Handling Scope Creep

[Kesha]

Occasionally, you may run into buyers who request that you complete work beyond what was originally agreed upon. This is referred to as scope creep. Receiving these kinds of requests may be frustrating, but handling them professionally and tactfully is important. This will help you maintain a good relationship with your client while also ensuring you’re fairly compensated for your work.

Here’s an approach you can take: 

• Kindly acknowledge: Start by thanking the client for their trust in your work, and express enthusiasm about their new ideas. This shows that you value their input, and you’re not outright rejecting their requests.
• Reference the original agreement: Refer to the original agreement or scope of work. 
• Clarify the extra work: Identify the new requests as outside the original scope. It's important to be specific about what is additional to avoid confusion.
• Options for moving forward: You could propose an additional fee for the extra work or suggest to focus on the original agreement first and consider the additional requests as a separate project later.
• Don’t be afraid to set boundaries: You are not obligated to fulfill any requests beyond the original scope. If accommodating additional requests would compromise the quality of the project or if you lack the necessary skills or expertise, communicate this openly with your client. 

What is your unique approach in navigating orders where scope creep pops up? Share your advice with the community below!

[ibtisam_ch]

14 minutes ago, Kesha said:

Occasionally, you may run into buyers who request that you complete work beyond what was originally agreed upon. This is referred to as scope creep. Receiving these kinds of requests may be frustrating, but handling them professionally and tactfully is important. This will help you maintain a good relationship with your client while also ensuring you’re fairly compensated for your work.

Here’s an approach you can take: 

• Kindly acknowledge: Start by thanking the client for their trust in your work, and express enthusiasm about their new ideas. This shows that you value their input, and you’re not outright rejecting their requests.
• Reference the original agreement: Refer to the original agreement or scope of work. 
• Clarify the extra work: Identify the new requests as outside the original scope. It's important to be specific about what is additional to avoid confusion.
• Options for moving forward: You could propose an additional fee for the extra work or suggest to focus on the original agreement first and consider the additional requests as a separate project later.
• Don’t be afraid to set boundaries: You are not obligated to fulfill any requests beyond the original scope. If accommodating additional requests would compromise the quality of the project or if you lack the necessary skills or expertise, communicate this openly with your client. 

What is your unique approach in navigating orders where scope creep pops up? Share your advice with the community below!

A new seller here, obviously with no orders yet. But glad I found this post early on. Thank you for sharing this and describing it in the most easy way. Will be saving it for future reference.

[helali009]

This post will be a vital guidance for all of us; thanks.

[Kesha]

3 hours ago, ibtisam_ch said:

A new seller here, obviously with no orders yet. But glad I found this post early on. Thank you for sharing this and describing it in the most easy way. Will be saving it for future reference.

It is my pleasure! I wish all the luck with your journey on Fiverr. 💚

[ibtisam_ch]

3 minutes ago, Kesha said:

It is my pleasure! I wish all the luck with your journey on Fiverr. 💚

Thank you very much. It means a lot. 

[tauseefabbaskhn]

I'm a new seller here (only two days old) but I have almost a decade experience as a freelancer. I create a formal contract before embarking on the collaboration and leave no ambiguity for the buyers to exploit and force me to work outside of the scope/contract made. 

However, on fiverr, I plan, when I would get orders to discuss things in details with buyers before starting the work and to leave no ambiguity. In addition, if a buyer still asks for extra work and I'm confident that doing so won't waste much of my time, I will do that. 

[vehiclewrap1]

Really helpful advice. Recently, I have faced this issue. 

[easypr]

In my experience, transparency is key.

Be polite, transparent, and most importantly... DIRECT when things hit outside of the scope.

It's okay to set boundaries and let the client know.

They may have purchased your gig... but at the end of the day, you're allowing THEM the opportunity to work with YOU.

(On a related note, there's an elephant in the room we should address. Even with perfect communication and boundaries, a client pushing beyond scope can still leave a negative review post-delivery, refund or not. It's a flaw in the current system that makes enforcing these professional limits you're advising about feel risky. So... while this advice comes with good intentions, it doesn't quite capture the full reality that reputable sellers face. The challenge lies not just in setting boundaries, but also in the potential consequences of enforcing them. And unfortunately, all of this falls on the seller and Fiverr doesn't protect them at all.)

[katakatica]

12 hours ago, easypr said:

. Even with perfect communication and boundaries, a client pushing beyond scope can still leave a negative review post-delivery, refund or not.

I think what Fiverr (as a whole) forgets sometimes, in general, is that communication is a two-way street. I can tell people 4-5 times to please review what I sent them before they accept it (or, to stay relevant to the topic, tell them 5-6 times that the scope of the order is X.) if they want to lie - or push for more, I can't control that. 

The majority of my cancellations in the past year have been with people who agreed with the scope but then said that's not what they wanted! 

I've started screenshotting what they said, but obviously, that's not the way to go either (because that can definitely get some people angry). I think what Fiverr needs is more control over cancellations - at least in 'serious' cases - because both those and bad reviews are a threat when the scope extends the initial agreement (or when buyers change their minds.)

What I struggle with when it comes to scope creeping (and in general, people changing their minds) is that games/comics/etc. change. It's very normal for the plot to be tinkered even as I write. HOWEVER, I often feel like I have no choice but to offer free rewrites even when buyers withhold information - or change their minds about something - because CS is unlikely to side with me fully in a dispute. I can stick to my policies (and what Fiverr states) all I want if the buyer can go to CS and complain (or even lie, in some cases.)

Edited Wednesday at 11:09 AM by katakatica

[priyank_mod]

12 hours ago, easypr said:

Even with perfect communication and boundaries, a client pushing beyond scope can still leave a negative review post-delivery, refund or not. It's a flaw in the current system that makes enforcing these professional limits you're advising about feel risky. So... while this advice comes with good intentions, it doesn't quite capture the full reality that reputable sellers face. The challenge lies not just in setting boundaries, but also in the potential consequences of enforcing them. And unfortunately, all of this falls on the seller and Fiverr doesn't protect them at all.

+💯