I recently wrote an article here on woorkup.com entitled “As a web designer, are you leaving money on the table?”. It created quite a stir across twitter and other social networks. In the article, I communicated that once our firm left the standard hours/project based billing system and moved into a retained system, our revenues rose significantly, our relationships lasted longer, our need to spend more on advertising diminished and our firm became less vulnerable to the recession than other area firms. Towards the end of the article, I offered to hand over our standard retained-fee contract for anyone who might be interested in moving into this business model.
Needless to say, 100’s of designers took me up on the offer. I can say that I am a better man for it. I’ve met so many great designers who are eager to explore this method of client transactions. I’ve met exceptional people who will become tomorrow’s important thought leaders. Throughout all the contract requests, questions, concerns and replies, one theme kept arising regarding the article that I felt needed to be addressed.The overriding theme was:

You’ve told us how it’s good for the designer, but what are the benefits to the client?

So as promised, I am going to break down the client-side benefits into 5 categories:

1. Education
2. Encouragement
3. Time
4. Competitive Advantage
5. More Customers

Let’s break down the first of 5 here.

1. Education

One of the most important duties that any service based business can perform is the education of their clients. For accountants, they have to instruct their clients on the best ways to structure their company so that they pay their fair share of taxes, but not a dollar more.
A travel agent must educate the client on the conditions of the local environment that they will be sending them to. What is the food like? What places should they stay away from? Where are the best restaurants? What sites are there to see?

As a web designer, it’s our duty to educate our clients on the power of the web.

What I’ve learned through the retained process is that the majority of small to medium sized businesses literally have no clue of the power of the web.
They have limited knowledge of the power of social media integration. They are clueless about dynamic vs. static content and they don’t know the difference between a website that acts as a brochure as compared to a website that is an employee that works for them while they sleep at night. Before going retained, most of my clients felt that simply having a website was sufficient.

So being the businessman that I am and wanting to give the client exactly what they wanted, and nothing more, I simply built them a website. That was it.

I was fearful of giving any real advice about the power of the web because I felt that if I turned the client on to new strategies, they would want me to implement those strategies under the “budget constraints” that were initially agreed upon. It’s very hard to include client education in the hourly/project-based model up front. Thus, if I did consult with and educate client, I would lose considerable time and money working for free.
When a designer feels like he/she is working for free, he/she begins to regret the relationship or they are completely taken advantage of by the client if they choose to educate the client without being paid. Because we all have a wealth of information to share, but continually restrain ourselves from sharing that information with the client, for fear of working for free, our clients clearly lose.

2. Encouragement

As a businessman and hopefully a responsible family man, I have this really crazy and unfortunate relationship with a very important professional services provider in my life. This is a person whom I really like and respect. I view his work as critically important to my business and personal needs. There is just one huge problem: I HATE calling him for any reason whatsoever!

Who is this friend/enemy? My attorney!

My attorney has a wealth of valuable information. He keeps my family, my business, and me straight. But truth be known, I should call him more than I do. There are many loose ends that I need to tie up, from a legal standpoint, for both my business and my family. Why do I hate calling him? Because I know that I’m going to get hit with a fat bill.
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve thought to myself, “If only I could send him $500 a month to have his ear, I would jump on it.”
Instead, I find myself becoming the DIY (Do it Yourselfer) legal eagle. I’ll try to write my own contracts. I will go online and file my own legal papers without him viewing them. Essentially, I try to become an attorney, when I have no business being an attorney.
As designers, we are the “attorney” to our client. They value our work. They like us personally. They know they need us… But! They hate calling us because they know they will get a big fat bill!
So what does the bill-weary client do to your precious web design? They tamper, piddle and mess up a good thing. They basically become do-it-yourself web warriors. Or worse yet, they do nothing with their site and they lose valuable opportunities to become a better company. And that is not good for your client, you, or the client’s clients.
As designers, we should be on retainer in order to encourage our clients to pay attention to their online presence. By being on a fixed payment system, the client feels obligated and comfortable calling you when they have needs. This makes them a better company. It gives you more experience and it positions your services as valuable.

3. Time

In my humble opinion, there is nothing more absurd than a website that is left alone for years, months, or even weeks. Gone are the days of “build it and they will come.”
A website should be the hardest working executive on the client’s payroll. It should reach customers that sales people can’t reach. It should act as an ambassador to the company while everyone is away for the weekend.
So what does every hard working executive in any corporation need? They need a personal assistant. They need someone to schedule meetings, a person to make adjustments to strategies, take minutes and communicate to the employees and customers the happenings within the company.

That personal assistant is you, THE WEB DESIGNER.

Your clients simply don’t have the time it takes to maintain a solid web presence. They are busy. They are running their company. They are dealing with internal and external issues that take their eyes off the “web ball.”
As a retained service provider, you are always there to maintain the client’s web initiatives. You are the web’s personal assistant. You see to it that it doesn’t miss a meeting. You see to it that it incorporates the latest plugins. You see to it that it has all the necessary widgets and you see to it that the executive isn’t caught off guard by failing to meet a guideline or deadline. In conclusion, time is money and that money should be your money. So position yourself as a reliable, “always-there” comrade that the client can trust to keep their web presence solid.

4. Competitive Advantage

Based on what I can tell, 70% of the web design community is operating on the billable hour/project business model. That means, 70% of your client’s competitors have paid a one-time fee to have a website built. This is great news for you, the newly retained designer. Why? Because as a retained designer, you can implement all the advantages listed above to help your client beat their competitors. Think about it: If your client’s competitors have ugly, do-it-yourself websites that haven’t changed in months, and your client has fresh, updated web initiatives, your clients become more attractive to their clients. When your client’s clients are evaluating which firm to utilize, and they do their due diligence by researching each firm on the web, they will likely choose the firm that has consistent, relative and up-to-ate activity on their website. They will choose the firm that is embracing technology to its fullest potential.
It has been said that activity breeds success. So a highly active website with lots of moving parts, fresh content and the latest activity will breed success for your client.

That obviously gives your client a huge competitive advantage.

5. More Customers

In the graveyard of “website-broken-dreams” there are millions of lost souls wondering around aimlessly trying to travel to the other side. You know, that “heavenly” place of new business, more revenue and more customers.
Millions of companies have hired web designers, just like you, hoping to find more customers. In the grand scheme of things, web design isn’t so much about a design that “pops” or “reaches out and grabs you” as it is about the client’s desire to get more customers.
Of course in the beginning they’ll never tell you this. They’ll tell you it’s about a new and exciting image. They’ll tell you it’s about updating their old site. They’ll tell you all sorts of things that have nothing to do with new client acquisition.
But let’s be real: They really don’t care if you throw a turd on the screen. If the site helps them sign new business, they will forever be indebted to you, the designer.
I have found that there is literally no way to do this on a billable hour/project based model. For all the reasons listed above, a web initiative is destined to fail in today’s dynamic web environment if the designer and client do not enter into some form of retained agreement.
I have seen one-man shops who sell hair bows sell 3 hair bows a month with a static web presence and I have seen one-man shops who sell triop eggs (look it up) make millions by expanding their web presence.
So it doesn’t matter if the company is big or small or what they sell. If they have a solid web initiative, fueled by a competent web designer (you) they can do amazing things.

In Conclusion:

So now that I’ve laid out the 5 most important areas for the argument of a retained fee structure, let me also address another glaring issue facing designers: FEAR.
Most of you are fearful to ask a small company for $20K a year to manage their website. I have one thing to say about that: Don’t be!
Companies pay more than $20,000 for a part-time receptionist. Surely your web strategy will gain them more business, more revenue and more productivity than any receptionist could ever imagine.
Stop thinking about yourself as just a web designer. Start thinking about yourself as an invaluable part of your client’s growth strategy. Help them grow. Help them stretch their imagination. Help them view the web for the tool that it is.
Be confident. Be proud of your work. Be an expert. Be a valued business partner. Get the money that you are worth. Give them outstanding service. Solve their problems. Don’t be an order-taker. Be a solution provider. Get serious about web design. Make tons of money. Give back to the design community. Chart your own path.

Cheers!

Ryan

For questions you can contact me on Twitter.com/ryankovach