How do you navigate last-minute changes in contract scope when dealing with a demanding client?

Stay in your Sovereign energy. A last minute change of scope is a golden opportunity for you to upsell the client. By assessing what the change will involve, you can add hours or packaged services at a premium rate because of the apparent urgency of the request - ie., If they had given you more notice you could have either arranged your work flow to accommodate or hired extra staff at a lower rate. It's also an opportunity to bring on a partner who can absorb any elements of the larger scope you can't handle and to broker a deal where you earn a percentage from the partner as well!

Any changes requested by the client needs to be evaluated for the impact on cost, time schedule and ability to incorporate the changes. Further the requirement must be discussed with the client to understand it well. In case of any substantial impact on Cost and timelines, formal revised offer must be submitted unless it cannot be absorbed.

The POWER OF YES! Principio de la confianza al largo plazo con los clientes! La respuesta siempre es sí! Después del sí! El siguiente paso es dar a conocer las implicaciones de ese Sí a corto y largo plazo! Pero lo más importante es tene la disposición de ayudar siempre! De servicio! Y nuestros clientes e son primero! Después se pueden negocias muchas decisiones, costos extras, etc? Pero la primera y única respuesta es Si! THE SUPER POWER OF YES! Establecer los puntos claros y el nivel de compromiso de una y otra parte! Siempre estableciendo una relación Gana-gana! Estamos para colaborar, pars trabajar por objetivo común donde todas las partes estén comprometidas a estar satisfechas al final de la transacción!

Open discussion shall certainly help to educate the cusyomer as well understand the implications as to why the customer is looking for this change. It may work out after discussion that the customer will withdraw the new requirement

Early involvement of your lawyer/corporate legal counsel is advised, so that you could understand fully and even leverage the existing terms to help your discussion with the demanding client (price change, scope change, timeline change, key deliverables ...). Discuss with your legal aid before/at the same time discussing with your client will help you to understand which terms are important and which terms are flexible for your best interests. Experienced lawyer can help you form a practical negotiation strategy and key terms of your new offer to client.

Agreed. For any last minute changes , proper evaluation must be done to study the impact. In case the additional requirement needs reworking of the offer , it must be informed to client after thorough work. In the meanwhile time line to be taken for rework.

Document, document, document. Expert negotiators know to document all stages of the negotiation, and not just when an agreement is reached. This is vital for referencing and ensuring alignment on the deals terms from start to finish.

Manter as partes envolvidas na mesma página, dialogando de forma transparente e franca quanto aos novos prazos e implica??es é essencial, a fim de que possam ser adequadamente envolvidas na tomada de decis?es e tenham maior visibilidade dos ajustes que ser?o necessários quanto ao cronograma inicialmente tra?ado. é importante que esse alinhamento seja realizado de forma célere, permitindo que quaisquer novos ajustes de cronograma possam ser viáveis, dentro das expectativas para a nova realidade.