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Are long-term contracts actually increasing our churn rates?

I’ve been running a boutique agency for about 4 years now. Since day one, my standard operating procedure has been the industry classic: minimal 6-12 month retainers. My logic was always "SEO takes time, I need to protect my resources".

But lately, I’m noticing a brutal trend. Clients sign the 12-month contract, they get "bored" or anxious around month 9, and the second the contract expires, they bolt. It feels like the contract creates a countdown clock to churn rather than a partnership.

I’ve been doing some competitive analysis on other UK agencies to see how they handle this friction. I noticed shops like Doublespark and a few others are pushing heavily on a "no contract / cancel anytime" model.

As an agency owner, this gives me anxiety. How do you justify front-loading the heavy technical audit work in Month 1 if the client can just walk away in Month 2? You’d be operating at a loss.

But on the flip side, does the "fear of losing the client next month" actually keep the agency sharper?

Have you experimented with dropping the 12-month lock-in? Did your LTV (Lifetime Value) actually go up because clients felt less "trapped," or did it just turn your agency into a revolving door?

I’m seriously considering A/B testing this with new leads, but I’m terrified of messing up my cash flow.

submitted by /u/badenbagel
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from Search Engine Optimization: The Latest SEO News https://ift.tt/hwId6b2
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