On April 1st 2019, MCG Studios, a premier Web Design, Internet Marketing and Managed IT Service...

An Advisory Retainer is a type of ‘pay for access’ consulting retainer, where there are no specific deliverables, as is the case with ‘pay for work’ consulting retainers, you’re paying to be able to access the consultants knowledge, experience, expertise, tools and network.
An Advisory Retainer is best used when you have a longer term on-going project that you’ll need a consultant for, and after you’ve already completed a successful project with that consultant, you’ve both enjoyed working together and the project was a success.
During the course of a project, you will have decided if the consultants knowledge and expertise is up to part. You’ll know how they work and how they communicate and how they meet deadlines. You’ll know if they augment your team and its tools and knowledge or if there is large overlap. Finally, you’ll know if they put you on a path a success or not so much. It’s important to flesh out these details before committing to an Advisory Retainer consulting relationship.
An Advisory Retainer is special because it provides you with on-going value, as soon as you need it. Large, dynamic projects such as web design or marketing tend to have many stakeholders involved, many ideas and options to consider, and a lack of subject matter experts within the company as it relates to web design and marketing. Having on-demand access to a 3rd party consultant that has deep knowledge of their industry to supplement your team provides huge dividends on the back end of a project when it is to be executed.
An Advisory Retainer relationship offers many benefits in exchange for a low monthly fee, usually between $1000/mo and $3000/mo depending several factors, such as the level of service and accessibilty you need, for example, unlimited direct access within 15 minutes would come with a higher premium than having access within an 8 hour timeframe with a maximum of 8 hours of time per month. Another factor is the level of expertise the consultant can offer. This isn’t as one dimensional as it sounds. A more experienced consultant can offer years of hands on experience, coupled with a massive network they’ve nurtured over those years, not to mention the array of tools at their and their networks disposal.
Our starting rate for Advisory Retainer consulting is $1250/mo and provides you with incredible value and benefits.
The benefits of having a consultant on Advisory Retainer are many, depending on your project you would realize different benefits. Some of the most popular benefits our clients of have seen are:
The opposite of a pay for access retainer is a Pay for Work Retainer. This is what most people think about when they think about retainers. The pay for work retainer model typically has specific deliverables that fall within its scope. For instance, you may need graphics created for your website on a regular basis, and you would have a graphic designer on retainer to create, crop and edit graphics on a recurring basis. The graphics are a deliverable that the designer is working on and completeing FOR YOU, as opposed to guiding or teaching you which graphics, or colors or placement would be better and why.
In one case you’re literally paying for work to be done, in the other, you’re paying for the overarching depth and knowledge and expertise that complex projects and internal teams need to do their best work.
Access Retainers are billed upfront, with a monthly fee, and come with a service level agreement such as $1250/mo for access to as much as 10 hours of support per month. The service level agreement will detail the amount of virtual/phone/text/email time vs on-site time/travel/per diem, etc. Travel time is usually included for local clients and excluded for out of state or out of country clients.?
The important thing is to thoroughly review the service level agreement and request any changes you may need to meet your level of service needs. Often times, compromises are made that change the level of service without negatively affecting the price, such as getting 10 hours of service instead of 8 in exchange for a longer response time, like four hours instead of one.?
Do yourself a solid a reach out to us, we can help. If you’re serious about implementing a high value, high profit web project for your oganization, you’ll want someone in your corner that can capture essence of the project from planning to profit. Let us know when you’re ready – cheers.
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