# Make the Rate Rise Obvious

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/rate-math-script · Last updated 5 November 2026

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 rise that never quite gets sent

- You know you should charge more and the email has sat in drafts for weeks.
- A new rate feels arbitrary, so every client conversation turns into a negotiation.
- You add extra work to the invoice instead of changing the rate.

**THE MOMENT:** 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.

### 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

## 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.

## 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.

## 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: Rate-Math Script

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.

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.

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.

### What goes on the page

1. Old rate: $75 an hour
2. New rate: $85 an hour
3. The rise: $10, which is 13% of $75
4. Effective date: the first of next month, with 30 days’ notice (example)
5. Who to tell: each long-term client, in one week
6. New work: $85 from the first call

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.

## 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 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?

### THE FOUR-STEP LOOP

1. The one thing: A rate rise stuck in drafts.
2. The numbers: $75 to $85, a 13% rise, one date.
3. The story: Why adding scope did not change the rate.
4. The commitment: The same sentence to every client in one week.

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.

## 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 programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, a monthly scorecard, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.

## 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 fits, and who does not

### 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.

### Investment

**AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, 6 months.** 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.

Included:

- 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.

- [Join 1:1 Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](/mentoring)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=rate-math-script#/15606000001356030)
- [See the 1:1 Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/mentoring)

## Questions about Rate-Math Script

### 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.

- [Join 1:1 Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](/mentoring)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=rate-math-script#/15606000001356030)
- [See the 1:1 Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/mentoring)
- [Reset price when a client leaves](https://ivankamenken.com/replacement-price-rule)
- [Anchor your first pricing call](https://ivankamenken.com/first-call-price-anchor)
- [The 1:1 Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/mentoring)

- Every way to work with Ivanka: https://ivankamenken.com/work-with-ivanka