Every telco we talk to has heard the same pitch: pay us nothing until it works. It sounds risk-free. It usually means the vendor is risking nothing either. No dedicated build, no real resourcing — just a reseller waiting to see if your traffic converts on its own. We ask for a retainer because we’re not waiting to see. From week one, it funds an AI conversation built specifically on your catalogue, your FAQs, your positioning — running and improving before a single activation happens. Then we get paid more when it actually works. Skin in the game on both sides, not just yours.
Retainer Is Not
a Dirty Word