Retainer Proposal Strategy — Avant Gardening

Overview

Avant is a residential gardening and landscaping client currently on a one-time flat-fee contract (paid, expiring end of January). The goal is to convert them into a recurring monthly retainer before the contract closes. Karly owns this relationship and is preparing a formal proposal for the Monday call following the 2025-12-12 weekly ops meeting.

Target retainer: ~$2,500–$3,000/month
Decision owner: Karly Oykhman
Supporting: Mark Hope (pitch framework, ROI framing)

Context

The initial project was scoped and paid as a one-time engagement.
Avant is happy with the work delivered so far.
Sebastian is joining the next Monday call to help resolve a payment/account setup issue.
The contract window gives a natural opening to propose ongoing services before the relationship goes cold.

Proposal Strategy

1. Professionalism Positioning

Position Avant as a premium service provider against low-cost competitors (e.g., small informal crews). Emphasize:

Legitimate business credentials
Better-trained staff, knowledge of plant species and landscaping best practices
Professional web presence and marketing as a differentiator

The pitch: clients who want quality and reliability will pay more — and marketing can attract exactly those clients.

2. Target High-Value Work: Hardscaping

Avant already does hardscaping (patios, retaining walls, decks). These projects start at $5,000–$6,000 minimum, making the ROI math on a retainer straightforward:

One hardscaping lead per month more than covers the retainer cost.

Focus the proposal on generating hardscaping inquiries rather than low-margin residential maintenance jobs.

3. Seasonal Diversification: Snow Plowing

Avant offers snow plowing in winter but it is not on their website. Adding this service to the site is a quick win:

Generates winter revenue during the landscaping off-season
De-seasonalizes the business (reduces revenue gaps)
Gives the retainer immediate, tangible deliverables to point to

This mirrors a broader agency principle: help clients find complementary services to smooth seasonal revenue curves. See ^[1].

4. ROI Framing

The proposal must show that the retainer pays for itself. Suggested framing:

At $2,500–$3,000/month, Avant needs one additional hardscaping project per month to break even.
Residential maintenance jobs ($200–$500 each) require higher volume but are still trackable.
Use Google Search Console and Ads data to show current baseline, then project realistic lead increases.

Mark's guidance: "You've got to show them some kind of ROI. He's going to have to get more than $2,500 or $5,000 worth of sales from our effort for it to be worth the money."

Proposed Retainer Scope (Draft)

To be finalized before Monday's call. Suggested inclusions:

Service	Notes
SEO / organic search	Ongoing content and technical optimization
Google Ads management	Target hardscaping keywords
Website updates	Add snow plowing, seasonal content
Monthly reporting	Traffic, leads, conversions
Website hosting (takeover)	Current host unknown — opportunity to consolidate

Action Items

[ ] Karly: Draft formal retainer proposal (scope + ROI) using ChatGPT/Gamma as a starting framework — ready for Monday's call
[ ] Karly: Confirm who currently hosts Avant's site; assess whether to bring under Asymmetric hosting
[ ] Karly: Add snow plowing services to Avant's website as an early deliverable
[ ] Karly: Resolve payment/account setup issue on Monday call (Sebastian joining)

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