> I probably just need to be more assertive, which I'm slowly getting better at.
To be fair, it took me (a generally obnoxious, opinionated loudmouth) the better part of ten years to get to the point where I feel I should be w/r/t my level of client assertiveness. It's tough!
With regard to retainers, what is a typical retainer discount (percent is fine) for (mostly web) software development consulting?