“While You’re Here” Is Not a Payment Plan

Written by James Sanders

The four most expensive words in business may be “while you’re at it.” They usually arrive with a smile, sound completely reasonable, and somehow turn a profitable job into community service.  A customer requests another revision. An installation needs an “easy” addition. A project grows a new phase that apparently everyone discussed except the person preparing the invoice.  Welcome to scope creep: when the work expands, but the price stays put.

Last week, we addressed setting payment expectations before work begins. This week’s question is how to keep extra work from becoming free work—the next step in our “You Made the Sale. Now Get Paid.” series.  The answer starts with boundaries—not the unfriendly kind, but the kind everyone understands before the bill arrives.  A few practical habits can help:

• Define what is included and what is not. Identify deliverables, quantities, assumptions, and revision limits where appropriate. “Complete project” leaves plenty of room for competing imaginations. 
• Establish a change process. Your agreement should explain how additional work is requested, priced, and approved. Follow that process rather than relying on a hallway conversation. 
• Get approval before doing the extra work. Document the added scope, price or pricing method, and any scheduling impact. Confirm approval with someone authorized to give it. 
• Give your team permission to pause. Employees should know when to flag a request instead of automatically saying, “Sure, no problem.” Helpful should not mean unlimited. 
• Make intentional exceptions visible. Sometimes a small courtesy is good business. Identify it as a courtesy so it does not quietly become the new baseline.

The conversation need not be awkward:

“We’re happy to add that. It falls outside the original scope, so we’ll confirm the additional cost and timing for your approval before proceeding.”

That is customer service with a functioning calculator.  Because “it will only take a minute” is a time estimate—not an agreement to work for free.