The Pay-Per-Client Offer
What this gives you: The exact offer I used to close my first clients and get to £5k/month with zero case studies. How to structure it, what to charge, what to guarantee, and what to say when they push back. We build this offer with you 1-on-1 inside AI Agency OS.
For 6 months I could not close anyone. I pitched websites, video editing, then AI systems. I offered to work for free and people still said no.
The work was fine. The offer was wrong.
Every pitch I made asked a stranger to hand over thousands of pounds for a system they could not picture, on the promise it would work. That is a gamble, and nobody gambles with a stranger.
So I changed the shape of the offer. Instead of selling the build, I sold the result, and I only got paid properly when the result showed up. That offer closed my first clients and took the agency to £5k/month. This is exactly how it works.
Why nobody buys your build
When you have no case studies, every objection a prospect has is really the same objection: "I don't believe this will work, and I'll be the one who pays for finding out."
You cannot argue someone out of that with a better deck. The only way through it is to move the risk off their side of the table and onto yours.
The shift: get paid per client, not per build
The pay-per-client offer has one core promise:
Now the conversation stops being about your price and starts being about their pipeline. They are no longer buying software from a stranger, they are buying customers, and they can do that maths in their head in about four seconds.
The three components
Every version of this offer has the same three parts. Get all three right or the whole thing falls over.
- 1. The setup fee. Small, but never zero. This covers your build time and, more importantly, it filters out tyre kickers. Free clients do not show up to onboarding calls.
- 2. The per-client fee. The real money. You get paid every time the system delivers a client, and you define "client" precisely before anyone signs.
- 3. The cap. A monthly ceiling on the per-client fees. This is what lets them say yes without fearing an unlimited bill, and it converts into a clean retainer later.
What to charge
Start here and adjust once you have three clients on the same offer.
| Component | Starting number | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Setup fee | £500 to £1,000 up front | Covers the build, filters out the unserious, gives you cash to deliver |
| Per-client fee | 10% to 20% of what one client is worth to them | Never a flat number you invented. Always a slice of their real value |
| Monthly cap | £2,000 to £3,000 | Caps their downside, becomes your retainer once the system proves out |
The per-client fee only works if you know what a client is worth to them, so ask on the call, before you quote anything:
If a client is worth £2,000 to them, £300 per client is obviously good business for them and it is a strong number for you. If a client is worth £200, this offer does not work and you should walk. That one question saves you weeks.
Define "a client" before they sign
This is where these deals die. If "a client" is vague, you will spend month two arguing instead of building, and you will lose that argument.
Write the definition into the agreement in plain English. Make it something a stranger could rule on. Some examples that work:
- A qualified appointment that shows up to the call, from a lead the system sourced
- A signed customer whose first contact came through the system
- A booked and paid job traced to a lead the system handled
Then agree exactly where it gets counted. One shared source of truth, usually their CRM, checked once a week. No shared spreadsheet that either side can edit quietly.
What to guarantee
Guarantee the thing you fully control. Never guarantee the thing you do not.
- Guarantee: the system is live and working within 14 days, or the setup fee comes straight back.
- Do not guarantee: a number of clients. You do not control their close rate, their pricing, or whether they answer their phone.
The per-client fee already carries the outcome risk for you. Stacking a results guarantee on top of it gives away the whole business and impresses nobody.
What to say when they push back
"Why is there a setup fee at all if you're paid on results?"
"What if it brings me loads of clients and this gets expensive?"
"How do I know you'll count them fairly?"
"Can I just pay you a flat monthly fee instead?"
When to stop selling it
This offer is a door, not a destination. It exists to buy you the two things you do not have yet: paying clients and proof.
Once you have three case studies with real numbers attached, the risk objection is dead and you no longer need to carry it. Switch to a setup fee plus a monthly retainer, and let the results from the pay-per-client days do the selling. That path is in The Agency Playbook.
Put it together
- Ask what one client is worth to them before you quote anything.
- Charge a small setup fee, a per-client fee, and a monthly cap.
- Define "a client" in writing, with one shared source of truth.
- Guarantee live in 14 days, never a number of clients.
- Move to a retainer once you have three case studies.
You are not asking anyone to believe in you anymore. You are asking them to pay you for clients they have already received. That is a much easier yes, and it is the reason I have an agency at all.