Captain’s log, stardate 20210121
Fellow list member Lucas Fernandes wrote in with a follow-up regarding my recent message about monthly advisory retainers (shared with permission):
Hi Jonathan.
I have a question.
How can I figure out when it’s a good idea to offer that kind of service? And how should I present it to the client?
Thanks!
Thanks for the question, Lucas :-)
Let’s break it down:
Assuming that 1. you want to make more money in less time, and 2. you want to stick with a service-based business model†, it’s ALWAYS a good idea to have an advisory retainer offering available.
The real question is, “How do I find clients who are happy to pay for ongoing access to my expertise?”
And the answer is:
Ideally, advisory retainers would be the ONLY thing you offered. That being the case, you would offer it as soon as you met with a prospect who you believed would be a good fit.
You should present your advisory retainer to qualified prospects in a clear and concise way. Probably just one page that articulated the value proposition, set the expectations, and presented the price.
Here’s an example of the one I used when I was doing mobile consulting:
JONATHAN’S ADVISORY RETAINER SALES PAGE »
HTH!
Yours,
—J
† Diversification into non-service offerings is another approach to growing your profitability.