How do I review the maintenance retainers a web studio sells to its clients?

Collect every retainer agreement and note what it covers: updates, backups, security checks, small edits, hosting, support hours and response times. Compare the wording with the tickets and time logged. If a client pays for fast response but waits days, you are buying an unhappy customer. If the team delivers far more than the contract says, the fee may be too low for the work.

Look at the billing. Is the fee collected automatically, invoiced by hand or sometimes forgotten? Are some clients on old rates nobody has revisited? Ask which retainers are really paid, which are free favours that were never converted and which are close to ending. The list of paid retainers should match the bank records.

Then see how long clients stay and why they leave. Ask how a retainer ends, who can cancel and how much notice is needed. Also ask what the studio does when a site is hacked or breaks outside normal hours, because that is where promises are tested. Your lawyer can read the agreements for assignment and liability terms. Ask how many retainers were sold as a bundle with a website build and whether clients actually use the hours they pay for. Unused hours can signal a client who may not renew once reminded of the fee.

Key takeaways

• Compare each retainer’s promise with the work actually done.
• Match the list of paying clients to the bank records.
• Find out how retainers end and who can cancel.
• Ask how emergencies outside normal hours are handled.