Managing Your Support Retainer Hours
If you are on a support retainer, you have a monthly budget of hours that can be used for support tasks. Getting the most from your retainer requires a little active management.
Viewing Your Hour Balance
Log into the portal and go to Support → Retainer Summary to see:
- Your total monthly hours
- Hours used this month (with task breakdown)
- Hours remaining
- Rollover balance (if your retainer includes rollover)
How Hours Are Consumed
Hours are logged against each task our team performs on your behalf. You receive a monthly report showing what was worked on, by whom, and for how long. If you want more detail on a specific task, ask your Project Manager.
Getting the Most From Your Hours
- Prioritise: Give us a running list of tasks in priority order so we use your hours on what matters most
- Batch requests: Group related small tasks together — context switching has overhead
- Pre-approve work: For recurring tasks (e.g. monthly content updates), pre-approve them so we can proceed without waiting for approval each time
- Flag upcoming needs early: If you know a busy period is coming (e.g. a product launch), let us know — we can plan resource allocation in advance
Going Over Your Hours
If a task will cause you to exceed your monthly hours, we will notify you before proceeding. You can then choose to approve the overrun (charged at your retainer day rate), defer the task to next month, or reduce scope. We never overrun without your authorisation.
Right-Sizing Your Retainer
If you consistently have unused hours or consistently run over, your retainer may need adjustment. Contact your Account Manager for a right-sizing conversation — we would rather your retainer fits your needs than have a recurring mismatch.