# Retainer Finder > Analyze a company website and identify recurring service opportunities for agencies. Finds what depreciates without ongoing maintenance, what creates monthly dependency, and what justifies a retainer conversation. - Skill: `veyralabsgroup/retainer-finder` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add veyralabsgroup/retainer-finder` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/veyralabsgroup/retainer-finder/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Marketing & Growth - Author: veyralabsgroup (https://skillmd.com/u/veyralabsgroup) - Updated: 2026-09-10 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/veyralabsgroup/retainer-finder --- # Retainer Finder Most agencies sell projects. They make money on retainers. This skill analyzes a company and answers one question: what does this company need every month, and why would they pay for it? The output is not a proposal - it is a retainer strategy. A map of what to build toward after the first project lands. ## What this does Three phases: 1. **Depreciation Scan** - Find what is actively losing value without maintenance (rankings, audiences, social presence, email list) 2. **Dependency Map** - Identify what, if implemented, creates ongoing reliance on the agency 3. **Retainer Brief** - Estimated MRR, service stack, renewal risk, and how to transition from project to retainer ## How to use Pass a URL: ``` /retainer-finder https://empresa.com ``` Or after running `/agency-audit` on the same company - the retainer-finder uses the same signals but asks different questions. ## Phase 1 - Depreciation Scan **Goal:** Find what is already losing value without someone managing it. Unlike a project (build once, done), these are things that degrade over time without attention: | Asset | What happens without maintenance | |-------|----------------------------------| | SEO rankings | Competitors publish, you drop. Algorithm updates hit without someone to respond. | | Ad campaigns | Audiences fatigue, CPMs rise, creative goes stale. Left alone, ROAS drops. | | Email list | Deliverability degrades without cleaning. Unsent = losing 25% list value per year. | | Social presence | Algorithm deprioritizes inactive accounts. Followers lose connection. | | Google Business Profile | Photos age, posts go silent. Reviews go unanswered. | | Website performance | WordPress plugins update and break things. Security vulnerabilities accumulate. | | Analytics / tracking | Platform changes break tags. iOS updates kill attribution. | Check each asset and score it: - **Active and managed** - someone is maintaining this - **Active but unmanaged** - running but nobody is watching it - **Inactive** - abandoned - **Not present** - does not exist yet Unmanaged and inactive assets are the retainer opportunity. They are already costing the company - the agency just needs to make that cost visible. Output: ``` ## Depreciation Scan | Asset | Status | Monthly cost of neglect | |-------|--------|------------------------| | SEO | [status] | [what they are losing] | | Paid ads | [status] | [what they are losing] | | Email list | [status] | [what they are losing] | | Social | [status] | [what they are losing] | | Google Business | [status] | [what they are losing] | | Website/CMS | [status] | [what they are losing] | | Analytics | [status] | [what they are losing] | Top depreciation risks: 1. [asset] - [specific cost of neglect for this company] 2. [asset] - [specific cost] ``` ## Phase 2 - Dependency Map **Goal:** Identify which services, once delivered, require the agency to stay involved. Not all services create dependency. A logo redesign does not create a retainer. A live ad campaign does. **High dependency services** (client cannot easily remove agency): | Service | Why they cannot leave | |---------|----------------------| | Paid ads management | Campaign knowledge + audience data lives in the agency's account history. Starting over = losing months of optimization. | | SEO content | Ongoing content + internal linking strategy. Stopping = rankings drop in 3-6 months. | | Email marketing automation | Flows built in the tool, segment logic, suppression lists. Complex to hand off. | | Analytics + reporting | Agency interprets the data. Client cannot read dashboards without context. | | WordPress maintenance | Updates, backups, security. Client fears touching it themselves. | | Social media management | Content calendar, brand voice, community - hard to internalize quickly. | | Google Business management | Review responses, post schedule, local SEO adjustments. | **Low dependency services** (one-time work, easy to hand off): - Website redesign (delivered and done) - Brand identity - One-time SEO audit - Analytics setup (once live, client can run it) - One-time campaign setup without ongoing management Map which high-dependency services this company needs based on Phase 1 findings. Output: ``` ## Dependency Map High-dependency opportunities: 1. [service] - dependency reason: [why they cannot leave] 2. [service] - dependency reason: [...] Low-dependency work to avoid leading with: - [service] - [why it does not convert to retainer] Recommended entry: [highest-dependency service that is also lowest friction to start] ``` ## Phase 3 - Retainer Brief **Goal:** Define what the retainer looks like, what it costs, and how to get there. ### Retainer Stack The retainer stack is the combination of monthly services that makes sense for this company. It should: - Address active depreciation risks (Phase 1) - Include at least one high-dependency service (Phase 2) - Be deliverable by the agency (match to their service list if provided) - Have a clear ROI story the company can understand ``` ## Retainer Brief ### Recommended retainer stack Core (must-have for ROI to work): - [service] - [price range/month] - [service] - [price range/month] Add-on (increases value and dependency): - [service] - [price range/month] Total MRR estimate: [low] - [high] Contract length recommendation: [3-month / 6-month / 12-month] Why this length: [one sentence - what takes that long to show results] ``` ### Transition Path How to move from first project to retainer: 1. **Entry project** - the quick win or audit that gets them in the door 2. **Results moment** - the specific milestone that creates the retainer conversation ("we set up your tracking and now you can see X - want us to act on it monthly?") 3. **Retainer pitch** - frame it as "keeping the results" not "more services" ``` Transition path: Entry: [project] - [price] - [delivery time] Results moment: [what they will see and when] Retainer pitch: "[One sentence framing - specific to this company]" ``` ### Renewal Risk Identify what could end the retainer early: ``` Renewal risks: - [risk 1] - [mitigation] - [risk 2] - [mitigation] Strongest retention signal: [what makes this client sticky] ``` ## References - `references/retainer-signals.md` - full signal library by service type and company size ## Output principles 1. Every depreciation risk must be specific to this company - not generic 2. Dependency map must name the actual mechanism ("campaign data lives in our account" not "complex to hand off") 3. MRR estimate must be grounded in service-mapping benchmarks - never inflate 4. Transition path is mandatory - a retainer without an entry path is theory 5. The retainer pitch line is the most important output - it should be usable verbatim in the sales conversation