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23d • Business & Strategy 🧠
Maintenance Retainers - The Revenue That Compounds 🔥
Setup fees paid my rent. Maintenance retainers built my business.
Month 12: 8 active maintenance clients = $1,920 MRR. Every month. While I sleep.
WHY MAINTENANCE MATTERS
One-time projects = revenue rollercoaster
Maintenance retainers = predictable income
It compounds:
Month 1: 1 client × $200 = $200 MRR
Month 4: 3 clients × $220 avg = $660 MRR
Month 8: 6 clients × $240 avg = $1,440 MRR
Month 12: 8 clients × $240 avg = $1,920 MRR
That's $23,040 annually from ongoing value delivery.
WHAT MAINTENANCE INCLUDES
WEEKLY MONITORING:
- Check workflow health
- Review error logs
- Verify processing volumes
- Confirm all integrations working
FIXES WHEN NEEDED:
- Workflow breaks
- Integration issues
- Format changes
- API updates
QUARTERLY OPTIMIZATION:
- Review efficiency
- Identify improvements
- Add requested features
- Update field mappings
PROACTIVE ALERTS:
- PDF Vector credit usage monitoring
- Processing volume changes
- Error rate increases
- Integration health checks
HOW TO PRICE MAINTENANCE
Rule of thumb: 15-20% of setup fee, monthly
$1,200 setup → $200/month
$1,800 setup → $300/month
$2,400 setup → $400/month
Include tool costs (PDF Vector API credits, Make.com operations) in maintenance fee.
THE VALUE PITCH
"Setup gets automation running. Maintenance keeps it optimized. As your business grows and changes, we'll update the automation to match."
Not "in case it breaks" (sounds reactive)
But "ongoing optimization" (sounds proactive)
CONTRACT STRUCTURE
Start with month-to-month (builds trust)
Offer 10% discount for annual prepay (after 3 months)
Client can cancel with 30 days notice
Reality: When automation is saving them hours monthly, they don't cancel.
MY RETENTION NUMBERS
Average client lifetime: 11 months
Longest client: 18 months (still active)
Churn rate: About 15% annually
Reason for leaving: Business closed or sold
HOW TO ACTUALLY DELIVER MAINTENANCE
Set calendar reminders for weekly checks (takes 10 minutes per client)
Use monitoring dashboards (one view for all clients)
Document everything in Notion
Quarterly optimization reviews (scheduled 30-min calls)
Month 1-2: Monitoring takes effort
Month 3+: Most workflows run perfectly, rare issues
THE COMPOUNDING EFFECT
Maintenance isn't just recurring revenue. It's:
- Ongoing relationship (easier to upsell)
- Referral source (happy clients refer)
- Testimonials (long-term success stories)
- Learning (see edge cases across clients)
Setup fees pay bills TODAY. Maintenance builds WEALTH over time.
Are you charging maintenance retainers?
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Maintenance Retainers - The Revenue That Compounds 🔥
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