Raise Fees Without Risking Loyalty
Your exam tables are outdated, your staff has to fidget with them to get them to work, but you can’t afford new ones.
You also can’t invest in that state-of-the-art x-ray machine, an updated version of your aged electronic medical record system, or hire a new admin for your understaffed front desk.
But you won’t raise fees out of fear of losing client and employee loyalty.
Fee increases can burden clients with unexpectedly higher costs.
Fee increases can burden receptionists and vet techs by forcing them to explain the reason for the fee increase to clients.
Without fee increases, though, you can’t provide your staff with better technology that smooths out client communication or updated equipment that improves the level of care you provide patients.
Be transparent with your team about the reasons.
If you aren’t transparent with your team about the need for these increases and how they are being reinvested, you risk everyone turning on you.
Take these steps to raise fees without alienating your staff and your clients:
Acknowledge that fee raises can place a burden on clients. Help your team understand that while you recognize the financial pressure increases might put on clients, you're also thinking about the medical record system that takes 15 minutes to load patient history. Emphasize that the goal is not to unnecessarily charge clients but to ensure the practice’s financial stability, maintain high-quality care, and provide an optimal working environment for the team.
Clearly communicate how the revenue from fee raises will be reinvested back into the practice. Your staff will immediately empathize if you tell them the fee increase is to upgrade that clunky, outdated X-ray machine. Even if it is not that specific, discuss possible areas where the income will be utilized, such as acquiring new technology, enhancing employee benefits, providing salary raises, investing in staff training or improving the overall client experience.
Even with this open communication, no one will be happy if you try to raise fees by 50%, or even 10%, tomorrow.
Set up incremental increases to avoid the burden of a huge increase overnight.
You still need to communicate with your team, but you make the increases more palatable by increasing yearly or quarterly.
Communicate with your staff and use my formula for quarterly increases in my guide on How to Set Up Incremental Fee Increases in your practice.
