The Danger in OverDelivering

I recently had a “Yes, this is really crappy so dig deep for the lesson” moment.

I was wrapping up a project for a client. This was a one-time flat-fee project. The components/deliverables included in the project were very clearly documented in our written agreement. So that everyone was clear (and because I have been doing this long enough to know), the agreement was also very specific in listing services related to the project that I/my company do not provide.

I felt that the final project was quite impressive. I also felt that I had gone “above and beyond” in terms of the changes, additions, revisions and tweaks I made to it far after I had submitted a 1st (and 2nd, and 3rd…) time.

As we were nearing the end of the project, the client asked me to perform a service I do not offer and that was one of the ones clearly listed as “this is something we do not do as part of this project” in the agreement. I told her I would be happy to refer her to someone who does this service.

No, she said. I thought it was part of this project and your services.

Then this client asked me if I could write something else to include in the final project. This “something else” is something that was beyond the scope of the initial project, so I let her know that I would be happy to do so and that this addition would incur an additional $XXX charge.

No, she said. I thought it was part of this project and your services.

After years of doing what I do, I have developed a sixth sense about clients — when they are thrilled and when they are not thrilled, for example. It became clear that this client was unhappy and perhaps not easily satisfied. Because I wanted to keep emotion out of the conversation and stick to the facts and to how I could work with her and help her within the context of those facts, I waited a day or two to resume conversation.

I sent her an email asking if she had any questions and if there was anything additional she was waiting on (the project was complete, but I wanted to give her a chance to share her position with me).

Be careful what you ask for…because her return email to me said it all. She told me this was the first time she had had “buyer’s remorse” in a while.

Wow….buyer’s remorse?!?!

She also told me she felt the price I had charged her was too high for what she received in return. I had told her the flat-fee within the first few minutes of our initial phone conversation weeks before. Nothing had changed.

OK……. I made myself breathe and think this over before reacting.

Maybe she had money problems.

Maybe she’d felt she’d be able to “squeeze” more out of me than our agreement spelled out.

Maybe she’d had a bad morning. Or week.

I knew that the deliverable was of the highest quality and that it (and I) over-delivered. I also know that the flat-fee I generally charge for this particular kind of project is lower than what it should be.

I was going to respond to her specifically and tell her why she was wrong but I stopped myself. I did email her back and, instead, told her, sincerely, that I was sorry she was unhappy. That I felt, and had been told independently, that I should be charging two-and-a-half times what I charged her for half the work. I told her I respect her opinion and wished her the best of luck.

What I learned (may or may not apply to you):

I’m not doing anyone, least of all myself, any favors by under-charging.
I’m also not doing anyone, least of all myself, any favors by over-delivering in terms of time and effort. My time and my expertise are valuable. Giving them away only attracts more people who want me to give them away.
If I or you are delivering quality work, and someone is unhappy with the work, 9.99 times out of 10 the issue is theirs. And there is little the expert can do to “make it right.” People will do anything to make sure they are right. So trying to make it right makes them wrong and they don’t want to be wrong.
My business is not based on project work. Nor is a long-term business or coaching relationship based on one-time projects. She doesn’t recognize the value in my expertise or services because she hired me for one isolated project. Refer these projects to freelancers.
It’s never personal. It’s always about them, not me. (Repeat 100 times.)

Previous post: The Pain Of Losing Something You Didn’t Even Need

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http://theburninghammer.wordpress.com/ David Knight

Sadly, there is simply no way to please so people. You can go above an beyond and it will never be enough. There are those that expect everything for nothing, which makes anything unacceptable. You did what you could and that is that,
http://www.getitinwriting.biz AllisonNazarian

Thank you, David. It’s the “it’s never personal” that takes the most working on! You can’t please all of the people all of the time, but it still stings when it happens.
Allison
http://www.api-mgmt.com Scott Lowe

We always try to over deliver, which I think makes it harder not to take the criticism personally. And we also don’t charge people what we should, because we are a young company and trying to get the business and build a portfolio. That devalues your product and services and creates ever-increasing expectations for an under-market-value price. Neither helps your business in the long run. You have to walk away from some opportunities on principle and for the good of the biz. It’s hard to swallow at the time, but is best for your long-term success.

Now that I’ve said it, how do I implement that line of thinking?

Your piece is right on the money.
http://www.getitinwriting.biz AllisonNazarian

Hey Scott,
Well, I think the knowing is more than half the battle. Then you have to be able to stand for what you know in the moment — and I think we always know from the start what kind of client/project/experience this will be.
Allison
Steve Saley

Why do you think there’s an increasing number of business owners who act this way? Feining ignorance from the get-go is no excuse.

You handled that perfectly Allison…thanks for sharing!
http://elizabethpottsweinstein.com Elizabeth Potts Weinstein

Here’s the question I would also have for you … did you *know* from the beginning? When I still did consulting I always knew when a client was going to be difficult but I took the project (and even talked them into it, dealt down the price) b/c I really wanted the work/$ … and those always went bad.

One of the best decisions I ever made was to turn away work that doesn’t fit me!!
http://www.eVisionMedia.ca Susan

Thanks for sharing your story Allison. I used to think that clients appreciated that extra effort that we provided and just assumed they understood the value in what they received. It seems the sad truth is, those people just want to keep taking and paying as little as possible with little gratitude for the added effort (most, not all).
I now stop trying to please the “unpleasable” because I know the stress of my efforts are ultimately an exercise of futility and lost on someone only looking to point blame instead of facing their own issues.
Ed Gaile

Establishing the scope, expectations, deliverables and price up front is the best thing you can do and you did that. Perhaps this person has dealt with other businesses in the past that try to be everything for their clients. Doing anything to “please the client” no matter if it is hurts the bottom line or dilutes the quality of their services. “Hey that is some killer copy you just produced for our site, would you mind performing some SEO for our site as well?” Instead of say “No, that is now what we specialize in” or “sure but that service will cost an extra $XX”. The business does not want to upset the client and gives them sub-standard work or services for free – pure speculation in Allison’s case here but I have seen this a good bit lately.

.
http://www.elbeeservicesllc.com Lalitha Brahma

Thanks for sharing your thoughts boldly. I have experienced this as a service provider and as a hirer of service provider.. When we are desperate for something (either for providing service to attract clients OR to hire someone because we have limited knowledge about the task in terms of time and effort) we encounter these types of situation. Only experience can help and teach us to avoid/accept/adapt to such situations.
http://GeorgeKao.com George Kao

Allison, I think your work quality is excellent!

I remember reading a Seth Godin blog post where he said that we (who like to overdeliver and make sure our clients & customers are happy) tend to focus on the few disgruntled customers/clients/audience members/partners and forget about the majority of our clients/audience members who are quite happy with our work.

And we might also forget about the few of our clients/audience members who not only love our work and are easy to work with, but tell others about it! THOSE are the people we ought to give our energy to… to understand them better, so we can help them better, and also, so we can find more people like them
http://www.getitinwriting.biz AllisonNazarian

Steve,
I think we as business owners and entrepreneurs at times let our fear get the best of us. This fear tells us — “this is the only kind of client who will hire you” or “if you don’t bust your butt, this client won’t be happy.” I think the more we stick to what we know for sure and view what we do/provide as something of great value, the more it will be received that way.
Alli
http://www.getitinwriting.biz AllisonNazarian

Hi Elizabeth PW,
Awesome quote: One of the best decisions I ever made was to turn away work that doesn’t fit me!!”
It is so empowering and so, to use your area of expertise, reflective of my truth.
In this case, I knew but I didn’t. It actually went too smoothly and I wondered why there was so little feedback. I now know it was all being saved for the Grand Finale. I am grateful for the lesson. and this “incident’ specifically has prompted me to take action in some other areas so that I am no longer even working in such an arrangement. So thank you to this clent!
Alli
http://www.getitinwriting.biz AllisonNazarian

Susan,
I totally agree. Your comment got me thinking about the whole “the customer is always right” saying. If this were the case, why would the customer need to hire any of us on the first place? If the customer knows better and best, the customer shuts out any possibility that someone somewhere can do X Y or Z better.
I smell another blog post coming on……
Alli
http://www.getitinwriting.biz AllisonNazarian

Hi Lalitha,
I agree. And once we know what we will (or won’t) stand for, we need to stick to that. When we know up front that this isn’t what we want or that this is not the client for us (and I am not saying this was the case here), we need to be true to that and use our most powerful word — NO!
Alli
http://www.getitinwriting.biz AllisonNazarian

Ed,
Yep, you hit it right on the money!
Many of us women, especially, do the whole “pleaser” thing. And as I said in the blog post, people who think/”know” they are right will do anything to keep it that way. So pleasing them or showing them why their expectations are off will simply show them they are wrong. And who wants to be wrong? Not someone who is sure they are right.
A vicious cycle….
Alli
P.S. Go Skins.
http://www.getitinwriting.biz AllisonNazarian

George,
You are so right-on, thank you!
What I am trying to do (emphasis on “try”) is use these few-and-far-between negative experiences to my benefit and, when I share them here, to the benefit of anyone else who can relate. If everything were rosy and wonderful, how much would we learn, right?
And I love what you say about those “who not only love our work and are easy to work with, but tell others about it!” — my friend @ElizabethPW calls them our “Evangelists” – and yes, those are the people who deserve our energy and help and attention and understanding.
Thank you!
Alli
http://tommcfeeley.com Tom McFeeley

Great lesson, Allison. Sometimes it’s hard to read a client at the beginning of a relationship, but inevitably some clients think because they are paying you that you are at their beck and call. The idea of the customer is always right simply doesn’t work, especially when the contract is always right.
The truth is they don’t fully respect the value of your service and see you as a vendor who is lucky to have their business. Don’t be discouraged. When clients lose the “upper hand” (if that is important to them) they can get defensive and nasty. Nothing you can do but move on.
http://gopalo.com gopalo

I charge as much as the market will bear. I have developed a sixth sense for clients that may potentially be a Pain In the Ass (PIA). Because I really don’t want to work with them, I quote a price that is at least 200% – 300% of the regular price. This additional price reflects the PIA factor. Usually they balk and we don’t work together. If they accept, I know I will be receiving more income which should compensate for the PIA that they surely will bring. Either way it’s fine.

The concept of over-delivering is just part of being excellent, in my opinion. This is what makes us valuable to our clients and keeps them coming back.

Thanks for a great post!

Steve
http://www.TheCopywritingStore.com AllisonNazarian

Steve,
I think we are saying the same thing. When you say this:
“The concept of over-delivering is just part of being excellent, in my opinion. This is what makes us valuable to our clients and keeps them coming back.”
I would say — well isn’t the baseline of what we all deliver (or should deliver) excellence? So by definition, we deliver the best and don’t need to pad it w/any nonsense. And yes, that is what should bring them back. What I do makes people money, builds their businesses and makes their lives easier. It either does or doesn’t.
xo
Alli
http://www.TheCopywritingStore.com AllisonNazarian

Thanks Tom!
I am not at all discouraged. As I said, I am grateful for these few negative experiences. They are better teachers than anything else I could ask for.
And I look deep inside myself to figure out what it is I am doing or thinking to attract such a situation. I find it, fix it and move on with the intention to not repeat the mistake.
Alli

The Danger in OverDelivering

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