Three years at the same fee
The owner looks at the client list and realises one of the agency's oldest retainers has not changed its fee since it was signed. Salaries have gone up since then. So have software costs. The contract allowed an annual review, and each year the date went by during a busy month. Raising it now feels like a big jump, which makes it even harder to raise.
Across the client list, several retainers are in the same position. Nobody decided not to review them. There was simply no moment when anyone was reminded to.
Why reviews do not happen
- Contract anniversaries and review clauses are in signed PDFs nobody rereads.
- Notice periods for a fee change mean the conversation has to start well before the anniversary.
- Account managers avoid fee conversations with clients they like.
- There is no ready evidence of what the client has received over the year, so the conversation feels like a request rather than a review.
- The owner has the commercial view but not the calendar, and account managers have the calendar but not the commercial view.
An annual review clause that nobody is reminded about is the same as not having one.
What frozen fees cost
Margin erodes quietly on the longest-standing clients, often the ones that feel most secure. When a review finally happens, the increase is larger and harder to accept. Account teams on flat-fee accounts are stretched, because the work has grown and the fee has not. Good clients end up subsidised by newer ones.
The review calendar we build
- Contract dates, review clauses and notice periods are read from your signed contracts, with an extraction step checked by a person, and held per client.
- The calendar shows each retainer's next review date and the latest date to start the conversation, given its notice period.
- Well ahead of that date, the account director and account manager get a reminder with a review pack attached.
- The review pack pulls the year together: fee history, scope delivered, hours used against the retainer, out-of-scope work done, and results from your reporting.
- The outcome is recorded: new fee and date, scope change, or a decision to hold with a reason.
- Agreed changes flow into billing rules, so the new fee is on the next invoice rather than remembered.
| In the review pack | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Fee history | Shows how long the fee has been unchanged |
| Scope delivered | What the client actually received |
| Hours against retainer | Whether the fee still fits the work |
| Out-of-scope work | Work done that the fee never covered |
| Results summary | The value side of the conversation |
What you charge and how you present a change are commercial decisions for you. The calendar makes sure the moment is not missed and the evidence is ready.
A review season that happens
The account director gets a reminder with the pack for a long-standing client. She sees the fee has been flat since the last review, the hours have grown and there has been regular out-of-scope work. She books a review meeting, presents the year and proposes a change with an adjusted scope. Whatever is agreed goes straight into billing.
Are your retainers overdue a review?
- Some retainer fees have not changed in years.
- Contract review dates pass without anyone noticing.
- Fee conversations start without evidence of what the client received.
- Agreed fee changes have been missed on invoices.
- Your longest clients may be your least profitable.