Made for Swiss self-employed & SMEs
A physiotherapist in Zurich has not raised her rates in four years. Costs have gone up, her schedule is full, and she knows the time has come — but every time she starts the letter to her clients, she stops. She does not want to sound greedy, and she does not want to lose the people who trust her.
Raising a price is one of the quietest stressful moments in a small business. It is not really about the number — it is about the relationship. The good news is that a clear, warm announcement almost never costs you a client, and an AI can help you write it in a fraction of the time you would otherwise spend staring at an empty page.
Why the letter is harder than the maths
The arithmetic is easy. The letter is hard because of everything you imagine it implies. Three fears come up again and again:
- Fear of seeming greedy. You worry the client will read a number where the gratitude should be.
- Fear of the comparison. You imagine the client quietly comparing you to someone cheaper.
- Fear of the goodbye. You picture an awkward silence and a polite “we’ll be in touch”.
In practice, almost none of that happens. Clients expect prices to rise eventually — they pay more for their own groceries every year. What they actually need from you is clarity: what changes, by how much, from when, and why.
A calm three-step routine
Step 1 — Write down the facts, not the feelings
Start with the plain facts: the old price, the new price, the date it takes effect, and the reason in one short sentence. Keep it to five lines. This is your raw material, not the letter.
Step 2 — Let the AI draft in your voice
Give the AI those facts and a few words about how you want to sound. It drafts the letter; you approve it. Here is a prompt that works well:
I need to tell my clients that my hourly rate goes from CHF 140 to CHF 155 on 1 January 2027. I have not raised it in four years, and my costs have risen. Write a short, warm email for me. Be clear about the old price, the new price and the date. Thank the client for their trust, explain the reason in one sentence, and invite them to get in touch with any questions. No apologies, no over-explaining — just calm and confident.
Step 3 — Read once, then send
Read the draft once and check two things: that every number is right, and that it sounds like you. If a sentence feels too formal or too soft, ask the AI to adjust just that sentence. Then send it. The whole routine takes ten minutes, once a year.
What changes when you do this
The letter that took you an hour of worrying becomes a ten-minute task. Your clients get a clear, warm note instead of a vague one, and most of them simply reply “understood, thank you” and carry on. A small number will ask a question — and a clear letter makes that question easy to answer.
One honest note: keep client names and any sensitive details out of a public chatbot. A price and a date are usually harmless, but for a small, identifiable client list, replace names with placeholders and add them back before you send.
