We’ve all been there—clients who casually ask for a bit more than what’s in the original agreement.
Now, only about one in ten of these requests are made with any ill intent.
The rest? They just see you as support and figure, “While you’re at it, could you whip up a leaflet or add a landing page?”
But here’s the problem: scope creep is one of the biggest profit drains in any business.
It can quickly turn profitable projects into unprofitable ones.
So, how do I handle it?
Let’s say I’ve agreed with a client to create a series of email campaigns for $2,000 a month, aimed at selling their $10,000 product.
We’ve agreed on getting between one and two sales a month, and we’ll handle everything, from the campaigns to the closing, for that flat rate.
But then the client realises they have some lead magnets they want to promote and asks if we could whip up some landing pages.
Of course, my team can do that, but if I agree to do it for free, it takes resources away from the original project.
It might seem small, but these requests add up and eat into your profits.
So, here’s what I do.
First, I agree with them—because agreeing doesn’t mean giving it away for free.
I say, “That’s a great idea. I absolutely love it.”
Then I use a method called “Assume the Sale” (ATS).
I assume they’re willing to pay.
I respond with, “We’ve got a landing page package that’s $4,500, and we could take care of that for you and look at a few other pages while we’re at it. Shall I send over the invoice now?”
If they say, “Yes, that sounds great,” then you’ve just turned a potential profit drain into additional revenue.
That’s how we upsell and cross-sell—it doesn’t have to be complicated.
If they push back and say they hoped it would be included in the project, I still agree with them.
I say, “Yeah, that’d be great. I’d love to do that, but our resources are tight, and this falls outside the current scope of our project. However, I’d be more than willing to do it for $4,500.”
Suddenly, three things happen.
First, your clients become more profitable.
Second, they start to respect you more because you’re taking control of your business.
And third, those spur-of-the-moment ideas they thought were essential suddenly don’t seem so urgent.
That’s how you handle scope creep and keep your projects profitable.
How do you handle those extra requests from clients?
