Why pay a monthly retainer when nothing is broken?
When systems run smoothly with zero downtime, clients perceive that no active work is happening and question the necessity of ongoing service fees. This invisibility of preventative maintenance makes it difficult to justify a regular retainer, leading clients to view the service as an unnecessary cost when problems aren't actively being fixed.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Scheduling regular quarterly or monthly review meetingsDid this help you?
- 2Sending automated monthly reports detailing background maintenance, patches, and security tasksDid this help you?
- 3Using analogies like car insurance or janitorial services to explain preventive workDid this help you?
- 4Sending an invoice without documentationDid this help you?
- 5Relying on before and after photos and itemized descriptionsDid this help you?
- 6Having meetings with the team in China and reporting items the manager needs to answerDid this help you?
- 7Building out a 30/60/90-day onboarding plan with clear direction and milestonesDid this help you?
- 8Starting to look for something elseDid this help you?
- 9Send a quarterly business review or monthly update detailing what was accomplishedDid this help you?
- 10Intentionally leave minor things broken until leadership notices the impactDid this help you?
- 11Follow up major resolved issues with an email detailing what was caught and fixedDid this help you?
- 12Take a fully disconnected vacation so the company feels the impact of your absenceDid this help you?
- 13Pad estimates using the 'Scotty principle' to manage expectationsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Lately, I have been feeling undervalued, and when I speak to my CEO, it seems as if I am unwanted and a problem. My question is, how do you keep your supervisor aware of all the fires you're putting out that they don't even know about?”source ↗
“I have been an IT Manager at the same job for 14 years, and both the CEO and President show active disdain for me. I prioritize the tasks that have the highest impact on the business rather than their whiny personal bullshit problems that are a minor annoyance to only them. If I were to let the infrastructure fall into ruin and become a dumpster fire but at the same time quickly and attentively fix their dumb Apple watch\iPad\iPhone nonsense issues - they would make me employee of the year. They have no idea (and no interest whatsoever in knowing) what I do for this company.”source ↗
“Just started a new role a little over 3 weeks as a PM.”source ↗
“Apparently his feedback about my performance is that he wants me to drive and challenge him.”source ↗
“I haven’t been very active considering a few things...”source ↗
“What other ways can help me show my effectiveness?”source ↗
“Very well organized Before and after photos along with a detailed / itemized description of work completed is necessary for my commercial contracts as a tree service contractor”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 33Why are clients suddenly ghosting contracts and sales slowing down?
- 2How do you figure out what a business is actually worth?
- 76HubSpot is down and timing out right now
- 37How to stop doing everything at once as property manager
- 12How to fit too many stops into a vacation itinerary
- 14How to survive a performance improvement plan