Client who microwed every invoice taught me to set a fixed retainer

Last spring I had a client in Akron who would email me about every line item, asking why a 15-minute phone check-in took 20 minutes to bill. She once disputed a $12 charge for file conversion. After three rounds of back and forth over a $40 invoice, I switched her to a flat monthly retainer with a cap on included calls. She stopped haggling entirely. Has anyone else found that fixed pricing kills the nickel-and-diming?

2 comments

2 Comments

sethm5818d ago

Well, I get the appeal, but I think you traded one headache for another. A flat retainer just hides the real costs, so you end up eating the extra time when she goes over the cap, and she still thinks she's getting a deal. You fixed the arguing, sure, but you probably left money on the table more than that $40 ever cost you.

fionamurphy18d ago

The last flat retainer I did for a client, we agreed on five hours a month and it took me ELEVEN the first week just to untangle her bookkeeping. I learned real quick you gotta put a hard cap in writing with a rate for anything over, and you also gotta check in every couple weeks to see if the scope is drifting. That saved my bacon more than once. So yeah, you're right that you can leave money on the table, but a good retainer with a clear overage clause beats nickel-and-diming over every email any day. The peace of mind is worth the occasional missed dollar.