A concrete framework for pricing retainers, project add-ons, and expansion — with simple formulas you can apply to your own accounts.
Most agency pricing is guesswork dressed up as strategy. Here's a framework you can actually run the numbers on.
Start with capacity, not price
How many hours can your team realistically put into this account in a month? That's your ceiling. Everything else is math.
Retainer = capacity × loaded rate × utilization target
- Capacity: 60 hours/month.
- Loaded rate: your fully loaded senior rate ($150/h) — salary, overhead and tools included.
- Utilization target: 75%.
- Retainer floor: 60 × 150 × 0.75 = $6,750/month.
Below that floor, the account costs you money. Above it is where your margin lives.
Define the scope in outcomes and hours
Write the retainer as a list of recurring deliverables plus an hour budget. Clients understand outcomes; your team needs hours to plan capacity. Agree up front what happens when the hours run out.
Project add-ons should carry at least 40% margin
Retainers are steady; projects are spiky. Price projects to stand alone, not to be subsidized by the retainer.
Track utilization per account
Log time against each retainer every week. An account that consistently runs over budget is either underpriced or out of scope — both are conversations to have early.
Expansion is a scheduled conversation, not a hope
Every quarter, review scope with the client. Show the utilization and the results. Renegotiate up, or agree to shrink the scope. Silence kills margin.
Put it in your CRM
Treat renewals and expansions as deals in their own pipeline, with dates and owners. That way the quarterly review actually happens.
Try it on your own pipeline
Book a 20-minute walkthrough with our team.
