Giving feels good. When you have a client that you like, you enjoy the work you are doing and you see they are happy with it, it feels good. Giving a little extra, going over their expectations and being appreciated for it, feels good. But there is a difference between over-delivering, this little extra that makes you both feel good, and overgiving.
Overgiving isn’t about giving a little extra to feel good. It is when you feel somehow obligated, you feel that you aren’t enough, you need to give more and more and more. And it burns you out. It doesn’t make you feel good anymore, because it doesn’t come from a good place. And that hurts you and your business.
Under Promise and Over Deliver
That’s what we have been taught. It is a common sales strategy where you, trying to achieve excellent service and client satisfaction, give more than you said you would. At first, it seems pretty logical why that would work. A client comes in expecting to get a certain service/product for that amount of money or in a specific time. And then they get something better, or faster. That will make them happy, right?
But is it a good thing or is it hurting your business? Well, there are some problems with that strategy. For it to work, first you need to under-promise. That in itself can be an issue. When you under-promise you communicate a lower level of service or quality, and you attract fewer clients. People won’t know that you are planning on over-delivering. So when it comes to marketing it isn’t very helpful.
On the other hand, people’s expectations change all the time. The first time that you under-promise and over-deliver they will be happy and surprised. The second time they will still think your service is really good. But then they will just get used to the over-delivering, they will start to expect it and it will no longer be a surprise. You are going the extra mile and not getting any compensation for it.
Can over-delivering be done right? Yes, definitely! Your clients have a lot of expectations and there are many ways you can go about over-delivering. Maybe by increasing communication and customer service, making your website, services/products super easy to understand and giving clear information. This doesn’t necessarily have to do with what you offer, you don’t need to under-promise. You can overdeliver by making their experience awesome and exceeding expectations they already had. Even though you didn’t promise it.
Expectations
When expectations are not clear they can cause communication issues. Making sure your clients understand the project outline, the amount of time it will take, all characteristics of the service they are getting, is of utmost importance. If you and your client aren’t on the same page, if there are doubts about what is to be expected (from both sides) it can cause discomfort, resentment and take the relationship south really fast.
Does your client expect that or are you just unsure of your value? Undervaluing yourself, thinking your clients won’t pay more to get more, those are common reasons why some business owners strive so hard to over-deliver. You want your client to like you so much that you will go over the moon to make it happen. But you need to stop and realize that those might be your expectations of yourself. Your client might be perfectly satisfied with your work but you are projecting your insecurities onto them. And that can also hurt your relationship!
Having a contract or written agreement helps to solidify the expectations. When you make sure that both of you agree on the same things, you can move forward with the project, knowing what is expected and what isn’t. You don’t need to wonder, it is all written down and you can refer back to it at any time.
Know the scope of the project
One phenomenon that happens when we over-give is the “scope creep”. If you work on a project for a client, and you outline what that project is going to be, you’ve agreed on a price and then somewhere along the way, you just start adding things for free. That’s what scope creep is all about. It is different than just over-delivering. It’s not just giving them a little extra.
When scope-creep happens, you are undervaluing yourself. You’re doing it for free because you don’t think they’ll pay, you don’t think that you’re valuable enough to ask for more money.
To avoid that we need to make sure we know our project’s scope. Managing your scope is simply making sure you’re following it. You already wrote it down, you said what was going to be included and you figured out how much time it’s going to take. You need to keep track of those expectations both on your side and theirs. By having this project in front of you, by knowing what it is that you’ve decided, that you’ve both agreed that will be covered, it’ll be so much easier for you to acknowledge what’s way outside of the scope.
Now, that doesn’t mean you need to strictly follow everything and never over-deliver again in your life. Having flexibility is important and being able to over-deliver is great. If something takes a little bit of time, it’s okay to say, “yeah, that’s awesome. Let’s do that as included in the project”. Never say free and it should never cause you to lose money or faith in yourself, pride in your work or credibility with your client.
Are you reactive or proactive?
If you are giving too much you might be in a reactive state. When a client calls with an issue and you have to try and smooth their worries and fix that problem that just came up but wasn’t in your schedule, that builds frustration on both sides. You spend time trying to fix a problem rather than growing your business because you are in a reactive state.
When in a reactive state, you are more likely to overgive . You want to compensate for the frustrations and you think your clients won’t like you because something went wrong. So you give more, more and more hoping it will make them like you. You lose track of the scope of the project because you are overwhelmed, and you end up burning out.
Being proactive will help you stay inside the scope of the project. If you get to situations before they become a problem you can reduce stress on your side and on the client’s side as well. Include possible issues on the scope of the project and be ready to deal with them when they come up that way both expectations are met, your client doesn’t get frustrated and you don’t feel pressured to compensate.
Stop the cycle of overgiving
Know your value. You are worth it, your work is amazing and you deserve to be paid for it. You shouldn’t be afraid of your clients not liking you. Believe in what to do, and do it to your best, they will like and appreciate you. And they will pay you. You can’t be afraid to charge more if they ask for more, or you offer more. A little extra is appreciated but keep it at that. Do not undervalue yourself.
Understand expectations before beginning the work. Talk, communicate, get to know your client and make sure they know you. Having a good scope, setting the expectations, writing it down. It all makes it easier to deliver what needs to be delivered, not more or less. It builds trust and a good relationship when you are clear with each other and give what is expected. The little extra might be nice, but the most important for making the relationship strive is the trust that comes from knowing you meet the accord you made.
Stick to the scope and stay in a proactive state. Don’t let yourself slip away from the scope. Do what was accorded, the way you planned. It’s okay, and necessary, to be a little flexible, but if it cause you to lose money or faith in yourself, pride in your work or credibility with your client then you need to stop. Get to things before they get out of hand. And remember, you are amazing!
Having trouble with overgiving? Come join us in the Overgivers anonymous Podcast!
