# Let a Leader Own Retainer Pricing

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/retainer-pricing-release-dial · Last updated 1 November 2026

You have audited your retainers, about 35% are losing money, and every price conversation still waits for you. Ivanka Menken uses the Release Dial inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, to move the retainer profitability review one notch to a named team lead, with a 14-day check-in instead of a founder override. You leave with a written release commitment: who reviews, what they decide and when you hear.

## You found the leak, and you are still the tap

- You know which retainers lose money and still run every price talk.
- Your team lead brings every exception back for approval.
- Price rises wait until you have a free afternoon.

**THE MOMENT:** The profitability audit is finished. About 35% of your retainers cost more to serve than they pay. You know some of them need a large rise, perhaps double. Then you look at your calendar and realise every one of those conversations will be yours, because nobody else has ever been allowed to reprice a client. The numbers moved. The decision has not.

### THE RETAINER BOOK, AS IT STANDS

- Retainers audited: all of them
- Losing money: about 35%
- Who reviews profitability: the founder
- Who talks price with clients: the founder
- Named team lead for any segment: none

## A founder pricing push

In this case, a service business founder had a book of retainer clients and a capable team lead in place. After the audit, the obvious move was a pricing push: the founder would call the losing accounts personally and raise the fees. A few rises went through. Then client work took over, the calls stalled, and the team kept bringing every exception back for approval. The audit sat in a folder.

## Numbers without an owner

Ivanka noticed the founder had the numbers and no named person who could own the review and keep the new price. The team lead knew the accounts better than the founder did, and still had to ask first on every change. The bottleneck was not information or nerve. It was a decision that had never been moved one step away from the founder’s desk.

## A release gap, not a pricing gap

The real issue was a release gap. The founder wanted higher prices on the losing retainers but had not moved the profitability review to anyone else, so every rise depended on the founder’s free time.
The reframe: the review is a leadership task, not a founder task. Move it one notch on the Release Dial, from they ask me first to they decide, then tell me, for one segment of retainers. The founder stays informed. The team lead owns the call.

> A price rise that waits for the founder is a price rise that waits.

**The cost of staying stuck:** While the review stays with the founder, about a third of the retainer book keeps losing money every month, and the team lead learns that price is not theirs to touch.

## The tool: Release Dial

The Release Dial runs from I do it, through I review it, they ask me first and they decide then tell me, to I hear about it after. For retainer pricing, the profitability review for one segment moves one notch: from they ask me first to they decide, then tell me.

It is one release on one page. The segment, the named team lead, what they can decide on price, the exception that still comes back, and a 14-day check-in with no founder override in between.

It replaces a founder pricing push that stalls, an audit nobody acts on, and a team lead who asks permission for every change.

### What goes on the page

1. The segment: the retainers the audit marked as losing money
2. The owner: one named team lead
3. What they decide: the new price and when to raise it
4. The option on the table: a rise as large as double for the worst accounts
5. What still comes back: a client asking to leave
6. The check-in: day 14, no override before it

It sits inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, next to the monthly scorecard of release commitments kept. One release is written each fortnight and reviewed at the next session. It is mentoring with written commitments, not leadership theory.

## One segment, one owner, one notch

In the session, Ivanka put the audit beside the Release Dial and asked where the retainer review sat today. They ask me first. She asked which segment could move one notch, who would own it and what still had to come back. The founder wrote a release commitment for the losing retainers in one service line: the team lead reviews profitability, sets the new price and tells the founder afterwards. A client asking to leave still comes back.

### The questions

- Where does the retainer review sit on the dial today?
- Which segment can move one notch first?
- Who owns it, by name?
- What can they decide on price without you?
- What still comes back to you?

### THE FOUR-STEP LOOP

1. The one thing: The retainers losing money, still waiting for the founder.
2. The numbers: About 35% of the book below cost.
3. The story: Only I can talk price with clients.
4. The commitment: One segment, one team lead, 14 days.

Before the next session, the founder briefed the team lead, handed over the audit for one segment and stayed out of the price conversations for 14 days, noting each urge to step in.

## A review someone else owns

By month 6, the retainer profitability review has a named owner, price decisions reach the founder after they are made, and a new release is written each fortnight.

**BEFORE**

- The founder ran every price conversation.
- The audit sat in a folder.
- Every exception came back for approval.
- About 35% of retainers kept losing money.

**BY MONTH 6**

- A named team lead owns the retainer review.
- Price decisions reach the founder afterwards.
- Exceptions follow a written rule.
- A new release each fortnight, reviewed at the next session.

The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, one release each fortnight, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.

## Give the review to the person who knows the accounts

Ivanka Menken built Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses who build leaders but still do it all. She helps you choose the first release, write it down and keep out of it for long enough to see the leader act.
This fits if you have a team lead, a retainer book and a pricing problem you already understand. It does not fit if you want leadership theory or someone to reprice the clients for you. The decision in front of you is one segment and one name. Write them down before the next price conversation lands on your desk.

> Helps founders lead with clarity and integrity by modelling vulnerability, emotional intelligence, and grounded decision-making. Creates an environment where leaders can openly explore challenges and grow without fear of judgement.
>
> R.W., founder

## Who fits, and who does not

### It fits

- You run a service business on retainers.
- You know which accounts lose money.
- You have a team lead who knows those accounts.
- You will move one segment and stay out for 14 days.

### It does not fit

- You want leadership theory rather than one written release.
- You want a done-for-you pricing fix.
- You have no team lead to hand the review to yet.
- You want to keep every client price conversation yourself.

### Investment

**AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, 6 months.** The Release Dial is part of Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.

Included:

- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- One release each fortnight
- A monthly scorecard with release commitments kept
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6

Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous.

- [Join Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/3cI8wPay4gsV7tg6nSdQQ0z?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=retainer-pricing-release-dial)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=retainer-pricing-release-dial#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/building-leaders-not-doing-it-all)

## Questions about Release Dial

### Who should own the retainer review?

The person closest to the accounts, usually the team lead who already manages the work and knows what each client costs to serve. Name one person for one segment, not a committee. Ivanka Menken helps you choose the owner and write the release inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, with a 14-day check-in.

### What counts as a retainer losing money?

A retainer loses money when the time and costs to serve it are more than the fee. Your audit sets the line; in this case it found about 35% below it. The team lead works from that list. Ivanka Menken keeps the measure on the monthly scorecard inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. Check figures with your accountant.

### What should the team lead measure?

Three things for the segment: how many losing retainers were repriced, how many clients stayed and how many decisions still came back to you. Those numbers go on the monthly scorecard. Ivanka Menken reviews them with you inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, before the next release is chosen.

### What happens after the 14 days?

You review what came back and what the team lead decided. If the release worked, it stays and the next segment moves. If something went wrong, the rule is adjusted, not taken back by default. Ivanka Menken runs that review inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, one release each fortnight.


## Move the retainer review one notch

If you know which retainers lose money and every price conversation is still yours, start with Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring. The Release Dial is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether the programme fits.

- [Join Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/3cI8wPay4gsV7tg6nSdQQ0z?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=retainer-pricing-release-dial)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=retainer-pricing-release-dial#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/building-leaders-not-doing-it-all)
- [Hand the monthly-plan conversation to a lead](https://ivankamenken.com/monthly-website-pricing-release)
- [Set a written output gap for each leader](https://ivankamenken.com/three-times-output-benchmark)
- [Lead the team on average spend](https://ivankamenken.com/atv-upt-leadership-metrics)
- [The Builder-of-Leaders programme](https://ivankamenken.com/building-leaders-not-doing-it-all)
- [Release execution to an integrator](https://ivankamenken.com/release-execution-to-integrator)

- Every way to work with Ivanka: https://ivankamenken.com/work-with-ivanka