Standards & Structure
Chris Out
Project work is the most common way to run an agency. It's also the most exhausting.
You finish something and the next month you start selling all over again. You don't know what's coming in. Your team is fully booked now, and in three months there's a gap. Your cash flow goes up and down.
Look, the problem with project work isn't that it produces bad margins. The problem is that it gives you no foundation. Every month you start from zero. Every month you have to sell. Every month you have to hope it works out.
And then there's the scope. A project has a beginning and an end, but clients see that differently. They send one more request, ask for one more adjustment, want something extra after all. You say yes because you want to protect the relationship. And before you know it, you're delivering 30 percent more than you invoiced.
That's what we call scope creep. And it isn't the client's fault. It's usually a structural problem. If you don't make clear what's included and what falls outside the scope, the engagement will naturally start to shift. A retainer solves that. Not because it's magic, but because it forces clarity: this is what I do every month, for this amount, and this falls outside the scope.
The real costs of project work are also harder to see. The hours you spend on proposals that go nowhere. The weeks without work between two projects. The energy you put into warming up clients who never buy. None of that appears on an invoice, but it still costs you something. A retainer model removes a large part of those hidden costs.
I built an agency from 10 to 85 people. At my lowest point, I had retainers worth 300 euros per month. That isn't a typo. Three hundred euros. For clients who asked for more than I could deliver and who I continued serving because the contract was already there.
Those 300-euro retainers are gone. Not because I fired the clients, but because I raised the standard. Your retainer shows the standard you set for scope, results and margin. A retainer needs to give you enough room to do the work properly, pay your team and keep a margin. If it doesn't, the scope, the price or both are wrong. This is the R in the SHARP framework: Raise Your Structure.
A good retainer makes three things clear.
What you deliver each month, specifically and within clear boundaries. Not 'strategic advice and execution,' but how many hours, which activities and what result. The more specific you are, the less discussion you'll have later.
What falls outside the scope. Write down what isn't included. This feels uncomfortable because you're afraid of putting clients off. But a client who knows what they're getting is a client who can say yes without being disappointed later. A lack of clarity will always cost you more later than clarity costs you now.
A clear renewal structure. No automatic renewal without a conversation. Every year or every six months, you create a moment to review the relationship, the scope and the price. That isn't a commercial conversation. That's simply professional work.
Take your current client list. Which three clients have you worked with for more than a year? Which three have recurring monthly work, even though you currently invoice it as separate projects?
Those three are your first retainer candidates. No big pitch. No new contract. Just a conversation: 'We've been working together for X months now. I want to structure that differently. Can I send you a proposal?'
Yes or no. Both are good. Because a client who says no to a retainer gives you information too.
For more on how to set the right price: pricing your services.
Want to know where your offer and pricing stand now and where the leverage is? That's what we map out in the Standards Assessment.
What Is a Retainer Model for an Agency?
A fixed monthly agreement with a client: a clearly defined scope for a fixed amount. What you deliver is specified, including what falls outside the scope. It creates predictable cash flow, reduces sales pressure and forces clarity around the engagement. It's the opposite of project work, where you start from zero again every month.
How Do You Convert Project Clients to a Retainer?
Start with clients where recurring monthly work has already existed for more than a year. Suggest a conversation without framing it as a major pitch: 'I want to structure our engagement differently. Can I send you a proposal?' Make the proposal concrete: what do you deliver every month, what falls outside the scope and for what amount? A client who says they prefer to continue working on a project basis gives you valuable information too.
What Is a Good Retainer Price for an Agency?
That depends on what you deliver and who you deliver it to. A retainer needs to give you enough room to do the work properly, pay your team and keep a margin. If it doesn't, the scope, the price or both are wrong.
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