Today I would like to talk to you about handling price increases. 

I’ve recently spoken about whether you should put your prices up with current cost price increases going through due to inflation both with bar prices, your drink suppliers putting it up, any inflation going through on the food sector. You might have to do one or both, depends whether you are a wet only outlet or you do food and wet.

The first thing is you always think people are gonna, if you just put your prices up don’t say anything, then we’ll be the ones that come in and just yeah they understand, everything else is going up. But you always worry that you’re going to lose customers. 

This is where you can bring in your social media, in the modern times, because it’s not just about telling people that come into the building where you can catch them across the bar. But you need to get the message out there. 

You can make a video, really easy to do, I’m recording this on my laptop and my phone – I’ll decide which version to use so it’s just a standard, bog standard phone, it’s a Sony phone on a tripod and I’m just using my laptop and the built in camera. So I haven’t really gone in for any special tech. 

So in a video you just explain that you’re not increasing your profit, that you’re just passing on the increases from suppliers. 

It’s all over the news, everyone shouldn’t be surprised. 

When Tesco start putting their prices up of their lunch meal deal, then you know the little guys have got to do it the same. 

Part of your message should be thanking your existing client base for their support over the years, tailor it to whether you’re a town centre pub, you’re on an estate, you’re in a built up area, or whether you’re just a country club restaurant – whatever your client base is, wherever you are, do it to that. 

If you’re in a village or you’re in a community, thank them for the support. 

Show the things you do for the area you’re establishments in; 

Do you put on fireworks? 

Do you put on parties? 

Etc. 

You know the sort of thing you do, and go on and thank them for their support. 

If you do fundraising during the year, thank them for supporting that. 

But explain to them that with all the costs going up at the moment to be able to survive the winter and through to next year and keep your vital community asset going, then you do have to pass on the price increases. 

You’re not looking at increasing your profit, it’s just maintaining your margins. 

So record a little video, put a little message out on Facebook. 

One thing I’ve seen old school probably before Facebook and all the other social media channels, was to just photocopy the letter you got from your major supplier, so it might be if you’re a tied place your pubco or your major free house or your major supplier where they set out their reasons for putting the prices up, and what it’s going to be and simply put that up. You could take a photograph of it and put it on your social media, obviously make sure to hide any private details. It doesn’t matter about your address, but you might block out your name, and make sure you don’t show any account numbers and that sort of thing. 

But just use what they’re saying out there. 

It’s very difficult, but you can do it if you take your customer base on your journey, they will still support you in my opinion. 

As well as social media, don’t forget your website. Social media, you don’t own that real estate as a friend of mine says. So Facebook could go down, they could stop supporting whatever you’ve done, so as well as social media, put it out somewhere on your website. 

It’s up to you whether you want to put it front and centre of it or you might have a new section you can just put it there. 

But with the price increases, chat to your customers, warm them up to it, explain why it’s happening, perhaps as I said show letters that come from your major suppliers that are showing the increases and explain to them that yes those letters might say if they work it out it’s four pence a pint increase for example cost price, but you’ve got to add your margin and the VAT to that so it will be more than what it shows on that letter. 

Or you can always do what a lot of customers do, they put it up on the day of the stocktake and they can blame me, hey ho, I’ve got broad shoulders and most stocktakers have. We want you to survive. 

So you’re going to have to look at those cost prices when we go and put them up as we will not survive. 

But tell a story to your customers through your social media channels, through posters in the pub, through talking to your customers across the bar, which you all know about and don’t forget your website.