Updated 2026-07-15 · 3 min read
Professional colour has gone up, electricity has gone up, the rent doesn't bear thinking about — and your price list is still stuck where it was three years ago. Every month that passes your salon takes the same and keeps less, and you know it. What's stopping you isn't the numbers: it's the fear of the conversation. So this article is less about maths and more about words — because raising prices well is, above all, an exercise in communication.
When it's time (the three signs)
1. Your costs have gone up and you haven't: if product, rent and utilities rise 4-6% a year and your prices have sat still for two years, you haven't «held your prices»: you've cut your own wage. 2. Your calendar is full more than 85-90% of the time, consistently: overflowing occupancy is the market telling you you're worth more than you charge. 3. You've improved what you offer: new training, better products, a salon that now replies straight away and remembers every client — added value legitimises the price.
How much (the reassuring arithmetic)
Bring the rise down to actual pounds before you announce it, because percentages frighten people more than figures do: the £24 cut goes to £26; the £48 colour to £52. For your monthly client that's £2 more a month — the price of half a coffee. For you, in a salon taking £8,500 a month, 8% is £8,160 more a year with the same services and the same hands. That asymmetry — imperceptible for each client, transformative for your business — is the whole point of this article.
How to announce it (the templates)
Rule one: give 2-4 weeks' notice, through the channels where you already talk to them. Rule two: short, confident and no apologising. The long apology («we're terribly sorry to have to tell you that regrettably…») says that even you don't believe your price.
*For WhatsApp or Instagram:* «Hi 💜 Letting you know in good time: from 1 October we're updating some prices so we can carry on with the best products and the same team. Your cut goes from £24 to £26. Any questions, we're here — thank you for trusting us!»
*For the client booking for after the change:* «I've got you down for the 5th! Just so you know, from 1 October the colour is £52 (it was £48). Shall I confirm? 😊» — stating the new price explicitly at the booking removes 100% of the surprises at the till, which is where the upset is born. If your assistant handles the bookings, set it up to quote the current price always: automatic consistency is your best shield.
The objections (there'll be fewer than you fear)
The trade's experience is stubborn: with notice given and reasonable rises, a small minority object and almost nobody leaves. Faced with the one who does object: listen, thank her («I understand, and thank you for telling me»), explain once and in the positive («it's what lets us keep the products and the time we give you») and hold the price. A personal discount for whoever complains is the worst possible move: it punishes the ones who said nothing and turns your price list into an auction. Will you lose somebody? Perhaps the one who was only there for the price — which is, exactly, the client the salon next door will take from you for £2 anyway next year.
Put a date on it right now — literally: open the calendar and mark the day of the change and the day of the announcement. The price rise with no date is the one you've been not making for three years.