Thoughtful Thursdays - It's just a minor change...

Today's thought is about how to avoid coming to the realization you have been a victim of scope creep.

It begins innocently enough with your desire to provide your customer what they want. After all, it will only take a few minutes and you want to keep them happy. You have just set the bar for your customer and they will now expect not to be charged for minor changes.

This may be followed by another small change or addition to the project and then another. I have seen this happen time and time again. Don't get me wrong, it is not a negative situation when the job grows, but if you are not duly compensated, your profits will end up down the drain unless you can put the plug in right away.

One way to increase the chances of keeping your customer and your accountant happy is to have a sales agreement in place before starting the work. The agreement might include, but not be limited to; a description what you will provide, how much it is going to cost, when it will be delivered, how you expect to be paid and what happens if anything changes.

It is up to you to make sure your customer to be absolutely clear with the terms.

Having an agreement in place will not stop the requests for changes, but will provide you with the option of re-negotiating the price due to the changing scope of project. Without an agreement in place, you may find yourself without this option - and your profitability may suffer as a result.

Good selling,
Richard