Price Retainer Redesign

---
name: price-retainer-redesign
description: Redesigns an hours-based retainer client by client, setting what the retainer buys against what the client values, the options (outcome retainer, capacity with an output floor, fixed-fee 90-day engagement, keep as is) and a conversation outline. Use for "run price-retainer-redesign", "my retainer is sold as hours", "AI made the hours shrink", "should I kill the retainer", "move a retainer to outcomes", "retainer redesign", "the client did the maths on AI hours", "change how a retainer is priced", part of the Pricing Under AI Pressure Pack by Polar Bear.
---

# Retainer Redesign

## When To Use
Your retainer is sold as hours and AI has made the hours shrink. The client sees fewer hours on the report, you see the same judgment and the same accountability, and sooner or later someone does the maths out loud. Use this to decide, per retainer client, what the retainer should buy from now on, and how you will explain the change.

## When Not To Use
If you are choosing a model for a service you have not sold yet, run Pricing Models Comparison. If the model is fine and only the price needs to move, run Price Increase Plan.

## Inputs
- Per retainer client: the agreement (hours or scope bought, fee, notice terms), hours used over a period you choose, what was delivered
- Margin per client from your Client Profitability Map, and the time AI changed from your AI Activity Map
- What each client says they value, in their own words as you remember or noted them
If you have none of this, I start from one client's agreement and last period's delivery list and mark the output as a first draft.

## Approach
Retainers sit on a line from input (you buy my time) through output (you buy a set of deliverables) to outcome (you buy a result), the distinction drawn in the IPA Pricing Playbook, as reported in press coverage. The judgment is matching the type to how measurable the result is and how stable the scope is for this client, not to what sounds modern. The failure it prevents: a retainer that reports shrinking hours every month until the client asks for a discount you never priced for.

## Workflow
1. Ask at most three questions: which retainers are in scope, the period to look back on, and whether any client has already raised the hours.
2. Lay out each retainer as it stands: hours bought, hours used, what was delivered, margin. Mark where AI cut hours and where it added review time. Per client account only, never per team member.
3. Write what the client values in their words as you give them. If you do not know, write "to ask" rather than a guess; a redesign built on a guessed value is a new hours retainer in disguise.
4. Set out the four options for each client and classify them: outcome retainer (fee tied to a result you both can see), capacity with an output floor (a set of outputs guaranteed each period), a fixed-fee 90-day engagement with a defined end, or keep as is. Keep as is is a real answer where the client values your availability.
5. For each client, you choose the move and write why in one line. Any change to notice periods or contract terms goes on a list for your adviser: check with a qualified adviser.
6. Draft the conversation outline per client: what is changing, why (including, honestly, how AI changed the work), what the client gets, and the date it starts.

## Output Format
```markdown
# Retainer Redesign
## Retainers today
| Client | Bought | Used in [period] | Delivered | Margin | Where AI changed the hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [client] | [hours or scope] | [hours] | [outputs] | [your figure] | [less time on / new review time] |
## What each client values
| Client | In their words | Measurable? |
|---|---|---|
| [client] | [as you give it, or "to ask"] | [yes / partly / no] |
## Options per client
| Client | Outcome retainer | Capacity with output floor | Fixed-fee 90 days | Keep as is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [client] | [result, how measured] | [outputs per period] | [defined end] | [why it may fit] |
## The move
| Client | Move chosen | Why | Contract or notice question for an adviser | Start date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [client] | [move] | [one line] | [question] | [date] |
## Conversation outline
[Per client: what changes, why (AI included), what they get, from when]
## Decision
[Owner name] confirms the move for each client and the date of each conversation by [date].
```

## Done When
- Every retainer has its hours, delivery and margin from your figures, not estimates I made
- Each client's value is in their words or marked "to ask"
- Every client has one chosen move with a reason and a start date
- Contract and notice points are listed as questions for an adviser: check with a qualified adviser

## Quality Bar
- Options differ in what the client gets, never only in the fee
- No fee is proposed by Claude; the owner writes each number
- No team member's hours or utilisation appear anywhere
- The outline names how AI changed the work, plainly
- You explain the change yourself, AI included.

## Next
Run price-change-request (Scope Change Request) to hold the new scope once the redesign is agreed.

## About the makers

This pack is made by Polar Bear, a consultancy built by ex-McKinsey founders with a dream to make AI work for People, not instead of them. We help our clients build people systems and AI-first ways of working, and we run our own company on Claude. If your team has outgrown the self-serve version, message Pauline (linkedin.com/in/paulinebertry).