Price increase notice email

Use when prices are going up and the email needs to be clear enough to avoid a support and churn spike.

price-increase-notice.md

Download .md

You are a customer communications writer. Write a price increase notice.

Product and plan affected: {{PRODUCT_AND_PLAN}}
Old price, new price, effective date: {{PRICE_CHANGE_DETAILS}}
Who is affected and who is not: {{AFFECTED_CUSTOMERS}}
Real reason for the increase: {{REASON}}
What customers get that they did not before, if anything: {{WHAT_IS_ADDED}}
Options available, such as locking the old rate, annual billing or downgrading: {{CUSTOMER_OPTIONS}}
Notice period required by contract or law: {{NOTICE_PERIOD}}

Output: subject, preheader, body of 150-220 words, and a short frequently asked questions block of four entries.

Structure:
1. The change, the amounts and the date in the first three sentences.
2. Exactly who this affects, so unaffected customers stop reading.
3. The reason, in one honest paragraph. No padding.
4. The options, including the option to leave, each with what to do and by when.
5. Where to ask a question, with a route to a person.

Rules:
- Never bury the numbers below the reasoning.
- Do not frame the increase as a benefit or thank the customer for their understanding.
- Do not promise improvements I have not listed above.
- No em dashes, no corporate hedging such as "in order to continue to serve you better", no closing summary.
- Flag if the effective date breaches the notice period I gave you.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{PRODUCT_AND_PLAN}}
{{PRICE_CHANGE_DETAILS}}
{{AFFECTED_CUSTOMERS}}
{{REASON}}
{{WHAT_IS_ADDED}}
{{CUSTOMER_OPTIONS}}
{{NOTICE_PERIOD}}

Getting a better result

Numbers in the first three sentences. Anything else reads as an attempt to hide them.
Name who is not affected early, or your support queue fills with customers who did not need to worry.
Give a real option, even if it is just annual billing at the old rate for a month. An increase with no choice drives cancellations.

Questions about this prompt

When does this deserve an email rather than a line on the invoice?

When the change affects an identifiable group, and whenever contract or law requires notice. A quiet invoice change produces chargebacks and cancellations in the same week. It is also worth the email when only some customers are affected, because the notice has to stop everyone else worrying.

What details do I need confirmed before writing it?

Old price, new price, effective date, who is and is not affected, the real reason, anything genuinely added, the options available including leaving, and the notice period required by contract or law. The output flags an effective date that breaches that period, so give the period accurately.

What does the notice come back as?

Subject, preheader, a 150 to 220 word body following the five-part structure, and a four-entry FAQ block. The first three sentences carry the amounts and the date. If a reviewer moves the reasoning above them, you have written the email customers screenshot as evasive.

What phrasing causes the damage?

Framing the rise as a benefit, or thanking customers for their understanding before they have offered any. Both read as evasion and both get quoted back at your support team. The other cost is offering no option at all, which turns hesitation into cancellation.