# Reset Price When a Client Leaves

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/replacement-price-rule · Last updated 28 October 2026

A replacement price is what the next client pays when one leaves, decided before you refill the slot. Ivanka Menken uses the Replacement Price Rule inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. When a client gives notice, you feel relief and panic, and the old price is still on your website. You write the new price, the line you will say, and the date the next proposal changes. In the example, a $1,200 a month client is replaced at $2,500.

## A client leaves and the old price stays

- You wait for churn before you lift your price.
- Your current monthly price no longer matches the work.
- You worry a higher price will lose clients, so you stay at the old one.

**THE CLIENT AND THE MOMENT:** A service founder runs a concierge offer at $1,200 a month. One client gives notice. The founder feels relief, because that client took more work than the price paid for, and panic, because the slot is now empty. The work has grown. The website and the proposal template still say $1,200.

### THE DAY THE NOTICE ARRIVES

- Website price: $1,200 a month
- Proposal template: $1,200 a month
- Replacement price: not written
- What to say: not decided
- Date the price changes: not set

## A small rise, for new clients only

The founder had already lifted the price a little for new clients. It did not stick. The old price stayed on the website and in the proposal, so every sales conversation started from $1,200, and the gap between what the work needed and what the slot paid was never named.

## The next price was already in their head

When Ivanka asked what the next client should pay, the founder answered at once: $2,500, and then $3,000 to $3,500. The number was clear. What was missing was a written rule for when it would be used. Without one, each churn was handled as a loss and the slot was refilled at the old price.

## Sequence, not confidence

The founder did not lack confidence in the price. The problem was the order of events. The price decision was waiting for a good moment, and the good moment had just arrived as a notice email.
A client who leaves frees the slot and shows what the work in it really costs. That is the cleanest moment to set what the next client pays, because no existing client is asked to pay more.

> The client who leaves shows you what the next one should pay.

**The cost of staying stuck:** Refill the slot at $1,200 and the gap to $2,500 is $1,300 a month, on every client, every month, until the next churn. Leave it longer and the target of $3,000 to $3,500 drifts further from the work.

## The tool: Replacement Price Rule

The Replacement Price Rule turns a client leaving into a written price step: the old price, the replacement price, the target range, what you will say and the date it starts.

It is a one-page rule, written once and used at every churn. It names the price the next client pays, the line you say when someone asks why it changed, and the review date when the next step toward the target is decided.

It replaces refilling the slot at the old price, the quiet rise for new clients that never reaches the proposal, and the price decision that waits for a better moment.

### What goes on the page

1. Old price: what the departing client paid, and the work it now covers
2. Replacement price: what the next proposal starts from
3. Target range: where the next churn moves the price
4. The script: what you say about the old price and the new one
5. The date: when the website and proposal change, and the review date

It sits inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, beside the monthly scorecard and the 13-week cash view. The cash effect is tested against the numbers you already have, not a forecast. No separate checkout.

## Put the last churn on the table

In the example session, the founder brings the notice email. Ivanka asks what the departing client was really paying for, what the next client needs to pay, and what will be said before the next proposal. The founder writes the replacement price, the old-price story and a date. Ivanka checks the cash effect against the known numbers. Before the next session, the founder changes the website and the proposal template.

### The questions

- What was the departing client really paying for?
- What does the next client need to pay for the same work?
- What will you say when someone asks why the price changed?
- On what date do the website and proposal change?
- What will you do when the next client gives notice?

### THE FOUR-STEP LOOP

1. The one thing: The slot the departing client leaves empty.
2. The numbers: The old price, the replacement price and the gap between them.
3. The story: Why the old price stayed, and what you fear the higher one will cost.
4. The commitment: The replacement price, the script and the date, written down.

Before the next session, the founder updates the website and the proposal template, rehearses the script once out loud, and puts the review date in the diary.

## Churn becomes a pricing decision

By month 6, the rule is how every churn is handled, not a one-off rise.

**NOW**

- A client leaves and the slot is refilled at the old price.
- The next price is in your head, not on the page.
- The website and proposal still quote the old number.
- Nothing is said, so nothing changes.

**BY MONTH 6**

- A replacement price is written for every slot.
- The churn script has been used and tested.
- The website and proposal changed on a set date.
- The next step toward the target has a review date.

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

## The next notice is a price decision

Ivanka Menken built Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses that are growing while cash tightens. She reads the numbers with you, asks the hard question, and holds you to the decision you write down.
If a client has just given notice, or you know one will, the decision in front of you is what the next one pays. Write it down before you send the next proposal.

> 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 run a $500K to $3M service business growing while cash is tight.
- A client has left, or will, and the slot is open.
- Your monthly price no longer matches the work.
- You will write the price down and say it out loud.

### It does not fit

- You want accounting or financial advice.
- You want someone to set your prices for you.
- You want a done-for-you fix.
- You plan to raise prices on every current client at once.

### Investment

**AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, 6 months.** It is part of Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, not sold separately.

Included:

- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- A monthly one-page scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
- The Replacement Price Rule at every churn

Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous.

- [Join Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/eVq4gzdKgekN6pcbIcdQQ0t?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=replacement-price-rule)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=replacement-price-rule#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/cash-tight-growing-founder)

## Questions about Replacement Price Rule

### What is a replacement price?

A replacement price is the monthly price the next client pays when one leaves, written before you refill the slot. Ivanka Menken uses it inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring so the old price is not carried into the next proposal. It comes with the line you will say and the date it starts. The programme runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### When should I reset price after churn?

Reset it on the day the notice arrives, before the next proposal goes out. No current client is asked to pay more, so it is the cleanest moment you will get. In Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, Ivanka Menken helps you set the date the website and proposal change. The programme is 12 fortnightly sessions over 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### Is this inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring?

Yes. The Replacement Price Rule is one of the tools Ivanka Menken uses inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 1:1 programme that runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It has no separate price or checkout. You join the programme, and the rule is used whenever a client leaves during the 12 fortnightly sessions.

### How do I talk to the next client about the higher price?

You quote the replacement price as the price, with no apology and no story about the old one. The script you write with Ivanka Menken covers what you say if they ask, and what you say to the client who is leaving. It is rehearsed in Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring before the next proposal. The programme runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.


## Write the next price before the next proposal

If a client has just left and the old price is still on your website, start with Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring. The Replacement Price Rule is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether it fits.

- [Join Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/eVq4gzdKgekN6pcbIcdQQ0t?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=replacement-price-rule)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=replacement-price-rule#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/cash-tight-growing-founder)
- [Anchor the first number before the call](https://ivankamenken.com/first-call-price-anchor)
- [The Gross Margin Floor](https://ivankamenken.com/gross-margin-floor)
- [The 13-week cash view](https://ivankamenken.com/13-week-cash-flow-for-founders)
- [The money and clarity scorecard](https://ivankamenken.com/scorecard)

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