Writing a Monthly Retainer Proposal

Thrilled to be writing this post — I was recently approached by a Fortune 100 client that had hired me to do some Online Reputation Management for them. They indicated that they appreciated the value I had brought to the table and wanted to work with me ongoing.  Fabulous!

My next step is to write a Retainer Proposal and I confess that I don’t have much experience with this.  Over the years I’ve written many business proposals and contracts (my very least favorite part of my job) and some loose retainer proposals — but this one is a more significant milestone in the span of my freelance career and I want to get it right.

I’ve been doing some research to uncover all the good advice on retainer proposals out there.  Here are the best resources I’ve found:

1. Retainers and Other Forms of Payment

Andrew Lam-Po-Tang shared some good thoughts on what a client might expect in terms of added value by retaining a contractor’s services.  He pointed out that many times, because they are pre-paying – they expect some type of discount on your rate.  I hadn’t considered this and in this instance don’t feel it applies.  But it’s good to know for future reference as I’d never thought of a retainer in this way from the client’s perspective.  Although I will say that I’ve always given more than my fair share to a client who pays me a retainer and know they get a good value.

2. Developing a Proposal to Close the Sale

A former About.com guide, Shannon Belew provides good information here on the specific components that belong in a proposal.  While not specific to a Retainer – I still found value in reviewing these to be sure I had all my bases covered.

3. Consulting Retainer Agreements for Ongoing Situational Access

The discussion here interested me as the consulting firm, Dynamic Innovations Squad, was drawing a line between a consulting retainer and having an actual project.  For this firm the two are totally separate fees.  I’m not approaching this project in that way but it’s interesting to me.  For myself, I’m being hired on a retainer for this firm to manage their online reputation.  The work will include all levels from research, consulting, social media, link building, potentially PPC – whatever else it takes to achieve the end result – a positive image in the first page results for their company name.  It’s a challenge to say the least because the company is so large and prevalent that there is constantly new negative press circulating.  I can’t view the job as I have other similar assignments where I was hired to remove a single derogatory review from the first page of search results.  This is an ongoing effort of monitoring SERPS, highlighting positive press and staying on top of the negative.

4. Examples of a Retainer Proposal

Here’s a very helpful example of a monthly retainer proposal.  Exactly what I was hoping to find.

Another example of a marketing retainer proposal.  Really nice approach with the competitive analysis included.  I might incorporate this in the future for an SEO bid, but for this project it isn’t necessary.

Here’s an innovative approach to a retainer proposal.  Interesting that they give tiered options based on hours work and have a 6 month committment.  Personally I’m not planning to put a time limit on my proposal – I’d like to see the work go on for quite a long time and wouldn’t want to purposefully set an end date.  On the same token I’m not wanting to imply that they are even considering using my services for less than 6 months.

6. Discussion – How to Evaluate Agency Proposals

I always appreciate MarketingProfs (twitter: @marketingprofs) – the experts there are fabulous and real thinkers in the industry hang out there so I was pleased to find this conversation.  Although taking place from the angle of hiring a firm – the insight here gave me things to take into consideration while crafting a proposal.

7. The Small Business Start-Up Kit

Excerpt from The Small Business Start-Up Kit by Peri Pakroo – Interesting and solid information on billing options, bidding and creating proposals, retainer arrangements and more.  Looks like a great book!

So those are some of the resources I came up with.  I’m off to write the proposal now and take great comfort in knowing that all of this fuss is simply a formality.  The lead was already a warm one with a terrific referral who has been their PR firm for almost a decade and they have already seen the value of my work!

Still – everything we present represents our business and our professionalism and I want to get it right!  I hope this is helpful to some of you — please feel free to share your own related resources as well!