TIL a written scope of work saves your behind when a client claims they asked for "more detail"

3 comments

3 Comments

gray31413h agoMost Upvoted

I get where you're coming from but I'm not totally sold that a scope of work is always the silver bullet people make it out to be. I've had clients sign off on a detailed scope and then still come back saying "I assumed you would include this" even though it was clearly not listed. The problem is that clients often don't read what they sign, and they can get pushy after the fact no matter how specific you were. So I think a scope helps, but it's not a magic shield. It mostly just gives you something to point at when things get messy.

coleman.hannah10h ago

Ask what happened when you pointed at it though? Like did they back down or did you end up doing the extra work for free? I've been in that spot where I showed them the signed scope and they just went "well you should have known that was part of it." Honestly, if they're pushy enough and you don't want to lose the relationship, that piece of paper doesn't always save you. Ngl I'm curious if you actually held the line or if you caved after they argued for a bit.

casey3424h ago

I read somewhere that something like 30% of client disputes come from stuff that was never even in writing. It was a study from a freelancer platform, cant remember which one. So yeah a scope isnt magic, but without it you're basically arguing over things you both just assumed, which is way worse.