Latest / Freelance Careers with Fexingo: Independent Work, Consulting, and Self-Employment / Minimum Engagements Raised This Consultant’s Rates 40 Percent
Transcript
- Lucas: A few weeks ago I talked with a brand strategy consultant named Sarah Martin. She had a problem: clients loved her work but only hired her for one-off projects. She wanted to raise her rates but felt she couldn't because the projects were too short to demonstrate real impact. Luna: So what did she do? Drop hourly billing? Lucas: Sort of. She did something more counterintuitive. She stopped offering single projects altogether and started requiring a three-month minimum engagement. The result? Her rates went up by forty percent within six months. Luna: Wait, she just stopped selling the thing clients wanted most? How did she not lose all her business? Lucas: That's exactly the reaction I had. And if you're finding this conversation useful, I'll mention that this show stays ad-free thanks to listeners who support it. If today gave you one concrete idea, you can say thanks at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, no ads, no sponsors — just us sharing what we learn from people like Sarah. Lucas: Back to Sarah's story. Her first question from every client was, ‘What if it doesn’t work out?’ So she built in an out clause after the first month. If the client wasn’t seeing results, they could cancel with two weeks’ notice. Only one client ever took that option. Luna: So the minimum engagement wasn’t actually rigid. It was more of a psychological commitment. Lucas: Exactly. She found that when clients agreed to three months, they treated the engagement differently. They scheduled regular check-ins, they implemented her recommendations faster, and they started to see the sort of brand lift that never happened in a two-week project. That proof of impact justified the higher fee. Luna: Walk me through the numbers. What was she charging before and after? Lucas: Before, she billed $200 an hour and a typical project ran 40 hours — so about $8,000 total. After the change, she offered a three-month retainer at $5,000 a month, so $15,000 for the engagement. That’s nearly double the total fee, and her effective hourly rate actually stayed the same because she ended up working fewer hours per month as the retainer stabilized. Luna: So she earned more with less hustle. That’s the dream. Lucas: Right. But the key was how she communicated it. She didn’t just send an email saying ‘new pricing effective immediately.’ Instead, she had one-on-one conversations with her existing clients. She told them: ‘I’ve realized I deliver my best work when I’m embedded with a team for a few months. To give you that level of depth, I’m moving to a retainer model.’ Luna: Did any of her regular clients push back? Lucas: A few. One client said they only had budget for a single project. Sarah offered to break the retainer into two phases: a one-month paid discovery, then a two-month execution. That client signed on for both phases separately, which still ended up costing them more than the old rate. Luna: Creative negotiating. So she met them where they were but still held the line on minimum commitment. Lucas: Precisely. And the clients who did sign for three months saw better results. One reported a 35 percent increase in organic social engagement after two months. Another saw a 20 percent increase in website conversions. Sarah used those case studies to win even bigger retainers later. Luna: So the minimum engagement became a self-fulfilling prophecy of value. Lucas: That’s a great way to put it. She told me that before the change, she was constantly chasing new projects — spending 20 percent of her time on sales. With the retainer model, she only needed to land three clients per quarter to hit her revenue target. That freed up time for deeper work and personal development. Luna: I can see how that would reduce burnout. A lot of freelancers spend more time selling than working. Lucas: And here’s the interesting part for 2026. With more companies cautious about making big commitments, Sarah’s minimum engagement actually signaled confidence. Clients thought, ‘If she’s willing to commit three months, she must be sure she can deliver.’ It became a trust signal, not a barrier. Luna: That’s a mindset shift. Instead of thinking ‘the minimum is a risk for me’, the client thinks ‘the minimum is a risk for her, so she must be good.’ Lucas: Exactly. And she also introduced a small discount for clients who paid the full retainer upfront — 5 percent off the total. That improved her cash flow and reduced the number of invoices she had to chase. Luna: Nice. So the minimum engagement wasn’t just about raising rates; it was about redesigning her entire business model. Lucas: That’s the takeaway. If you want to raise rates, don’t just change the number on your proposal. Change the structure of the relationship. Longer commitments let you demonstrate more value, and that’s what justifies a higher price. Sarah’s case is a perfect example of that principle in action. Luna: Got any advice for someone listening who wants to try this but is nervous? Lucas: Start with your best client. Have a honest conversation about the impact you’ve made and propose a three-month pilot. If they say no, you can always revert to project work for them, but you’ll have planted the seed. Sarah’s first retainer client was actually one she’d been working with for a year, so the trust was already there. Luna: That makes sense. Test it with a safe bet before rolling it out to everyone. Lucas: Exactly. And if the pilot works, you have a case study to show other prospects. That’s what Sarah did. Within a year, she had five retainer clients and a waiting list. Her income went up forty percent, but her hours went down. That’s the kind of trade-off most freelancers would be happy to make. Luna: I think the key is the out clause. That’s what made it palatable for skeptical clients. Lucas: Right. The minimum engagement without an escape hatch would feel like a trap. But with a one-month opt-out, it becomes a commitment with a safety net. And as we said, almost nobody uses it because by the end of month one, the client is already seeing value. Luna: So if you’re a freelancer listening and you’ve been thinking about raising rates, consider not just raising the number but changing the container. A longer engagement can be a win-win. Lucas: Exactly. Thanks for being here, Luna. And thanks to all our listeners. We’ll be back next week with another real-world pricing strategy.