James Dooley:
Hi it’s James here and today I’m joined with Dan Grant from FatRank. Today’s video is about the benefits for clients who move over to a fixed monthly retainer. Dan, why is it that after working with us for three, six or even twelve months, we try to move clients over to a monthly retainer?

Dan Grant:
Once clients start to see the benefits of our lead generation model and they begin paying each month, patterns appear. I’ve seen clients paying £300 a month, £600 a month, sometimes £1,000 or £2,000 depending on the industry. When those averages become clear, we find ourselves chasing clients each month to confirm what jobs have converted. Some use spreadsheets. It becomes time consuming. When it reaches that level, it’s better for both sides to switch to a fixed monthly retainer. There’s no contract. If they go on a £1,000 retainer, we can revisit it in six months. If they’ve paid too much, we credit them. If they’ve paid too little, we balance it. It gives us more freedom to work on the sites, optimise them and even build new websites for the client long term. Clients on retainers usually perform the best.

James Dooley:
The biggest thing is consistency. A fixed rate like £1,000 a month lets us build a proper strategy. When payments vary between £500, £2,000, £1,200, £800, £1,400, it’s impossible to plan. With a fixed monthly amount, we still review the numbers every three, six or twelve months. If they should have paid £1,500 instead of £1,000, we settle that in month thirteen. If they overpaid and should have paid £9,000 but paid £12,000, we credit them or refund the difference. The guaranteed return on investment never changes. The fixed payment simply gives us stability so we can grow existing sites or build new sites for additional services and locations.

The other big factor is time. Chasing invoices every month is inefficient. Sometimes clients wait on payments from their customers, so payment lands on the 28th and rolls into the following month. For us, that inconsistency becomes a barrier. A fixed monthly retainer gives both sides continuity. Some clients choose to pay slightly more. If the average is £500 but they pay £800, they know growth comes quicker and over twelve months the averages balance out. It accelerates scaling, which benefits them long term. For the first five years of a site, we make nothing. We reinvest everything. We only care about ranking for more keywords, generating more enquiries and giving clients a consistent flow of quality leads.

Dan Grant:
We also never want companies paying money they don’t have. If a client earns £400 one month and £600 the next, a £500 retainer is fair. We would never ask them to pay £1,000 if that isn’t what they’re earning. We aren’t like other agencies. The client must always get a return on investment. But once the averages stabilise, a retainer gives us the platform to expand, grow and generate more enquiries. It also removes pressure from clients. They pay what aligns with profit, not arbitrary fees.

James Dooley:
Exactly. We want every client to get guaranteed return on investment. That’s our USP. We don’t charge upfront for leads. We don’t bill on a pay per lead model. If “Donald Duck” submits a fake lead, they don’t pay. They only pay when they convert jobs into profit. If they’re spending money on PPC, Checkatrade, Yell, magazines, billboards or anything else that doesn’t deliver ROI, moving that budget to us gives them a guaranteed return. If they can afford it, and can reallocate budget, we can scale much faster. The retainer sits as part of the credit system. It isn’t an extra charge.

For anyone who has received an email asking them to move to a monthly retainer, this is why. It saves you time. It saves us time. It lets us build out a long term strategy and gives you a more consistent flow of quality enquiries. When you make more profit, we indirectly make more profit because we earn a percentage of your winnings.