Forget being the lowest cost provider in your area, just make sure you’re the highest-value provider, Entrepreneur.com contributor Grant Cardone explains in his article “How to Raise Your Prices Without Playing the Blame Game.”

Just because your competitors want to compete on price doesn’t mean you have to or should. Having higher prices is good for your business. It creates greater margins, which, among other things, helps you improve services to your clients. It also allows you to keep up with higher operating costs and to provide better compensation for the employees that make your business more efficient. To succeed without competing on price, you have to understand and utilize your “unique value proposition” – what sets you apart from your competition. You don’t have to be cheaper, if you are better and therefore provide better value for the additional cost.

But, raising prices can definitely be a frightening proposition, as you never know how clients will respond. If you’re scared to raise prices, it’s probably because:

1. You believe your customer buys only on price.
2. You have lost a sense of your value-added proposition.
3. Your team lacks sales skills and closing techniques.

The key to making the transition is to add value at the same time as raising prices. Throw in the little extras and take your service and pampering of clients to the next level. Your additional margin should allow you to do so. It may take some time, but in the long run, your customers will notice and appreciate the difference.

Also, keep in mind that you have two groups of clients, new and old, to consider. Your new customers don’t know you’ve raised prices, thus it should be easy to justify your price to them with your value proposition. Existing customers are the real concern, and of those, a portion will either not notice or not care about a moderate price hike. For those that do notice, don’t apologize – just present your value proposition. Your case shouldn’t be about the new pricing; it should be about your offering and why the premium pricing is justified and worth it.

Click here to read the entire article from Entrepreneur.com.