To ask for a retainer, start with a number you can defend: take what the client has paid you over the last three months, find the hours behind it, and offer a monthly package slightly below what they'd pay hourly in return for a guaranteed block of your time. Then pitch it at a moment when they just got value, in one short message, with the terms in a single paragraph. Below are the sizing method, three scripts (a client who keeps buying hours, a new client at the quote stage, and "that costs too much"), and the terms paragraph.

This is for consultants, agencies, bookkeepers and other people who sell their time and want steady monthly income instead of a fresh sale every month.

What a retainer is, and what it is not

A retainer is a fixed monthly fee for a defined amount of work or availability. It is not a discount for nothing, and it is not an open-ended promise. The client gets priority and predictability. You get income you can plan around. If you can't say what the client receives each month, you don't have a retainer yet; you have a hope.

Size it from your last three months

Don't pick a number that feels right. Use the work the client has already bought.

  1. Pull the last three invoices to this client and list the hours billed each month.
  2. Average them. Example: Natalia, a marketing consultant, billed one client 14, 9 and 16 hours at $120 an hour: $1,680, $1,080 and $1,920. Average: 13 hours, $1,560 a month.
  3. Decide what you're committing: a block of hours, a set of deliverables, or both. Natalia commits to 12 hours a month plus a 30-minute call each Monday.
  4. Price the block. Twelve hours at $120 is $1,440. A retainer price at about 5 to 10 percent under the hourly equivalent is a fair trade for a guaranteed commitment on both sides: $1,350 a month.
  5. Check your own side: $1,350 against the $1,560 average is $210 less in a typical month, but it lifts the 9-hour month ($1,080) up to $1,350 and saves the time you spend quoting and invoicing each piece. If the client's work is spiky, add a cap or an overage rate.

Compare this approach with a flat project fee in hourly rate versus flat fee, and with a results-based model in pay per lead versus retainer.

Situation 1: a client who keeps buying hours

This is the easiest case. The client already uses you every month. Pitch after a delivery that went well, not weeks after.

Hi Marcus, glad the new landing page is already bringing calls. Over the last three months you've used me for 14, 9 and 16 hours. Rather than invoicing each piece separately, I'd like to offer a monthly block: 12 hours plus a Monday check-in call, $1,350 a month. You'd get first call on my calendar and no more one-off quotes. Want me to send a one-page summary?

It uses his real numbers, names the benefit (priority and fewer quotes) and asks for a one-page summary, not a yes today. Variation: if he's price-sensitive, offer 8 hours at $900 and let him add hours at $120.

Situation 2: a new client at the quote stage

Here the client hasn't seen your work, so don't ask them to commit for a year. Put the retainer next to the project and let them compare.

Thanks for the details. There are two ways to do this. Option A is a one-time project at $2,400 for the setup. Option B is a three-month retainer at $1,100 a month, which covers the setup in month one and the ongoing work after. Either is fine. Most people with this kind of ongoing need pick B, because month two and three are already booked and priced.

Careful with the last line: only say what most clients choose if it is true for yours. Variation: offer a one-month trial retainer with a 30-day exit.

Situation 3: "that costs too much"

Treat this as a question about scope, not a request for a discount. Don't cut the price; cut the work, or move the payment.

Understood. I'd rather not shrink the quality of the work. Two ways to bring the number down: cut the block to 8 hours at $900 and drop the weekly call, or keep the 12 hours but start with a 3-month term at $1,350 and review it. Which of those is closer to what you can plan on?

If they still say no, go back to hourly with no hard feelings. For more on this, see how to deal with price objections.

The one-paragraph terms

After the client says yes, send these terms in a single paragraph, in an email or the top of an agreement:

Retainer: $1,350 a month, billed on the 1st, due within 7 days. It covers up to 12 hours of work and a Monday call. Unused hours do not roll over [or: roll over for one month]. Extra hours are billed at $120. Either of us can end the retainer with 30 days' written notice. The first term is three months.

Decide rollover before you're asked. "Use it or lose it" keeps your calendar predictable; one month of rollover feels fairer to the client. Pair this with a full service agreement if the work is larger.

Reviewing it every quarter

Every three months compare hours actually used against the block. If the client used 15 hours when the block is 12, raise the block. If they used 6, reduce the fee or move the work onto something more useful, before they do it for you by cancelling. Check your effective rate: $1,350 for 15 hours is $90 an hour, below your hourly price. See how to price your services and how much to charge for consulting. If you bill a bookkeeping practice, bookkeeping packages follows the same method.

A retainer is easier to sell to someone who already knows you. Finding the next ten of those is a separate job. Rocketship finds the buyers, emails them from your own Gmail, follows up, and books the meeting on its own. Plans that get you customers start at $24.99 a month (Launch), and both Launch and Frontier start with a 7-day free trial, card required.