01 / Agency field notes
Begin with the agreement people can find
A scope discussion needs a shared reference. Keep the accepted proposal, working brief and approved changes accessible to the delivery team. The relevant version matters: an early sales outline may describe a different offer from the final agreement.
Define deliverables, acceptance, assumptions, exclusions and the expected review process. A phrase such as reasonable revisions leaves room for interpretation. A clearer agreement explains which outputs are reviewed, who consolidates feedback and how material changes after approval are handled. The purpose is to help both sides make decisions, not to predict every possible conversation.
02 / Agency field notes
Classify the request before labelling it extra
Listen to what the client is trying to achieve. A request may expose an error in the agency's work, clarify an ambiguous requirement or introduce a new deliverable. Those situations deserve different responses. Treating every comment as a chargeable change damages trust; absorbing every addition makes the delivery plan unreliable.
Ask the project lead to compare the request with the accepted scope and current approval state. If the agreement is unclear, acknowledge that uncertainty and resolve it explicitly. Do not use a retrospective internal label as proof that the client agreed to pay more.
| Request type | Illustrative example | First response |
|---|---|---|
| Correction | A link in the agreed delivered page is broken | Fix against the agreed acceptance standard |
| Clarification | The wording of an agreed requirement has two interpretations | Confirm the intended result and record the interpretation |
| Addition | The client requests an extra landing page | Estimate scope, effort and schedule impact |
| Changed direction | An approved concept is replaced with a new route | Identify work affected and agree the next plan |
03 / Agency field notes
Estimate the whole impact, not just production time
An extra page may require more than design and build time. Include content preparation, project coordination, responsive checks, client review and release work where they apply. Explain dependencies: adding a page while the original launch date stays fixed may require another item to move.
Use a short estimate with assumptions rather than an unexplained number. The client does not need your internal cost rates, but the agency needs to understand them. Keep the proposed selling price separate from the internal cost estimate, and review the appropriate commercial terms before presenting the choice.
04 / Agency field notes
See what an unpriced change does to the project
Consider an illustrative fixed-fee project with $12,000 revenue, 160 planned hours at a $50 direct cost rate and $1,000 of external expenses. Planned contribution is $3,000, or 25%. If an additional 40 hours are delivered with no added revenue, cost rises by $2,000 and contribution falls to $1,000, or 8.3%.
This model excludes taxes and overhead outside the stated direct cost. Use it to see the cost of the extra commitment, then price the change against the scope and agreement. The agency may choose to include some extra work for a clear reason, but that decision should be visible rather than mistaken for unused capacity.
| Scenario | Direct cost | Contribution | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original plan | $9,000 | $3,000 | 25% |
| 40 unpriced extra hours | $11,000 | $1,000 | 8.3% |
| 80 unpriced extra hours | $13,000 | ?$1,000 | ?8.3% |
05 / Agency field notes
Offer add, exchange or defer choices
Frame the conversation around the client's desired outcome. One option can add the requested work with an adjusted fee or date. A second can exchange an existing deliverable of comparable effort. A third can defer the request into a later phase. These are useful choices only when the resulting scope remains clear.
For example: We can include the new campaign page in this release by moving the resource library into phase two, or deliver both with a revised date after the content is approved. This makes the tradeoff understandable without portraying the request as unreasonable. Record any fee adjustment in the actual proposal or change agreement, not only in a chat message.
Describe the request
Name the requested outcome and the deliverables that change.
Show the impact
Explain effort, dependencies, fee and schedule implications.
Offer feasible options
Include, exchange or defer work with a concrete consequence for each choice.
Record the decision
Capture the approving person, selected option, date and agreement reference.
06 / Agency field notes
Put approved changes into the delivery system
Once accepted, update the project tasks, ownership, dates and budget assumptions. Keep the original scope and a clear change history so the team can understand how the current plan evolved. A signed change that never reaches the board still leaves people working from incompatible expectations.
If approval is pending, mark the affected work accordingly and explain any deadline that depends on the decision. Do not allow an unapproved request to silently enter a team member's queue. If urgent work must proceed under an agreed exception, document who authorised it and exactly what remains unresolved.
07 / Agency field notes
Learn which boundaries need to improve
Review changes at project close. Separate valuable client expansion from repeated ambiguity in the original offer. Several requests for the same missing item may signal that the standard package or discovery process needs revision.
Use the record to improve intake questions, examples and acceptance criteria. Keep the response proportional: a small clarification may need a recorded note, while a material new deliverable needs a formal decision. The goal is a reliable relationship in which both parties can ask for change and understand the consequences.
THE PRACTICAL DETAILS
Questions, answered.
Is every revision a scope change?
No. Compare the request with the agreed deliverable, acceptance standard and review allowance. Corrections to work that does not meet the agreement should not automatically become additional paid scope.
What if the client says the work was implied?
Review the proposal and shared context together. If the wording is ambiguous, acknowledge it and agree a practical interpretation. Improve the next brief rather than pretending an unclear agreement is perfectly precise.
Can we absorb a small request?
Yes, as a deliberate decision within your authority. Record what was included and consider the cumulative effort. Several individually small requests can materially change the economics and schedule.
Should we stop all work while a change is pending?
Usually only the work dependent on that decision needs to wait. Continue agreed work when it remains useful and explain which dates or tasks depend on approval. Avoid building the requested addition before the choice is clear.
Does a task comment replace a change agreement?
A comment can preserve context, but material changes should follow the approval mechanism in your client agreement. Keep the accepted terms and their reference with the project so the delivery team can act on them.