---
id: "action-advance-notice"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["§ Time pricing information strategically."]
tags: ["change-management", "customer-success"]
related: ["concept-psychological-distance-pricing", "claim-psychological-distance", "framework-pricing-transition"]
action: "Announce transitions from free to paid or price increases months before they take effect."
outcome: "Shifts customer focus from immediate financial loss to long-term product value, reducing churn."
speakers: ["Saloni Firasta-Vastani"]
sources: ["commercial"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-commercial"
originDay: 5
articleStem: "hbr-ext-23-risks-of-free"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/06/the-risks-of-offering-free-goods-and-services"
sourceTitle: "The Risks of Offering “Free” Goods and Services"
---
# Announce price changes well in advance

**Action:** Do **not** introduce price increases quietly at the end of a contract or implement them immediately. Instead, **announce them months in advance** (e.g., ~six months for enterprise SaaS). This creates **psychological distance** ([[concept-psychological-distance-pricing]]), letting clients focus on the benefits of the tool rather than the immediate cost, and giving them time to **budget** and **advocate internally**.

This is the lead step of the [[framework-pricing-transition]] and the operational form of [[claim-psychological-distance]].

**Outcome:** Shifts customer focus from immediate financial loss to long-term product value, reducing churn.

**Caveat:** "six months" is a heuristic — calibrate the runway to the buyer's budgeting cycle.


## Related across articles
- [[action-time-limit-b2b-deals]]
- [[concept-psychological-distance-pricing]]