Latest / Freelance Careers with Fexingo: Independent Work, Consulting, and Self-Employment / How a Freelancer Raised Rates by Selling Retainer Tiers
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this freelance marketing consultant named Sarah — she worked with B2B SaaS companies, mostly early-stage startups in the Midwest. For years she charged a flat retainer of $4,000 a month for basically anything the client needed. And she was stuck there. Luna: Stuck how — like clients wouldn't pay more, or she didn't think she could ask? Lucas: Both, honestly. She felt like if she raised her rate, clients would just leave. And the work she was doing was all over the map — some clients only needed social media posts and blog editing, others wanted full go to market strategy. But she charged them all the same $4,000. Luna: Right, so the clients getting strategic value were basically getting a bargain, and the ones with basic tasks were subsidizing them. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the core problem Sarah solved. She realized she needed to segment her services into tiers — not just to raise rates, but to align price with actual value delivered. So she created three retainer tiers: Basic, Growth, and Scale. Luna: What went into each one? Lucas: Basic was $3,500 a month — that was for clients who only wanted tactical execution: social media scheduling, blog posts, newsletter drafting. No strategy calls, no deep analysis. Growth was $5,500 — that included strategy plus execution: a monthly planning session, performance review, and they got priority support. Scale was $8,000 — full strategic partnership: weekly calls, a monthly audit, and they had direct access to Sarah for ad-hoc advice. Luna: So she actually lowered the price for the basic tier from her old $4,000 flat rate — that's interesting. Wasn't she worried about losing revenue from clients who downgraded? Lucas: She was, but here's the key: she analyzed her clients first. She looked at how much time each client actually took and what kind of work they asked for. She found that about 60% of her clients were using her mostly for tactical tasks — they rarely asked for strategy. And those clients were actually paying too much for what they used. The other 40% were heavy strategy users. Luna: So she built the tiers around actual usage patterns instead of just guessing. Lucas: Right. And when she presented it to her clients, she didn't frame it as a price increase. She said, 'I've been listening to your needs and I want to offer packages that match how you actually work with me. Some of you want a lighter touch, some of you want deeper partnership. Here are three options.' Luna: That's smart. It's a value conversation, not a price conversation. Lucas: Exactly. And the result: within six months, 70% of her existing clients upgraded to Growth or Scale. Only two clients chose Basic — and both were the ones who had been overpaying. Her monthly revenue went from $24,000 to $46,500. Luna: Wow — nearly doubled. And she didn't lose anyone? Lucas: She lost one client who was scaling back their marketing budget entirely — unrelated to the tiers. So effectively zero churn from the pricing change. And the clients who upgraded felt like they were getting more value, not paying more for the same thing. Luna: So the key lesson here is to segment your clients first — not just by industry or revenue, but by how they actually use your services. Lucas: That's step one. But the structure of the tiers matters a lot too. Sarah told me she deliberately priced the middle tier — Growth at $5,500 — as the one she wanted most clients to pick. It's a classic behavioral economics move: the decoy effect. Luna: Can you explain that for someone who's not a pricing nerd? Lucas: Sure. The decoy effect is when you introduce a third option that makes one of the other two look more attractive. In Sarah's case, the Basic tier at $3,500 seems cheap, but it's stripped down — no strategy, no priority. The Scale tier at $8,000 is the premium option. The Growth tier at $5,500 sits right in the middle, and when you compare it to Basic, you see you get a lot more for just $2,000 more. And compared to Scale, it's $2,500 less but still gets you strategy and priority. So it becomes the 'sweet spot'. Luna: So you want the middle tier to be your anchor — the one that feels like the best value. Lucas: Exactly. And you never lead with the cheapest option in your presentation. Sarah would start by describing the Scale tier — the full partnership — then Growth, then Basic. That way clients anchor on the highest value first, and the middle tier feels like a smart compromise. Luna: That's a great framing technique. So if a freelancer wants to try this, what's the first step — just analyze your clients' time and usage? Lucas: Yeah, start with a time audit. Track every client for a month: what tasks do they request, how much time do you spend, what's the strategic value? Then group them into two or three segments. You might find, like Sarah did, that some clients are overpaying and some are underpaying relative to the value they get. Luna: And then you create the tiers around those segments, with clear boundaries on what's included. Lucas: Right. And the boundaries have to be real — if clients in Basic can still ping you for strategic advice, the tiers don't hold. You have to enforce the scope. Sarah was careful: Basic clients got a monthly content calendar and execution, but no strategy calls. If they wanted strategy, they had to upgrade. Luna: That takes discipline. Especially if you have a long relationship with a client. Lucas: It does. But Sarah said the hardest part wasn't enforcing the boundaries — it was actually the fear before she launched. She was terrified clients would be offended or leave. But because she framed it as giving them more choices, almost everyone appreciated it. Luna: I think that's a really important takeaway. Fear holds a lot of freelancers back from raising rates. Lucas: And one way to overcome that fear is to test it with a small group first. Sarah actually rolled out the tiers to three trusted clients before offering it to everyone. They gave her feedback, and she adjusted the pricing slightly — the Basic tier was originally $3,000 but she raised it to $3,500 after one client said it seemed too cheap and she'd worry about quality. Luna: That's a smart pilot approach. And it also builds confidence when you see real clients respond positively. Lucas: Exactly. And by the way, this idea of testing with a small group — that's something a lot of listeners probably do in their work already. And speaking of things that help listeners move forward in their careers — we should probably mention something here. Luna: Yeah, we should. Look, this podcast is completely ad-free, and it's only possible because of listeners who chip in a few dollars a month. If you've gotten something useful out of an episode — maybe a framework you've actually used — that kind of support genuinely keeps us going. Lucas: It's true. Even small amounts add up. If you want to contribute, you can go to buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure at all — but if this show has helped you think differently about your freelance career, it makes a real difference. Luna: And now back to Sarah's story — because there's one more thing she did that I think is really clever. Lucas: What's that? Luna: She included a monthly audit in the Scale tier — a deep dive into the client's metrics, competitive landscape, and opportunities. That audit became a thing clients loved. And it actually created a natural upgrade path: Basic clients would see the audit summaries she shared in case studies and want that level of insight for themselves. Lucas: That's a great point. The audit wasn't just a deliverable — it was a marketing tool. It demonstrated the value of the higher tier without her having to pitch it directly. Luna: So the lesson there is: make your premium tier visibly different — not just more hours, but a qualitatively different service that clients can see and want. Lucas: Right. And that's what made Sarah's tiers work long-term. Within a year, her active client count actually dropped slightly — she had fewer Basic clients — but her revenue was way up, and she had more time to focus on the strategic work she enjoyed most. Luna: A win-win: better income, better work, better clients. Lucas: Exactly. And that's really the goal of good pricing — it should align what you earn with the value you create, and make your work more fulfilling, not just more profitable. Luna: So if someone listening wants to start building their own tiers tomorrow, what's the one thing they should do? Lucas: Do a time audit for the last 30 days. Categorize every client by the type of work you did — tactical vs. strategic. You'll likely see a pattern. Then draft three tiers based on those patterns, even if they're rough. You don't have to launch them immediately — just having the framework will change how you think about your value. Luna: And don't forget to test it with a couple of trusted clients before rolling it out broadly. Lucas: Absolutely. That's the safety net. And if you do it right, you might end up like Sarah — with higher income, happier clients, and a business that actually works for you.