Boutique agency, Singapore, about fourteen months ago. My pricing had drifted — every retainer built from scratch, priced off how much I liked the client. I did two things at once, which was the mistake. Moved the floor to $3,200/month (SGD) and stopped quoting scoped one-offs, retainers only. Two clients left immediately, one I was relieved about and one I wasn't. The retained base got smaller for four months and my conversion on proposals actually rose — I think because I sounded less like I was negotiating with myself. I can't separate the floor from the format though. Doing it again I'd move the floor first and hold format still.
Raised my retainer floor to $3.2k and lost three clients I wanted
Case study
Author-reported results.
- Starting situation
- Copywriter running sponsorship and ads work for boutique agency clients out of Singapore, established solo, twelve to fourteen agency retainers built ad hoc with no standing price.
- What changed
- Raised the monthly retainer floor to SGD 3,200 and switched to retainers only, no scoped one-off projects.
- Result
- Two clients left inside the first month, one expected and one not. Retained revenue dipped for roughly four months before recovering. Proposal conversion rose over the same period.
- Limitations
- Both changes landed in the same quarter, so I genuinely cannot say which one drove the conversion. Also a small sample — fourteen clients is not evidence, it is a fortnight of nerve.
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