The magic number was 5 small asks before I finally said no

I tracked it for a month and realized clients would slip in an average of 5 extra tasks per project before even hinting at more pay. Once I started flagging that 5th ask, my profit margins jumped by about 15%. Anyone else notice a pattern like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma_jones7d agoMost Upvoted

Oh wow, that tracking idea is genius! Did you notice any specific types of tasks that kept showing up as the "5th ask" more often than others?

knight.uma7d ago

That pattern just sounds like scope creep, not a hidden math trick. Good clients don't test your limits like that.

lisab327d ago

Took the same approach when a client kept asking for "just one more small thing" after we agreed on the scope. Wrote down every request in a shared doc so they could see how the small things added up. Showed them the hours would double if we did all those extras. They backed off and we stuck to the original plan. Sometimes you have to make the numbers visible to stop the creep.