From Haircuts to High-End Services: Staying Relevant When Clients Cut Back

In a recent Bloomberg article, beauty professionals across the country reported a subtle but crucial shift: their clients are cutting back.

The signs are subtle but clear: clients are stretching two-week appointments to four or five weeks, choosing lower-maintenance services, and attempting DIY solutions, only to sometimes return later for costly fixes. In affluent areas where "people don't like to walk around with roots showing," even wealthy clients are citing "the political situation" and market losses as reasons to cut back. It’s all starting to feel, as one massage therapist put it, “a lot like 2008.”

You might think what happens in salons and spas has little to do with your business as a consultant, coach, advisor, or other expert. These early indicators can be prescient, however, particularly when coupled with what we're seeing in markets currently.

Whether your outlook is optimistic or cautious, you should always be prepared for potential shifts in client behavior, conversations about price, and unspoken concerns.

While the stock market may lag and economic indicators take months to catch up, these early behavioral cues speak loudly.

How do you respond when your clients begin to exhibit signs of stress, budget constraints, or uncertainty?

Here are six ways to stay relevant and resilient in an environment where even the most loyal clients may hesitate before booking that next appointment, whether literal or metaphorical. Ironically, these are the moments when generosity becomes your greatest differentiator.

When others retreat, authentic generosity stands out even more.

These approaches aren't just about preservation; they're strategies, grounded in generosity, for staying valuable and visible to clients who need you most.

1. Double Down on Outcomes, Not Inputs

If you’re not already, you should be selling the destination, not the flight.

If your offer still revolves around time, sessions, or hours, your client will inevitably attempt to reduce it.

But if your offering is framed around results, such as “We’ll fix your onboarding problem by May 1” or “Let’s reduce your churn by 15% this quarter,” then it’s much more likely to stay on the priority list.

2. Create a “Stay-in-the-Game” Option

Give clients a way to stay connected, even at a lower investment.

If you have clients in the “better” and “best” tiers of a “good-better-best” service offering, you can offer to pull them into a lower-priced service tier you offer.

For clients who would like to hire you but can’t justify it right now, consider offering limited office hours, a micro-audit, or a focused strategy call.

These ideas aren’t about giving away the farm. It’s about keeping the relationship alive and valuable while your client regroups.

3. Listen for Silence, Then Lean in with Generosity

Silence doesn't always mean rejection. One aesthetician stated in the Bloomberg piece, "I've been eliminated from their budget." Often, clients feel embarrassed to admit the truth directly.

Here are a few ideas to break through the silence:

• Send a "thinking of you" note with a relevant industry insight—no strings attached

• Offer a brief catch-up call with no agenda and no invoice

• Share a specific idea that could help their current situation, regardless of whether you immediately benefit: "I saw this cost-saving approach that reminded me of your Q1 challenge...."

• Work on sending them a referral or two. In uncertain times, these acts of generosity stand out even more and invariably get clients to answer the phone.

Demonstrating your continued investment in their success, not just their wallet, is crucial.

4. Comment on What Matters to Them

Clients don’t need more generic check-ins.

They need to know you’re still paying attention.

Share any article, trend, or shift that affects their world. Don't just send it, but also provide context. It shows you’re giving deep thought to their situation.

Being merely available isn't enough: everyone can be available. What distinguishes you is being valuable.

You’re more than available. You're useful. You’re a professional of value.

5. Bundle and Phase Your Value

Now is a superb time to repackage how you deliver your work.

Can you offer the first phase at a fixed price to get a client started? Can you pair a lower-effort product (like a tool or template) with a short-term engagement?

You’re not shrinking your value with such actions. You’re structuring it to meet people where they are.

This approach isn't just strategic. It’s authentically generous. Even if it means changing how you deliver it, you're making it easier for clients to access your expertise when they need it most.

6. Introduce a “Good–Better–Best” Tiered Pricing Model

It would be ideal, of course, if you have already implemented such a service and pricing structure. The good news is that there's always time to make changes, especially when the future appears uncertain.

When money feels tight, binary thinking among your clients takes over: “Should I hire them or not?”

But a three-tier option reframes the question: “Which level of support fits best right now?”

• Good = A starter package to stay engaged

• Better = Your core offer

• Best = Premium, high-touch, or high-speed

Psychologists call this the Goldilocks Effect: when given three options, people tend to avoid the extremes and choose the middle option that feels "just right." This psychological principle is well-documented in pricing strategy.

Most clients don't actually want the cheapest option. They want to feel they're making a smart choice.

Implementation Note: Making These Changes Work

When introducing these options to existing clients:

• Start with your most trusted relationships first—test your messaging

• Frame changes as adding flexibility, not reducing value

• Use specific numbers: "We can start with a 4-week sprint to address your most pressing issue."

• Create clear boundaries: "Office hours are Tuesday 2-4pm ET for current and past clients."

Your goal is not to discount. Your objective is to restructure and recast your value in ways that keep you in the conversation.

A Word About Hourly Pricing

You might be tempted to retreat to hourly pricing.

It might feel safe in this environment. Just charge for a few hours and keep something coming in, right?

That perceived safety comes with significant drawbacks:

• Places all risk on your client

• Creates uncertainty about final costs

• Disconnects your value from results

• Puts your interests against your client's

• Traps you back on the hamster wheel

If you haven’t already, now is actually the perfect time to shift to value-based pricing, provided you frame it properly.

In a time of budget pressure, clients want clarity, control, and confidence.

A well-scoped engagement with value-based pricing that delivers defined results isn't a candidate for budget cutting. Instead, it provides exactly the bottom-line certainty clients need right now.

Remember this: when budgets tighten and others pull back, genuine generosity becomes your most powerful differentiator.

Consumer psychology reveals an important truth: people prioritize based on perceived importance, not price. That's why a business might pause broad marketing spend but protect their investment in customer retention programs. They're deciding which expenditure delivers more measurable value to their business.

Your objective isn't to be their lowest expense or to compete on price. 

Your goal is to be their most important investment.

Final Thought

As the beauty industry shows us, even loyal clients will make tough choices when budgets tighten. One Brooklyn aesthetician with 15 years of experience saw longtime clients simply disappear. Here's the key difference: while some practices are struggling, others offering flexible options to high-end clients report being "busy all the time."

These strategies work in any business climate. They strengthen relationships and differentiate your services whether markets are up or down.

By making it easy for clients to say yes, to stay connected, and to get help at the right level, you don't just protect your practice. You enhance it. You evolve with your clients' changing perception of value.

You stay in the conversation.

You're not just another vendor who has to mend broken relationships.

You're the partner who stayed valuable when it mattered most.

Image Credit: Guilherme Petri on Unsplash

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Are you frustrated by your pricing? Need help articulating your value? Do you need a better way to identify and close your best-fit clients? Do you want to restore the joy you used to have for your business? I may be able to help you.

I’m John Ray, a business consultant and coach, author, and podcaster. I advise solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their two most frustrating problems: pricing and business development. I’m passionate about how changes in mindset, positioning, and pricing change the trajectory of a business and the lifestyle choices of its owners. My clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners. Click here to learn more or contact me directly.

I’m the author of the national bestseller, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices. The book covers topics like value and adopting a mindset of value, pricing your services more effectively, proposals, and essential elements of growing your business. The book is available at all major physical and online book retailers.