Consulting Retainers
Consulting retainers are like gravy for a project well done for consultants. You know you are truly doing a great job for clients when they just want to have access to your knowledge whenever they need it. While retainers can be great, there are downfalls…
Retainers are simply a contract where you are available to a company for consulting if they need it without regard for objectives or projects. These do not normally included regularly scheduled visits or meetings.
These can hamper your consulting business if these businesses require too much of your time. Some people can severely abuse retainers, which then in the end cost you lots of time and money.
Retainers should be on a quarterly basis, and you should try and request the whole fee up front if possible.
Remember you are only agreeing to be available for consultation, not to necessarily dive in and do a whole project. You are only agreeing to be a troubleshooter for them.
It is a hard line to walk, because you want to do a great job for them, but at the same time you don’t want to be taken advantage of.
One benefit of having short quarterly retainers is that you can walk away from them at any time or renegotiate them in a timely manner.
Retainers are something that are highly sought after by us consultants, but at the same time they can hurt our business if not handled properly.
