What digital pen are you using for the whiteboard, and why would a client pay the same fee for maintenance after paying for the initial automation setup?
I use the XP pen for drawing on the whiteboard. Regarding the retainer, charging the same amount for maintenance only doesn’t make sense unless you’re delivering ongoing value. You need to add natural upsells or improvements each month—such as refining the automation, adding features, or providing additional services—to justify the recurring fee. Otherwise, clients will question why they’re paying for maintenance alone.
Charge a monthly retainer because you continuously deliver value. The automation you build keeps producing repeat value for the client, and you act as a strategist and consultant who maintains the system. Systems can break, and handling that month‑to‑month is a big pain point for clients, so they prefer to pay you to ensure everything runs smoothly. By positioning yourself as the person who provides ongoing support, maintenance, and incremental value, a recurring fee is justified.
The high ticket retainer is justified because the automation system works on its own and keeps delivering results—think of a Slack bot that notifies the client when a meeting is booked. Even though you’re not involved day‑to‑day, the client attributes the value to you. To make this clear, pair the autonomous system with light touchpoints like weekly strategy calls, occasional deliverables, or team training, so the client sees ongoing guidance without you trading hours for dollars.
Creator says he documents all systems and makes clear that maintenance is only covered when the client pays a monthly maintenance fee or is on a retainer; otherwise, after a short grace period (e.g., a week), there is no ongoing obligation. He will provide documentation but expects the client to handle fixes themselves or pay for support.
Yes, there is ongoing maintenance, but instead of offering a binary choice (retainer vs. no retainer), give clients three options: 1. Self-Service: Deliver the system along with a video walkthrough and Google Doc guide so they can maintain and adjust it themselves. 2. Maintenance Retainer (e.g., $985/month): Provide a service level agreement (SLA) to fix any broken integrations or microservice failures within 48 hours, plus an emergency support thread. 3. Growth/Peace-of-Mind Retainer (Higher Ticket): Include full maintenance under a faster SLA, plus build two new systems per month, conduct team training, host weekly calls, and act as a fractional CTO. By offering three options, you shift the decision from 'pay vs. don't pay' to choosing a service tier, reducing the drop-off rate. For standard maintenance retainers, cap your actual time at 3 to 4 hours per month. Minor maintenance issues (like retrying failed executions on Make due to temporary third-party API downtime) take only a few minutes, making a $985/month retainer very profitable. If maintenance requires extensive hours, it's usually an architectural flaw in how you designed the input validation or workflow.