June 30, 2026
June 30, 2026
The 15% Performance Fee: Why We Only Get Paid When You Get Results
Most marketing agencies charge a flat retainer regardless of results. My Revue charges 15% per qualified lead on Meta Ads and cold email — you only pay the performance component when the system delivers. This post explains the model, why it exists, what it signals about confidence in the system, and exactly how it is calculated so there are no surprises.
Most marketing agencies charge a flat retainer regardless of results. My Revue charges 15% per qualified lead on Meta Ads and cold email — you only pay the performance component when the system delivers. This post explains the model, why it exists, what it signals about confidence in the system, and exactly how it is calculated so there are no surprises.
The flat retainer model has a structural flaw: the agency gets paid the same whether the campaign generates 30 leads or 3. There is no performance consequence for underdelivery. The incentive is to retain the client on the retainer, not necessarily to maximise the client's lead volume. My Revue's performance fee model is built on a different assumption: we should get paid more when we deliver more, and we should get paid nothing for leads that do not exist.
The 15% Performance Fee: Why We Only Get Paid When You Get Results
Most marketing agencies charge a flat retainer.
£1,500/month. £2,500/month. £4,000/month. The same invoice, every month, regardless of how many leads were generated, how many consultations were booked, or whether the campaign produced any measurable commercial outcome.
This model has a structural flaw: the agency's income is not connected to the client's results. The agency gets paid the same whether the campaign generates 30 qualified leads or 3. There is no performance consequence for underdelivery. The incentive, when it comes down to it, is to retain the client on the retainer — not necessarily to maximise the client's lead volume.
My Revue's performance fee model is built on a different assumption. We should get paid more when we deliver more. We should get paid nothing for leads that do not exist. The fee should be calculated on verified, qualified leads — not on impressions, clicks, or ad spend managed.
This post explains exactly how the model works, what "qualified lead" means in practice, how the 15% is calculated, and what the full cost picture looks like against alternative approaches.
The Model: How It Works
My Revue's performance fee applies to two services: Meta Ads management and AI cold email outreach.
Meta Ads: What you pay
A management fee that covers campaign setup, creative production, optimisation, and reporting — charged as part of the package retainer (see pricing below). This covers the fixed costs of running the campaign.
A 15% performance fee on every qualified lead generated by the campaign. This is the variable component — it only applies when the campaign delivers.
Cold email outreach: What you pay
A setup fee covering infrastructure build (domains, warming, list sourcing, sequence creation) — one-off, paid at the start. A 15% performance fee on every qualified meeting booked from the outreach — paid weekly, calculated on verified outcomes only.
What does "qualified lead" mean?
A qualified lead is not a click. It is not an impression. It is not a form fill from someone who does not meet your criteria.
For Meta Ads, a qualified lead is defined before the campaign launches — based on the qualifying questions on the lead form. For a law firm, it might be: UK-based, specific practice area, not an existing client, not a competitor enquiry. For a clinic, it might be: within the service area, enquiring about a specific treatment category, over 18. The qualification criteria are agreed during onboarding. Only leads that meet all criteria count toward the performance fee.
For cold email, a qualified lead is a prospect who responds positively to the outreach and agrees to a meeting or discovery call. Not an open. Not a reply that says "remove me." A genuine positive engagement that progresses toward a conversation.
How is the 15% calculated?
The fee is calculated on the cost-equivalent value of the qualified lead — not on revenue generated.
Example: Meta Ads campaign generates 20 qualified leads in a month. Average cost per qualified lead: £35. Performance fee: 20 × £35 × 15% = £105.
The performance fee is typically a small fraction of the total campaign cost and is invoiced weekly based on verified lead counts in GHL. You can see every lead, their source, their qualifying answers, and the calculation at any point in the GHL dashboard.
Why Performance Pricing Signals Something Important
An agency willing to tie part of its income to actual lead delivery is making a specific claim: it believes the campaign will deliver, and it is willing to have its income partially depend on that belief being correct.
A flat retainer model does not require this confidence. The agency is paid regardless of outcomes. The performance model requires the agency to believe, specifically, that the leads will come — because if they do not, the performance component goes to zero.
This alignment of incentives is the primary practical reason My Revue uses performance pricing on Meta Ads and cold email. When the performance fee rises because lead volume is strong, both parties benefit. When lead volume is low, the performance fee is low — which is the correct commercial outcome.
What this means for the client:
You never pay a performance fee for leads that do not exist. If a campaign month produces 8 qualified leads instead of 20, you pay the performance fee on 8 — not on a forecast or a target. The risk of underperformance is shared rather than sitting entirely with the client.
You pay more when the campaign performs well — which is exactly the right time to pay more. A month with 30 qualified leads at £35 CPL generates a £157.50 performance fee. That month, the campaign also generated approximately £150,000 in potential revenue opportunity (30 leads × £5,000 average case value × 1 client converted). The performance fee at 30 leads is approximately 0.1% of the revenue opportunity.
How This Compares to the Flat Retainer Model
Traditional agency: £2,500/month flat retainer for Meta Ads management
Month 1: 12 qualified leads. Agency charges: £2,500. Cost per qualified lead: £208.
Month 2: 8 qualified leads. Agency charges: £2,500. Cost per qualified lead: £312.
Month 3: 18 qualified leads. Agency charges: £2,500. Cost per qualified lead: £138.
Month 4: 5 qualified leads. Agency charges: £2,500. Cost per qualified lead: £500.
The cost per qualified lead is completely unpredictable. In the worst month, you paid £500 per lead. The agency's income was identical across all four months regardless of performance. There is no financial incentive for the agency to improve Month 4.
My Revue: Management fee (included in package retainer) + 15% performance fee
Month 1: 12 qualified leads at £35 CPL. Performance fee: £63.
Month 2: 8 qualified leads at £35 CPL. Performance fee: £42. (Lower — because delivery was lower)
Month 3: 18 qualified leads at £35 CPL. Performance fee: £94.50.
Month 4: 5 qualified leads at £35 CPL. Performance fee: £26.25. (Significantly lower — aligned to performance)
The performance fee moves with delivery. In the worst month, the performance component is £26 — not £2,500. The incentive to improve Month 4 is built into the model.
The Full Pricing Picture: What My Revue Actually Costs
The performance fee does not exist in isolation. It is one component of the full package pricing.
Starter — £1,100–£1,500/month
Includes: Meta Ads Tier 1 (up to £500 ad spend), Lead Nurturing System, Google Reviews (Starter), Website + AI Chatbot, GHL CRM.
Setup fee: £400–£650.
Performance fee: 15% per qualified lead on Meta Ads.
Ad spend: billed directly by Meta — never included in or marked up within the retainer.
Growth — £2,000–£2,800/month
Includes: Everything in Starter + AI Voice Receptionist (Starter), Meta Ads Tier 2 (up to £1,000 ad spend), Google Reviews (Standard).
Setup fee: £800–£1,500.
Performance fee: 15% per qualified lead.
Scale — £3,200–£4,800/month
Includes: Everything in Growth + AI Voice Receptionist (Standard), Google Reviews (Premium), VSL Production, Meta Ads Tier 2.
Setup fee: £1,500–£2,500.
Performance fee: 15% per qualified lead.
What is never included in the performance fee:
Unqualified clicks or form fills that do not meet the agreed qualifying criteria
Spam responses or bot submissions
Leads from channels other than Meta Ads and cold email (organic, referral, direct are not performance-fee eligible)
No-show consultations (for cold email, the fee is on meetings booked — not on whether they attend)
What Clients Ask Most Often About the Performance Fee
"Does the 15% add significantly to my total cost?"
At typical professional services CPL benchmarks (£22–£45 per qualified lead), the performance fee on 20 monthly leads is £66–£135. This is a minor addition to the monthly package cost and significantly below what a flat retainer charges per lead at equivalent volume. The fee scales with success — if you are paying a large performance fee, you are receiving a large volume of qualified leads.
"What if I disagree that a lead is qualified?"
The qualification criteria are agreed and documented during onboarding. GHL shows every lead, their qualifying answers, and their source. Any lead you believe does not meet the agreed criteria can be flagged — the performance fee is calculated on mutually agreed, verified qualified leads, not on My Revue's unilateral count.
"How is the fee calculated if leads arrive from multiple channels?"
The performance fee applies only to leads attributed to Meta Ads or cold email campaigns — tracked via GHL CAPI for Meta and via campaign tracking for cold email. Organic leads, referrals, and direct enquiries do not generate a performance fee regardless of volume.
"Can the performance fee percentage be negotiated?"
The 15% rate is standard across all packages. It reflects the shared risk model — if the campaign does not deliver, the performance component is correspondingly low. Negotiating the rate downward would require reducing that shared risk element, which moves the model back toward a flat retainer structure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the typical monthly performance fee for a professional service business?
For a Growth package client with Meta Ads Tier 2 generating 15–25 qualified leads per month at £35 average CPL, the monthly performance fee is approximately £79–£131. This is the variable component on top of the package retainer. Total monthly investment at this performance level: £2,079–£2,931 — compared to £2,500–£4,000/month for a typical flat-retainer agency delivering comparable lead volume.
Is the ad spend included in the performance fee calculation?
No. Ad spend is billed directly by Meta to the client's card. The performance fee is calculated on the cost-per-lead achieved by the campaign — not on the total ad spend. If your campaign spends £800 and generates 20 qualified leads at £40 CPL, the performance fee is 20 × £40 × 15% = £120 — not 15% of £800.
What happens if the campaign generates no qualified leads in a given month?
The performance component for that month is zero. You pay only the package retainer. This is the correct outcome — if the campaign did not deliver qualified leads, you should not pay a performance fee. My Revue's team will review the campaign, identify the cause of underperformance, and adjust before the next billing cycle.
How do I know the qualified lead count is accurate?
Every qualified lead is logged in GHL with their source attribution, qualifying answers, timestamp, and pipeline stage. The performance fee calculation is generated from this data and is visible in your dashboard before the invoice is raised. You can verify every lead in the count before approving payment.
Conclusion
The flat retainer model protects the agency. The performance model protects the client.
My Revue charges a management fee that covers the cost of building and running the system, and a 15% performance component that only applies when qualified leads are delivered. When the campaign performs well, we earn more — because you are getting more. When it underperforms, the performance fee falls — which is the correct financial consequence.
This is not a complicated model. It is the model that should have been standard in marketing from the beginning: you pay for what you get, and the people delivering it have a financial interest in making sure you get it.
Every My Revue package includes the performance fee model on Meta Ads and cold email. The rest of the system — AI Voice Receptionist, Google Review Automation, Lead Management, Chatbot, GHL CRM — is covered by the package retainer at a fixed monthly cost.
[Book a free 30-minute consultation] — we will explain the full pricing model for your specific package, show you what the performance fee looks like at different lead volumes for your niche, and give you a clear picture of total monthly investment at different campaign performance levels.
[Book My Free Consultation]
The flat retainer model has a structural flaw: the agency gets paid the same whether the campaign generates 30 leads or 3. There is no performance consequence for underdelivery. The incentive is to retain the client on the retainer, not necessarily to maximise the client's lead volume. My Revue's performance fee model is built on a different assumption: we should get paid more when we deliver more, and we should get paid nothing for leads that do not exist.
The 15% Performance Fee: Why We Only Get Paid When You Get Results
Most marketing agencies charge a flat retainer.
£1,500/month. £2,500/month. £4,000/month. The same invoice, every month, regardless of how many leads were generated, how many consultations were booked, or whether the campaign produced any measurable commercial outcome.
This model has a structural flaw: the agency's income is not connected to the client's results. The agency gets paid the same whether the campaign generates 30 qualified leads or 3. There is no performance consequence for underdelivery. The incentive, when it comes down to it, is to retain the client on the retainer — not necessarily to maximise the client's lead volume.
My Revue's performance fee model is built on a different assumption. We should get paid more when we deliver more. We should get paid nothing for leads that do not exist. The fee should be calculated on verified, qualified leads — not on impressions, clicks, or ad spend managed.
This post explains exactly how the model works, what "qualified lead" means in practice, how the 15% is calculated, and what the full cost picture looks like against alternative approaches.
The Model: How It Works
My Revue's performance fee applies to two services: Meta Ads management and AI cold email outreach.
Meta Ads: What you pay
A management fee that covers campaign setup, creative production, optimisation, and reporting — charged as part of the package retainer (see pricing below). This covers the fixed costs of running the campaign.
A 15% performance fee on every qualified lead generated by the campaign. This is the variable component — it only applies when the campaign delivers.
Cold email outreach: What you pay
A setup fee covering infrastructure build (domains, warming, list sourcing, sequence creation) — one-off, paid at the start. A 15% performance fee on every qualified meeting booked from the outreach — paid weekly, calculated on verified outcomes only.
What does "qualified lead" mean?
A qualified lead is not a click. It is not an impression. It is not a form fill from someone who does not meet your criteria.
For Meta Ads, a qualified lead is defined before the campaign launches — based on the qualifying questions on the lead form. For a law firm, it might be: UK-based, specific practice area, not an existing client, not a competitor enquiry. For a clinic, it might be: within the service area, enquiring about a specific treatment category, over 18. The qualification criteria are agreed during onboarding. Only leads that meet all criteria count toward the performance fee.
For cold email, a qualified lead is a prospect who responds positively to the outreach and agrees to a meeting or discovery call. Not an open. Not a reply that says "remove me." A genuine positive engagement that progresses toward a conversation.
How is the 15% calculated?
The fee is calculated on the cost-equivalent value of the qualified lead — not on revenue generated.
Example: Meta Ads campaign generates 20 qualified leads in a month. Average cost per qualified lead: £35. Performance fee: 20 × £35 × 15% = £105.
The performance fee is typically a small fraction of the total campaign cost and is invoiced weekly based on verified lead counts in GHL. You can see every lead, their source, their qualifying answers, and the calculation at any point in the GHL dashboard.
Why Performance Pricing Signals Something Important
An agency willing to tie part of its income to actual lead delivery is making a specific claim: it believes the campaign will deliver, and it is willing to have its income partially depend on that belief being correct.
A flat retainer model does not require this confidence. The agency is paid regardless of outcomes. The performance model requires the agency to believe, specifically, that the leads will come — because if they do not, the performance component goes to zero.
This alignment of incentives is the primary practical reason My Revue uses performance pricing on Meta Ads and cold email. When the performance fee rises because lead volume is strong, both parties benefit. When lead volume is low, the performance fee is low — which is the correct commercial outcome.
What this means for the client:
You never pay a performance fee for leads that do not exist. If a campaign month produces 8 qualified leads instead of 20, you pay the performance fee on 8 — not on a forecast or a target. The risk of underperformance is shared rather than sitting entirely with the client.
You pay more when the campaign performs well — which is exactly the right time to pay more. A month with 30 qualified leads at £35 CPL generates a £157.50 performance fee. That month, the campaign also generated approximately £150,000 in potential revenue opportunity (30 leads × £5,000 average case value × 1 client converted). The performance fee at 30 leads is approximately 0.1% of the revenue opportunity.
How This Compares to the Flat Retainer Model
Traditional agency: £2,500/month flat retainer for Meta Ads management
Month 1: 12 qualified leads. Agency charges: £2,500. Cost per qualified lead: £208.
Month 2: 8 qualified leads. Agency charges: £2,500. Cost per qualified lead: £312.
Month 3: 18 qualified leads. Agency charges: £2,500. Cost per qualified lead: £138.
Month 4: 5 qualified leads. Agency charges: £2,500. Cost per qualified lead: £500.
The cost per qualified lead is completely unpredictable. In the worst month, you paid £500 per lead. The agency's income was identical across all four months regardless of performance. There is no financial incentive for the agency to improve Month 4.
My Revue: Management fee (included in package retainer) + 15% performance fee
Month 1: 12 qualified leads at £35 CPL. Performance fee: £63.
Month 2: 8 qualified leads at £35 CPL. Performance fee: £42. (Lower — because delivery was lower)
Month 3: 18 qualified leads at £35 CPL. Performance fee: £94.50.
Month 4: 5 qualified leads at £35 CPL. Performance fee: £26.25. (Significantly lower — aligned to performance)
The performance fee moves with delivery. In the worst month, the performance component is £26 — not £2,500. The incentive to improve Month 4 is built into the model.
The Full Pricing Picture: What My Revue Actually Costs
The performance fee does not exist in isolation. It is one component of the full package pricing.
Starter — £1,100–£1,500/month
Includes: Meta Ads Tier 1 (up to £500 ad spend), Lead Nurturing System, Google Reviews (Starter), Website + AI Chatbot, GHL CRM.
Setup fee: £400–£650.
Performance fee: 15% per qualified lead on Meta Ads.
Ad spend: billed directly by Meta — never included in or marked up within the retainer.
Growth — £2,000–£2,800/month
Includes: Everything in Starter + AI Voice Receptionist (Starter), Meta Ads Tier 2 (up to £1,000 ad spend), Google Reviews (Standard).
Setup fee: £800–£1,500.
Performance fee: 15% per qualified lead.
Scale — £3,200–£4,800/month
Includes: Everything in Growth + AI Voice Receptionist (Standard), Google Reviews (Premium), VSL Production, Meta Ads Tier 2.
Setup fee: £1,500–£2,500.
Performance fee: 15% per qualified lead.
What is never included in the performance fee:
Unqualified clicks or form fills that do not meet the agreed qualifying criteria
Spam responses or bot submissions
Leads from channels other than Meta Ads and cold email (organic, referral, direct are not performance-fee eligible)
No-show consultations (for cold email, the fee is on meetings booked — not on whether they attend)
What Clients Ask Most Often About the Performance Fee
"Does the 15% add significantly to my total cost?"
At typical professional services CPL benchmarks (£22–£45 per qualified lead), the performance fee on 20 monthly leads is £66–£135. This is a minor addition to the monthly package cost and significantly below what a flat retainer charges per lead at equivalent volume. The fee scales with success — if you are paying a large performance fee, you are receiving a large volume of qualified leads.
"What if I disagree that a lead is qualified?"
The qualification criteria are agreed and documented during onboarding. GHL shows every lead, their qualifying answers, and their source. Any lead you believe does not meet the agreed criteria can be flagged — the performance fee is calculated on mutually agreed, verified qualified leads, not on My Revue's unilateral count.
"How is the fee calculated if leads arrive from multiple channels?"
The performance fee applies only to leads attributed to Meta Ads or cold email campaigns — tracked via GHL CAPI for Meta and via campaign tracking for cold email. Organic leads, referrals, and direct enquiries do not generate a performance fee regardless of volume.
"Can the performance fee percentage be negotiated?"
The 15% rate is standard across all packages. It reflects the shared risk model — if the campaign does not deliver, the performance component is correspondingly low. Negotiating the rate downward would require reducing that shared risk element, which moves the model back toward a flat retainer structure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the typical monthly performance fee for a professional service business?
For a Growth package client with Meta Ads Tier 2 generating 15–25 qualified leads per month at £35 average CPL, the monthly performance fee is approximately £79–£131. This is the variable component on top of the package retainer. Total monthly investment at this performance level: £2,079–£2,931 — compared to £2,500–£4,000/month for a typical flat-retainer agency delivering comparable lead volume.
Is the ad spend included in the performance fee calculation?
No. Ad spend is billed directly by Meta to the client's card. The performance fee is calculated on the cost-per-lead achieved by the campaign — not on the total ad spend. If your campaign spends £800 and generates 20 qualified leads at £40 CPL, the performance fee is 20 × £40 × 15% = £120 — not 15% of £800.
What happens if the campaign generates no qualified leads in a given month?
The performance component for that month is zero. You pay only the package retainer. This is the correct outcome — if the campaign did not deliver qualified leads, you should not pay a performance fee. My Revue's team will review the campaign, identify the cause of underperformance, and adjust before the next billing cycle.
How do I know the qualified lead count is accurate?
Every qualified lead is logged in GHL with their source attribution, qualifying answers, timestamp, and pipeline stage. The performance fee calculation is generated from this data and is visible in your dashboard before the invoice is raised. You can verify every lead in the count before approving payment.
Conclusion
The flat retainer model protects the agency. The performance model protects the client.
My Revue charges a management fee that covers the cost of building and running the system, and a 15% performance component that only applies when qualified leads are delivered. When the campaign performs well, we earn more — because you are getting more. When it underperforms, the performance fee falls — which is the correct financial consequence.
This is not a complicated model. It is the model that should have been standard in marketing from the beginning: you pay for what you get, and the people delivering it have a financial interest in making sure you get it.
Every My Revue package includes the performance fee model on Meta Ads and cold email. The rest of the system — AI Voice Receptionist, Google Review Automation, Lead Management, Chatbot, GHL CRM — is covered by the package retainer at a fixed monthly cost.
[Book a free 30-minute consultation] — we will explain the full pricing model for your specific package, show you what the performance fee looks like at different lead volumes for your niche, and give you a clear picture of total monthly investment at different campaign performance levels.
[Book My Free Consultation]
