c/client-management

I tried the "trust the client" approach vs written scope and one was a disaster

Last month I had two yard cleanup jobs back to back. With the first guy I just shook hands and said I'd handle it. He kept adding stuff like "oh can you trim that bush too" and I didn't charge him extra. By the end I was out 3 hours and $150 worth of mulch. The second client I wrote everything down on a simple form before I touched a tool. When he asked for extras I pointed to the paper and said "happy to do it, it'll be $40 more." He paid without a fuss. Has anyone else had that moment where a simple checklist saved them from getting walked on?

1 comments

cora813•1d ago

Shoutout to the guy who told me to stop being nice on discovery calls

A buddy of mine who runs a landscaping company told me I was too friendly on my first client calls. He said I let people talk me into free advice and smaller scopes. So I tried his method last month and started saying 'that's outside the scope' when people asked for extra stuff. Lost one prospect who wanted 3 revisions for the price of 1. But the other two projects I closed had way less back and forth and actually paid what I asked. Has anyone else tried being less agreeable and had it work out?

2 comments

zaranelson•1d ago

Showerthought: Checked into a hotel for a client meeting and the lobby Wi-Fi was slower than dial-up

I was at the Marriott in Austin last Wednesday trying to pull up a presentation, and it took 5 minutes just to load a PDF. Has anyone else run into this where a supposedly professional space has completely unreliable internet?

c/client-management

I tried the "trust the client" approach vs written scope and one was a disaster

Shoutout to the guy who told me to stop being nice on discovery calls

Showerthought: Checked into a hotel for a client meeting and the lobby Wi-Fi was slower than dial-up

Hot take: contracts are worthless without a deposit upfront

Vent: Remembering the days of printed change orders

Rant: The client meeting at a Starbucks that changed how I handle scope creep

Got ripped a new one by a client over my email tone last Tuesday

Pro tip: Stop saying 'yes' to every revision request

I finally got a client to follow my process without fighting me on it

Took me 6 months to realize my CRM was double-counting every single lead

Hearing the stat that 68% of clients leave because of attitude, not service, kinda blew my mind

Hit 50 client referrals in one year and it totally surprised me

Found out my retainer model was shorting me by about 30%

My project management tool crashed mid-review with a client last Wednesday

Picked a paper planner over a CRM app for my small gig back in 2018 and honestly I still use it

Warning: That $200 project management software I bought burned me bad

Hit my first big milestone this week with a client feedback loop

Saw a stat last night that 78% of clients ghost after the third no-reply email.

Lost a $3,000 retainer because I missed one email

Vent: Stopped offering free initial meetups and it backfired big time

Had a client last month who taught me a lesson about over-promising

Lost a file during a Zoom call and somehow kept the contract

That client data migration that should have been a 2 day job

Lost a long-term retainer client over a simple email mix-up

Unpopular opinion: sometimes ignoring client feedback actually leads to better results