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 September 11, 2024 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.

+💯

[monuwae798]

This post will be a vital guidance for all of us,

[amenda_2022]

Thanks

[asif255]

On 9/10/2024 at 9:02 PM, 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!

Thank you so much!!

 

[desmond_aubery]

I've recently encountered the phenomenon of 'The Well-Healed El-Cheapo".

Their stock in trade is as follows:

• Sweet as punch
  • Starts off as a decent, solid client looking for a solution
  • Scope creep begins, albeit slowly at first
  • Freelancer gently applies the brakes
  • Situation stabilises
  • Scope creep tsunami
  • Freelancer firm
  • Client either tries
    • Sweet sauce, or
    • Hardens position
  • Freelancer firm on agreed scope
  • Client goes ballistic and threatens
  • Freelancer delivers against original agreed scope
  • Client goes nuclear
     
• Straight-up gnarly during the external 'Contact' phase
  • Freelancer smooths relationship
  • Client places order
  • Client as smooth as silk during online project meeting
  • Phase 1 of the project completes - client accepts delivery
  • Nasty comments left and poor rating
  • Client then demands freelancer quote against an impossible specification at el-cheapo price
  • Client then does what?

 

[amazon_express]

Helpful advice, Thanks 

[aa_osman]

Thank you for sharing your helpful suggestion.

[amazon_express]

Really good advice 

[dereck_s]

I see scope creep a lot. I also don't think most buyers understand fiverr lingo. Concepts, social media package, etc all mean something different to different people. Also I just found out that buyers don't see the order countdown timer ....... This creates a situation where whenever I end up bringing up said timer it's almost always met with me being seen as rushing the customer yet the timer is something Fiverr enforces not me. I think the timer and it's impact on sellers is an overall net negative on the entire platform.

[katakatica]

38 minutes ago, dereck_s said:

I see scope creep a lot. I also don't think most buyers understand fiverr lingo. Concepts, social media package, etc all mean something different to different people. Also I just found out that buyers don't see the order countdown timer ....... This creates a situation where whenever I end up bringing up said timer it's almost always met with me being seen as rushing the customer yet the timer is something Fiverr enforces not me. I think the timer and it's impact on sellers is an overall net negative on the entire platform.

I've noticed this as well. 

A lot of people don't seem to know what an outline or pitch (for a story) are. I have a bunch of my styles and the terms I use defined in my sample doc that I sent to people but I don't think people read it which sometimes leads to issues. I'm thinking of making a small Canva illustration or similar that explains it in fewer words (but I'd argue that buyers should do the research needed as well.)

From what I remember as a buyer- I did see roughly which day the delivery would be (maybe even the hour / etc.) but maybe not the timer? Which I think can definitely cause misunderstandings. 

Some people don't seem to be aware of when the deadline is and demand the full product much faster (or.... disappear for 7+ days because of being busy / etc.) I think deadlines are important but we should be able to have some sort of feature to stop to wait for the customers' input, etc. 

[dereck_s]

25 minutes ago, katakatica said:

I've noticed this as well. 

A lot of people don't seem to know what an outline or pitch (for a story) are. I have a bunch of my styles and the terms I use defined in my sample doc that I sent to people but I don't think people read it which sometimes leads to issues. I'm thinking of making a small Canva illustration or similar that explains it in fewer words (but I'd argue that buyers should do the research needed as well.)

From what I remember as a buyer- I did see roughly which day the delivery would be (maybe even the hour / etc.) but maybe not the timer? Which I think can definitely cause misunderstandings. 

Some people don't seem to be aware of when the deadline is and demand the full product much faster (or.... disappear for 7+ days because of being busy / etc.) I think deadlines are important but we should be able to have some sort of feature to stop to wait for the customers' input, etc. 

Yeah maybe the Canva image would help. I tried doing something similar showing as a logo designer showing a rough estimate as to what each logo would look like to help clients with a visual aid of what package to buy although if I'm being honest I'm not sure if it worked or not.

Note: they're from different gigs so the pricing / what's offered might vary slightly.

Edited November 3, 2024 by dereck_s

[masheyarahman]

Facing this issue now a days and being a noob on the platform made it difficult to handle this kind of situations.

Thanks a lot for this, will try to implement this on my work from now on!

Much love ❤️

[listing_guys]

Very informative guide 

[Kesha]

On 11/3/2024 at 4:46 AM, dereck_s said:

I see scope creep a lot. I also don't think most buyers understand fiverr lingo. Concepts, social media package, etc all mean something different to different people. Also I just found out that buyers don't see the order countdown timer ....... This creates a situation where whenever I end up bringing up said timer it's almost always met with me being seen as rushing the customer yet the timer is something Fiverr enforces not me. I think the timer and it's impact on sellers is an overall net negative on the entire platform.

 

On 11/3/2024 at 5:56 AM, dereck_s said:

Yeah maybe the Canva image would help. I tried doing something similar showing as a logo designer showing a rough estimate as to what each logo would look like to help clients with a visual aid of what package to buy although if I'm being honest I'm not sure if it worked or not.

Note: they're from different gigs so the pricing / what's offered might vary slightly.

This is great feedback! Thank you so much. I'll be sure to pass it along. 

[katakatica]

13 minutes ago, Kesha said:

 

This is great feedback! Thank you so much. I'll be sure to pass it along. 

In theory, this visual aids could be great practice projects for newer sellers as well. (Not for free of course)

New designers could show off their work (they'd sound a lot more reputable if they could show their work in action in their portfolios!), same goes for writers (maybe even video editors?)

In the end, these would be relatively low risk projects (needs to look and read good, that's all) so it could be interesting to think about?

 

[pavelt123456]

Thank you for the helpful suggestion.