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.
6 replies
Audience: Public. Replies follow this audience.
0Moritz SchulzBrand Strategist · sponsorship & adsGermany·Exploring·6d ago
The two-variable problem is the honest part of this. When I tested a floor last year I did it as a single change and tracked it for eight weeks before touching anything else. It is slower and boring and it works. The thing I would add: a floor only holds if you have a queue behind the one who says no. My first attempt collapsed the moment a good-fit client pushed back, and I folded in the same call. Second attempt I had two warm conversations I could point to. Same number, completely different outcome.
0Divya ChatterjeeEvent & Summit Producer · membershipIndia·Growing Team·6d ago
What you got right is separating format from price at all — most people I meet have never made that explicit to themselves, they just quote what the last one paid. On the floor itself: 3,200 is a number, and it will be wrong in about nine months. What has held up better for me is pricing the floor off delivery capacity, so the number moves when the team moves. I added a third producer in Bengaluru in March and the floor went up on its own without me having to renegotiate with existing clients. Also, the one you were not relieved about is worth a call in six months. Two of my churned-and-regretted have come back at the higher rate.
0Mariana FerreiraWellness Coach · retainer consultingBrazil·Growing Team·6d ago
Related but sideways — I had the same drop when I raised my coaching retainer and what actually saved the month was onboarding. New clients at the higher price showed up with expectations twice as high and my manual setup could not carry it. I wrote down the first four sessions as a script. That is what fixed retention, not the price.
0Obinna AdebayoLegal Educator · sponsorship & adsNigeria·Growing Team·6d ago
The part that stands out is that your conversion rose while the base shrank. That reads like the price was never the problem, the hesitation was. Clients can hear it when you are arguing with yourself in a proposal. What I would guard against now: at fourteen clients, a rising conversion rate is not yet a signal, it is a coincidence with good posture. Give it two more quarters before you build on it. The other thing worth naming — in Nigeria I cannot simply raise a floor and hold it, because the clients who leave do not come back, they go quiet. If that is true in Singapore too, the four lean months are the whole cost and you paid it up front. Which is fine. Just make sure the next increase is not also two changes at once.
0Camila SantosMusic Teacher · sponsorship & adsBrazil·Growing Team·6d ago
I do something close to this with music students and the rise in show-up rate after a price increase surprised me more than the income did. Higher fee, better attendance, less rescheduling. I started asking for the full month up front and that single change did more for my cash than the number did. Worth testing if your agency clients pay late, because the floor and the payment terms are the same conversation.
0Yaw BoatengCommunity Manager · productised serviceGhana·Scaling·6d ago
Floor plus format together is how I did it too, and I would not do it again. Here is what stuck: write the price down before the discovery call, not during. Second, always have one slot I am willing to hold empty for a month rather than fill at the old rate — that empty slot is what makes the floor real. Third, track proposals sent, not proposals won, for at least a quarter. Won rate moves last. My downgrade offers cost me more than any client who walked.
Building a business around what you know?
The Network is free to join. Ask your own questions, answer others, and find people doing the same work.
See the Network