AskCory Retainer Margin Model
AskCory's Professional plan at $46/year per seat (billed annually) allows agencies to white-label outputs for up to 4 seats and 3 teams. The Retainer Margin Model maps the cost per client workspace against a fixed monthly retainer. For example, an agency using 1 seat for 3 clients on the Professional plan pays $46/year per seat, or about $3.83/month per seat. If each client pays $197/month for a 'Strategy & Content Accelerator' retainer, the agency earns $591/month in revenue against a $3.83/month tool cost, yielding a 99.35% gross margin on the tool. However, the model accounts for setup time (6 hours per client) and monthly maintenance (2 hours per client). At a $100/hour effective rate, that's $600 setup and $200/month per client, reducing net margin to about 66% in month one and 83% thereafter. The model helps agencies decide how many clients to stack per seat and when to upgrade to multiple seats.
By InnovaAI ResearchPublished Updated
What is AskCory Retainer Margin Model?
“Plan cost → Client price → Margin per seat”
AskCory's Professional plan at $46/year per seat (billed annually) allows agencies to white-label outputs for up to 4 seats and 3 teams. The Retainer Margin Model maps the cost per client workspace against a fixed monthly retainer. For example, an agency using 1 seat for 3 clients on the Professional plan pays $46/year per seat, or about $3.83/month per seat. If each client pays $197/month for a 'Strategy & Content Accelerator' retainer, the agency earns $591/month in revenue against a $3.83/month tool cost, yielding a 99.35% gross margin on the tool. However, the model accounts for setup time (6 hours per client) and monthly maintenance (2 hours per client). At a $100/hour effective rate, that's $600 setup and $200/month per client, reducing net margin to about 66% in month one and 83% thereafter. The model helps agencies decide how many clients to stack per seat and when to upgrade to multiple seats.
More on AskCory
- StrategyWhy AskCory Compounds for Agency LTV
- Evaluation RuleAskCory Rule: Adopt Only When You Need a Content Acceleration Layer, Not a Strategy Replacement
- Decision FrameworkAskCory: Buy vs Skip (Content Acceleration for Retainer Agencies)
- Failure PatternThe AskCory Content Volume Trap: Why Agencies Fail When They Prioritize Output Over Strategy
- Implementation BlueprintAskCory Strategy & Content Accelerator (3-5 days)
- Operating ProcedureAskCory Client Workspace Setup (Onboarding)