The website retainer trap (and how to escape It)

Most website maintenance contracts sound fair... until you actually have to use them

Business owner: “How much do you charge monthly for website development, maintenance and support?”

Web agency: “For a business of your size, we charge £500/month”

Business owner: “Great, sounds good, I’m in”

Fast forward 13 months ...

Business owner: “In the past year we’ve spent £6,000 with you, but only had monthly updates, plus, I think, five minor changes including a banner, that seems a bit steep”

Web agency: “Yes, but our contract is a £500/month retainer, it’s not our fault you didn’t use it. We can reassess your use next year when the contract is ready for renewal.”

Fast forward 10 months ...

Business owner: “Our maintenance contract is due for renewal next month, can we drop down to your £200/month package please?”

Web agency: “Of course, that will start next month”

6 months later ...

Business owner: “We urgently need some changes including a new banner, revised cookie policy, careers section with CV upload, and a new page for our new product range. Plus we are dropping in search engines, so need a strategy to sort this please. And can you please train our new staff member how to use the back end?”

Web agency: “Absolutely. Unfortunately you’ve already used your allotted hours this month, so we’ll be in touch on the 2nd and prioritise what we can do month by month. Enjoy your summer!”

How is that fair?

It’s not! The business owner can’t win either way. Do they pay over the odds for a monthly retainer that they do not use, or are they limited in what they can do?

OKay, there can be a roll over of unused time for a couple of months, but our experience shows that this gets very messy and confusing very quickly.

Our clients do not usually have a steady and consistent stream of work; it stops and starts, it’s periodic, it’s seasonal. Sometimes nothing happens for months, then suddenly they need ten different things at once.

Also, think of the web agency. We regularly get asked, by (potential) clients that we do not know, how much maintenance, support and changes will be. Hang on, we’ll just rub our crystal ball and find out... We need to be careful that they don’t estimate occasional use, we quote as such, and then find out that they want near constant updates.

So how do you solve this dilemma?

I’m glad you asked.

Instead of buying a monthly contract, our clients simply buy a bank of development time in advance. Usually these are in day or week long blocks, with the weekly blocks having cheaper hourly rate.

If time is used it is taken from the block, it is not used it isn’t.

The client can top up with a regular monthly amount, can top up ad-hoc, or can do a combination of both. They can top up seasonally, or when they have a financial budget to use up. It is in their control.

The client can see their balance at any time, and we’ll warn them when it’s getting low.

Time that is purchased can be allocated for certain departments or tasks, or can be put into a single pool for simplicity.

So, why pay in advance?

The client will not get an unexpected bill and can budget a set monthly amount. It’s a great hybrid between the restrictive but predictable retainer model, and the flexibility of paying hourly.

Because the client has already paid, they are not locked into a contract and are not tied in. They can increase, decrease, pause or stop their budgets, or can walk away from us entirely. They can use us regularly, or only for specific projects and emergencies.

It also works out well for clients who either don’t want to commit to an agency, or are unsure what their monthly requirements are. Here is the chance to not only trial Webbed Feet, but also to experiment with budgets until you find out what works for your business.

The client is in full control, and only pays for work that is completed.

The time can be used for virtually anything. Web development, web design, consultancy, audits, maintenance and updates, training. We do draw the line, we’re probably not going to water your grass or wash your car, but never say “never”.

Are you not harming your residual income?

Jeeeeez, you sound like a business coach! Yes, probably, but we believe in doing things fairly and openly, and this seems like the correct way of doing things.

We also find that clients usually have a set budget to work to, rather than a set list of changes. Therefore the work comes in regardless of our billing model, and if we work faster and get more done, it makes the clients happier, the work more effective, and there’s an increased likelihood of an increased budget the following year.

It is surprisingly beneficial for us to work quickly and not to tie clients into unfair models.

We are Webbed Feet, we do things differently better