My clients are all serviced-based businesses that operate with only a few different pricing models.

Some charge hourly, some have a retainer-only offer, and some have a project-only offer.

Others are a hybrid. In all of my over 600 episodes, I have never done a deep dive on

running a business when you sell high ticket projects to nonprofits or for-profit organizations.

One of my clients recently shared that she could not figure out how to create a retainer

for her business.

My eyes got wide and I said, you sell high-ticket projects and you don't need a retainer

in your business.

In fact, in her particular situation, it would be challenging for her clients with the

type of services she offers

to forge that into a retainer model. She's a non-profit consultant, and her work generally

involves projects that range from $25,000 to $100,000. Yes, for a project. Her business does not lend itself to a monthly retainer model.

She's hired for a specific project and completes that project. Her clients may engage her

for another project immediately or several years later. She's not delivering monthly ongoing services that lend

themselves to retainer pricing. While those project dollar numbers likely sound amazing,

they did to me as well. There are several things that make this type of business more complicated.

Let's get into it.

One of the first is that there is usually a longer sales cycle. When your clients are

organizations with a board of directors or have several stakeholders that need to weigh in on

the decision, the process for choosing

a service provider like you takes more time. This means that it is essential to always be

maintaining your relationship marketing efforts so that you have a continual pipeline of potential

...