Price increase letter to handyman customers
Copy it, replace the bracketed bits, send it. Below the letter: the text-message version, how much notice to give, and what to say when they push back.
Hi [NAME], You have been one of my regulars for a while, so you are hearing this first. From [DATE], two things change. My hourly rate goes from [OLD RATE] to [NEW RATE]. And I am bringing in a minimum charge of [MINIMUM] per visit, which covers the first [HOUR / HALF DAY]. That one needs explaining. At the moment, a ten-minute job — a sticking door, a dripping tap — costs you ten minutes. But it costs me the drive over, parking and often a trip to the merchant, and those small visits are quietly the ones that lose me money. The easy way round the minimum: save up a list. If you have three or four small things, I can do them in one visit for the same charge, which is usually the best value there is. Anything I have already quoted you stays at the quoted price. [YOUR NAME] [BUSINESS NAME]
How many customers can this price rise lose?
10% ÷ (40% + 10%) = 20%
Open the full calculator, with your prices and customer count →two weeks for regulars; any quoted job keeps its quote
10–15% on the hourly rate, plus a proper minimum charge
The text-message version
For the customers whose entire relationship with you lives in a phone. Send it before the visit, never on the invoice.
Hi [NAME], [YOUR NAME] here. From [DATE] my rate is [NEW RATE]/hr with a [MINIMUM] minimum per visit (covers the first [HOUR]). Tip: save up a few small jobs and I'll do them in one go. Quotes already given still stand.
Why it is going up, in words you can use
“Rising costs” persuades nobody because everyone says it. Name the actual driver in handyman and property maintenance instead:
- the small jobs: a 20-minute fix still costs the drive, the parking and the trip to the merchant
- fuel, van insurance and parking charges
- materials runs are unpaid time unless you charge for them
- the rate was set when you were building a customer list, not running a full diary
When they push back
You will hear these within a week. Having the answer ready is the difference between holding the price and folding on the phone.
- "It's only a ten-minute job."
- "It is — and the minimum covers the first hour, so is there anything else on the list I can do while I am there?" Turn the objection into a bigger visit. Most people have a mental list of jobs they never got round to.
- "Can I buy the materials myself?"
- Yes, if they get the right thing. Say: "Sure — send me a photo of what you get before I come, so I am not driving back out for the right fitting." Add a modest markup to materials you supply yourself — your time buying them is real.
- "That's nearly what a proper tradesman charges."
- "It is still well under what you would pay a [PLUMBER / ELECTRICIAN / CARPENTER] for the same visit, and you get one person for the whole list." The comparison is not with other handymen — it is with booking three separate trades.
Is a price rise even the right move for you?
Sometimes it is not. Sometimes the money is in a service plan for customers you already have, or in the job you are quoting below cost without realising. Describe your business in one sentence and you will get three specific moves back — priced per month, with the arithmetic written out so you can put your own numbers in.
Free, no signup, about thirty seconds. If one of them is a price rise, you will get the number to put in the brackets above.
Give me three movesMore letters: trades and repairs
Other trades
A template, not legal advice. If you have a written contract with these regular customers, check what it says about notice periods and price changes before you send anything — the contract wins over any template, including this one.