinite: “My existing clients will stay at the current rate as long as they continue working with me.”

Time-limited grandfathering is a reasonable bridge. It gives existing clients notice and a transition window, while establishing the new rate as the permanent structure. The existing client knows the current arrangement is temporary, can plan accordingly, and the practitioner has a clear path to a consistent rate structure.

Indefinite grandfathering is more complicated. Done with intention and genuine generosity — for a small number of long-term clients in specific circumstances — it can be an appropriate expression of care. Done by default — because the practitioner couldn’t face the conversation — it produces a two-tiered structure that becomes harder to manage and harder to exit over time.

The Problem With Indefinite Grandfathering

The cost of indefinite grandfathering accumulates in ways that are easy to miss while they’re happening. After a few years, the grandfathered clients are paying rates that are significantly below the current structure. The practitioner’s schedule contains a mix of clients at very different rates for the same work. The gap between the grandfathered rate and the current rate may be large enough that the clients who are grandfathered are, in practice, occupying slots that could generate significantly more revenue.

This wouldn’t be a problem if the grandfathering were genuinely intentional and the practitioner were genuinely comfortable with it. The problem arises when the grandfathering is still in place primarily because the practitioner hasn’t found the right moment to address it — which is the rate conversation being deferred in a different form.

When gratitude is operating underneath the grandfathering decision is worth examining: is this a genuine choice made from care and abundance, or is it the rate conversation being avoided by another name?

How to Structure a Grandfathering Decision

The case for consistent pricing provides the counterpoint: a consistent rate structure is simpler to manage, easier to communicate, and doesn’t produce a two-tiered dynamic in the practice. For many practitioners, the simplest and most sustainable approach is a clearly communicated rate change with adequate notice for all existing clients — rather than a rate change for new clients and a preserved rate for existing ones.

When grandfathering is chosen, how to communicate rate changes to existing clients applies whether the grandfathering is time-limited or indefinite: clearly, in writing, with specific terms. “Your current rate is preserved through [date]” or “Your rate will remain at X for as long as we continue working together” are specific. “We’ll figure it out” is not.

The clearer the terms, the easier the eventual transition — and the less likely the grandfathering is to become an indefinite avoidance of the conversation it was meant to ease.

The Abundance GPS Skool community supports practitioners in making rate decisions — including grandfathering — with intention rather than by default. Join us here.