Scope Creep Examples — SEO & marketing
Custom reporting-dashboard setup that was never part of the quote
The retainer includes a standard monthly report. The client asks for a live, custom analytics dashboard built and maintained — never scoped or priced.
The retainer's deliverable is a monthly PDF/slide report summarizing rankings, traffic, and key metrics — standard, templated, and priced accordingly. The client asks whether they can instead get a live dashboard they can check any time, with custom metrics specific to their business, assuming this is roughly the same thing as the report just presented differently. Building and maintaining a live custom dashboard is meaningfully more setup and ongoing upkeep than compiling a monthly report.
Clause typically implicated
Clause typically implicated
Deliverables clause→ — Names the monthly report specifically as the reporting deliverable — a live custom dashboard is a different, ongoing deliverable, not a format swap of the same one.
Suggested change-order wording
Suggested change-order wording (illustrative, not legal advice)
Our retainer includes the monthly report, which is what's currently scoped. A live custom dashboard is a different kind of deliverable — it needs initial setup plus ongoing maintenance as metrics or tools change, so it comes with its own one-time setup fee and monthly add-on cost. I can put together pricing for that if it'd be useful — want me to send it over?
How this usually resolves
Many clients are satisfied once they see the monthly report can be built out with a couple of the specific metrics they wanted, without needing a full live dashboard — it's worth asking what's actually driving the request before assuming the bigger build is required.
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