For the past three years, I've exclusively sold 6-month transformation engagements. Big commitments, big outcomes—we helped VIIZR achieve 480% first-year ROI with their D2X implementation.
But here's the problem: that model has a long sales cycle, and I'm not great at sales. I can do it—I closed 6 deals, including one at $150k—but the last one was over 18 months ago. Meanwhile, I've had countless conversations with ISV teams who needed help but couldn't commit to a 6-month engagement.
So I'm trying something different.
The Insight: One Hour Can Unblock Weeks
For a while, I offered a free 1-hour open Calendly call to anyone who requested it. My goal was to build relationships and have deeper discussions with ISVs.
What I discovered: I could often answer questions in that single hour that teams had struggled with for weeks or months. Sometimes the call ended with "we can't afford you" but also "that was incredibly helpful—you just solved something we'd given up on."
That's the value of specialized expertise. There are maybe a handful of people outside Salesforce who deeply understand CumulusCI, the Product Delivery Model, and ISV DevOps at the level I do after building and maintaining these tools for 11 years. That expertise is genuinely scarce.
But if I only sell 6-month engagements, teams that need just a few hours of breakthrough thinking can't access it.
The New Model: Commitment = Discount
I rebuilt my services around a simple principle: the more you commit, the less you pay per hour.
Here's how it works:
| Engagement Type | Rate | Why This Price |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency (same-day) | $500/hr | You need me NOW, dropping everything costs more |
| Ad-hoc (1-2 week scheduling) | $400/hr | No commitment, maximum flexibility |
| Retainer Light (8 hrs/quarter) | $300/hr | Small commitment, priority access |
| Retainer Standard (20 hrs/quarter) | $250/hr | Regular engagement, real relationship |
| Retainer Premium (40 hrs/quarter) | $200/hr | Embedded advisor, same-day scheduling |
The math makes commitment obvious: If you need 8 hours of help this quarter, you can either pay $3,200 ad-hoc or $2,400 on a light retainer—plus you get priority scheduling and async support.
Why This Works Better
For clients: You can start small. Maybe you just need 2 hours to get unblocked on a specific problem. Great—pay the ad-hoc rate, get your answer, move on. If you find yourself coming back, the retainer makes economic sense.
For me: Retainers provide predictable revenue and let me build deeper relationships. I'd rather have 5 clients on quarterly retainers than chase one-off calls. The pricing incentivizes the engagements I want.
For the ecosystem: More teams can access expertise that was previously locked behind a 6-month commitment. That helps the whole Salesforce ISV community level up.
The "2 Hours a Quarter" Entry Point
Here's the engagement I'm most excited about: 8 hours per quarter at $300/hr = $2,400/quarter or $800/month.
That's roughly 2-3 hours per month. Enough for:
- A monthly check-in call
- A few async questions via Slack/email
- One "help, I'm stuck" emergency session
For many ISV teams, that's all they need to stay unblocked. You don't need me full-time—you need access to someone who can answer the question your team has been banging their heads against.
And if a project comes up that needs more intensive help? We can either flex the retainer or scope a dedicated engagement.
The Transformation Is Still Available
The 6-month D2X Transformation engagement isn't going away—it's still the right choice for teams ready for a complete DevOps overhaul. The VIIZR results speak for themselves.
But now there's a path to get there. Start with a few ad-hoc sessions. Move to a light retainer. By the time you're ready for a transformation, we already have a relationship and I already understand your product.
Try It Out
If you've been thinking "I wish I could just talk to someone who actually knows CumulusCI" or "we're stuck on this packaging issue and have no idea where to start"—book a call.
No commitment required. Let's see if I can help.
Curious about the pricing details? Check out the full Services page with an interactive calculator showing how retainer pricing compares to ad-hoc rates.