Under Promise, Over Deliver
You will hear this phrase numerous times on many different clients and it is a part of every consultant’s motto. There is nothing wrong or unethical about committing to work you know will be feasible to accomplish in the given time and will not require additional stress and extra hours. This is where the difference lays between under promising and sandbagging, the latter is frowned upon and considered an unethical practice as you would be working at a slower pace to drag out work and billable hours. Under promising allows you to set commitments with the client that you are confident are winnable in your favor, similar to playing a game where you set the odds in your favor.
Overpromising creates unnecessary risk and additional work, thus creating scope creep. It can put you and your firm’s reputation on the line by setting the client’s expectation to tasks that you may not be able to complete on time or at all. It is always best to avoid overpromising work by analyzing the work against the quick win criteria.
If you can over deliver in the same time-frame of the existing project plan, without burning too much extra time or burning yourself out, then giving the client a bit more than they originally expected is always a welcome surprise. Going above and beyond for a client will always be appreciated and will help put you on the path for selling future work and additional phases of projects.
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