INSIDE 1:1 MENTORING
Make the Rate Rise Obvious
You decided months ago to move from $75 to $85 an hour, and the email to clients is still in drafts because the jump feels arbitrary. Ivanka Menken uses the Rate-Math Script inside 1:1 Mentoring, a 6-month programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, to turn the rise into a clear number, a date and one sentence. You leave with the old rate, the new rate, the 13% increase, who to tell and the exact words.
The Rate-Math Script is a tool inside the programme, not a separate product.
AN EXAMPLE CONSULTANCY
$75 to $85 an hour. Written down, it is 13%.
- OLD RATEunchanged for too long$75
- THE RISE$10 on $75, written as a number, not a feeling13%
- NEW RATEfrom a set date, and from the first call for new work$85
THE RULE
“The rise is written as old rate, new rate, percentage and date before any client hears it, and every client hears the same sentence.”
Your rates will be your own.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
The rate rise that never quite gets sent
- 01You know you should charge more and the email has sat in drafts for weeks.
- 02A new rate feels arbitrary, so every client conversation turns into a negotiation.
- 03You add extra work to the invoice instead of changing the rate.
THE RATE, AS IT STANDS
- Current rate: $75 an hour
- New rate in your head: about $85
- The increase as a number: never worked out
- Effective date: not set
- What to say: rewritten for every client
The maths is easy. The sentence is missing.
THE EXAMPLE CASE
The consultant who added scope instead of changing the rate
01
THE MOMENT
A draft email four weeks old
Friday afternoon. Three long-term clients, all on $75 an hour, all happy. You open the draft email about the new rate for the fourth week running. It still says "I have been thinking about my rates", and you still cannot say why $85 and not $80. You close it again and invoice at $75.
02
WHAT THEY HAD TRIED
More scope on the invoice
In this case, the founder ran a two-person operations and systems consultancy on an hourly rate with a few long-term clients. The obvious fix was to add extra scope and hope the clients accepted a bigger invoice. The invoices grew a little, the rate stayed at $75, and the founder still dreaded the conversation.
03
WHAT IVANKA NOTICED
The maths, but not the sentence
Ivanka noticed the founder had the numbers and not the sentence. $75 to $85 had never been written as a percentage, there was no date, and there were no agreed words, so every client conversation became a fresh negotiation about whether the founder deserved it.
THE DIAGNOSIS
A missing written decision, not a missing $10
The real problem was not the $10. It was that the rise had never been written as a decision: the old rate, the new rate, the percentage, the effective date and the words to use.
The reframe: do the rate maths on paper, $10 on $75 is a 13% rise, set the date, and write one sentence every client hears. New work starts at the new rate from the first call. The rise then reads as a business decision, not a request.
A rate rise is a decision you announce, not a favour you ask for.
THE COST OF STAYING STUCK
Every month at the old rate is about $10 an hour you never see, and every new client started at $75 makes the next conversation harder.
THE TOOL
The Rate-Math Script, for one consultancy
The Rate-Math Script is how 1:1 Mentoring turns a rate rise into a decision the founder can announce. It writes the old rate, the new rate and the percentage, sets the date, lists who to tell and in what order, and gives the founder one sentence to use with every client.
Tap a part. The rates come from the case; your clients and date will be your own.
Rate-Math Script · a framework by Ivanka Menken
What it is
It is one page. At the top, the sum: $75 to $85 is $10, and $10 on $75 is 13%. Under it, the effective date, the clients to tell in order, the exact sentence, and the rule for new work: the new rate from the first call.
What it replaces
It replaces a draft email rewritten for weeks, extra scope added to invoices instead of a rate change, and a different explanation for every client.
It sits inside 1:1 Mentoring, next to the monthly scorecard, because price is one of the five numbers Ivanka reads every month. It is coaching, and the founder sends the email themselves.
THE SCRIPT, AS WRITTEN
- 01Old rate: $75 an hour
- 02New rate: $85 an hour
- 03The rise: $10, which is 13% of $75
- 04Effective date: the first of next month, with 30 days’ notice (example)
- 05Who to tell: each long-term client, in one week
- 06New work: $85 from the first call
HOW IVANKA WORKED WITH THEM
From a draft email to one sentence
In the session, Ivanka asked the founder to write the old rate and the new rate side by side and work out the percentage on the spot. Then they set the effective date, listed the clients in the order the founder would tell them, and wrote one sentence the founder could say out loud without apologising. The founder left with the page and a date to send the emails.
THE RATE CHANGE, AS WRITTEN
- The sum
- $75 to $85: a $10 rise, 13%.
- The date
- From the first of next month, with notice.
- Who to tell
- Each long-term client, in one week, in a set order.
- The sentence
- The same words for everyone, with no apology.
- Review
- After the emails go out, at the scorecard
Your rates and your sentence will be your own.
THE FOUR-STEP LOOP
- 1The one thingA rate rise stuck in drafts.
- 2The numbers$75 to $85, a 13% rise, one date.
- 3The storyWhy adding scope did not change the rate.
- 4The commitmentThe same sentence to every client in one week.
THE QUESTIONS
- What is the old rate and the new rate?
- What is the rise as a percentage?
- From what date?
- Who hears first, and how?
- What is the one sentence every client hears?
Before the next session, the founder sent the same sentence to each long-term client, quoted $85 to every new enquiry from the first call, and brought the replies to the scorecard.
WHAT CHANGED
One rate, said the same way
By month 6, the new rate is on every invoice, new clients start at it from the first call, the next review date is in the calendar, and price is read on the monthly scorecard.
BEFORE
- A rate rise stuck in drafts.
- Extra scope instead of a new rate.
- A new explanation for every client.
- New clients started at the old rate.
BY MONTH 6
- A written 13% rise with a date.
- The rate changed, the scope unchanged.
- One sentence for every client.
- New work at $85 from the first call.
THE 12 FORTNIGHTS
- 1Call
- 2Call
- 3Call
- 4Call
- 5Call
- 6Month 3
- 7Call
- 8Call
- 9Call
- 10Call
- 11Call
- 12Month 6
The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, a monthly scorecard, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.
ILLUSTRATIVE RESULT
In this case, the founder wrote the old rate, the new rate, the 13% increase and the effective date, then sent the same sentence to current clients. New work started at the new rate, quoted in the first call without a discount.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
Do the maths, then send it
Ivanka Menken built 1:1 Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses who want the money decisions made and kept. A rate that never moves is one of the quietest ways a business loses margin.
This fits if you sell your time or your team’s time and know your rate is too low. It does not fit if you want someone to set the price for you or write to your clients. The decision in front of you is one number and one date. Write them down today.
“During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.”
Business owner
WHO IT IS FOR
It fits
- You charge by the hour or the day.
- You have long-term clients on an old rate.
- A rate rise has sat in drafts for weeks.
- You will send the same sentence to every client.
It does not fit
- You want someone to set your price for you.
- You want your client emails written for you.
- You plan to discount the new rate on the first call.
- You have no current clients to tell.
THE INVESTMENT
AUD $1,500
per month ex GST
6 months · 12 fortnightly sessions
The Rate-Math Script is part of 1:1 Mentoring, a 6-month programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.
- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- The monthly scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
- The Rate-Math Script for your rate rise
Three founding places in total, shared across 1:1 Mentoring and its three focus programmes, are available at A$1,000 a month, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous. Claim a founding place.
The Rate-Math Script is part of the programme. It is not sold separately.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions about raising your rate
How do I work out a rate increase as a percentage?
Take the rise and divide it by the old rate. Going from $75 to $85 is a $10 rise, and $10 divided by $75 is about 13%. Writing it that way turns a feeling into a number you can explain. Ivanka Menken works it out with you inside 1:1 Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, with the date and the words.
How do I tell clients my rate is going up?
Say the new rate, the date it starts and one line on what stays the same, in the same words for every client, with no apology. Give enough notice that it reads as planned. Ivanka Menken writes that sentence with you inside 1:1 Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, and you send it yourself in one week.
Should I add scope instead of raising my rate?
Usually not. In this case, extra scope made the invoices a little bigger and left the rate at $75, so the next rise felt even harder. Change the rate and keep the scope. Ivanka Menken helps you write the rate decision inside 1:1 Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, so it reads as a business decision.
When should new clients pay the new rate?
From the first call. If new work starts at the old rate, every new client becomes another conversation about a rise later. Quote the new rate on the first call and do not discount it. Ivanka Menken builds that rule into the Rate-Math Script inside 1:1 Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Write the number and the date
If your rate rise has been waiting in drafts, start with 1:1 Mentoring. The Rate-Math Script is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether the programme fits.
Not price-setting or client emails written for you.