Underquoting in professional services is easy to do. So is scope creep, where a piece of work gradually grows beyond what was originally agreed. We know because we’ve made that mistake at Looking Glass Solutions. The useful part is not pretending we should have known better. It is understanding what happened and changing how we work.
Those lessons now inform our approach to Commercial Foundations, including contract reviews. We build in more realistic contingency and make the boundaries of a piece of work clearer. Both help us look after our clients without quietly putting our own business under strain.
How a sensible quote becomes too small
A professional services quote usually starts with an assessment of the work in front of you. There is a document to review, a question to resolve or a decision to support. You estimate the time and attention it needs, then agree a fee.
The difficulty is that the work does not always reveal its full shape straight away.
A contract review can uncover further questions. Another document may affect the agreement. A point that initially looks straightforward may need more explanation or several rounds of communication before everyone is comfortable with it.
None of that necessarily means the client has done anything wrong. Often, they are discovering the complexity alongside you.
For the service provider, though, a quote based on everything going smoothly can become difficult to sustain. Extra work is absorbed a little at a time, until the original fee no longer reflects what is being delivered.
That is the lesson we have taken from underquoting: a realistic quote needs to reflect how work actually happens, not just how it looks at first glance.
Contingency gives good work room to happen
We are now better at building in contingency where things may take longer than expected.
Contingency is not about overcharging. It is about creating enough breathing room to do thorough, calm work when reasonable uncertainty becomes real.
For professional services businesses, that might mean allowing for questions, clarification or a document that needs a closer look than anticipated. The right allowance depends on the work, the information available and the assumptions behind the quote. There is no useful universal percentage that fits every assignment.
A practical starting point is to look back at recent work. Where did the time go? Which questions came up repeatedly? What did you assume would be simple that turned out not to be?
That review helps separate an occasional surprise from something you should routinely allow for. If clarification regularly takes time, it belongs in your estimate rather than being treated as an exception every time.
Contingency also has limits. It can accommodate reasonable variation within the agreed work. It should not quietly become a budget for an entirely separate task.
Contract reviews: spotting an issue is not the same as fixing it
Our contract review work provides a useful example of that distinction.
When we look at a client’s terms and conditions, it may become apparent that another document, such as a privacy policy, needs updating too. We will flag that, explain what needs attention and make clear that updating the privacy policy is not included in the original contract review quote.
We are happy to add that work, with the additional scope and fee agreed separately. Identifying the need does not automatically make carrying it out part of the original assignment.
That distinction matters for both sides.
The client gets a clearer view of what needs to happen, rather than having a connected issue ignored because it sits outside the immediate task. We avoid allowing a review of one document to become an unpriced project involving several others.
This is part of our approach to Commercial Foundations: understanding what matters commercially, explaining it plainly and helping clients make informed decisions about the next step.
Depending on the issue, specialist input may also be appropriate. Clear scope helps everyone understand which work is being undertaken, by whom and on what basis.
Make the boundary visible before it becomes uncomfortable
Scope is most helpful when it is discussed before anyone feels disappointed or under pressure.
A client should not need to guess what a quote includes. Equally, a service provider should not have to rely on an awkward conversation halfway through the work to explain a boundary that was never written down.
A clear scope sets out the task, the documents or deliverables covered, the assumptions behind the quote and the work that is not included. It also explains what happens if something additional comes to light.
For a contract review, naming the document being reviewed is more useful than simply promising to review the client’s paperwork. Being explicit about related policies, other agreements or further negotiation helps avoid different interpretations of the same promise.
The aim is not to anticipate every possible complication. It is to give both parties a shared understanding of the work and a sensible way to handle change.
A short, plain-language explanation will usually be more useful than a long list of exclusions nobody reads.
What to do when the scope grows
Even a carefully defined assignment can change. The important thing is to make that change a decision, rather than something that happens unnoticed.
When extra work emerges, pause before taking it on. Explain what you have found, why it matters and how it differs from the original task. Then agree whether to add it, address it later or seek other support.
For example, you could say: “The review has highlighted that this related document also needs attention. Updating it is outside the current scope. We can agree that as additional work before proceeding.”
That is an illustrative way to frame the conversation, not a script every business must follow. The principle is to keep the client informed and in control, while protecting the time and resources needed to deliver properly.
Where additional work is agreed, record the revised scope, fee and any effect on timing. Do not assume that mentioning an issue is the same as receiving approval to start resolving it.
Protecting your business is part of being a trustworthy partner
It can feel uncomfortable to draw a boundary when you care about the client and want to help.
There is a difference, though, between being generous by choice and repeatedly absorbing work because you feel unable to discuss it. The second can squeeze margins, put pressure on the team and make delivery harder to manage.
Protecting your team and your business is part of being a trustworthy partner. Sustainable working arrangements give you a better chance of providing consistent attention, clear communication and thoughtful support.
Clients benefit from knowing where they stand. An agreed scope and a transparent conversation about additional work are more dependable than an apparently unlimited promise that becomes difficult to keep.
We do not see this as a lesson in becoming less helpful. We see it as learning how to help more responsibly.
Stronger commercial foundations start with clearer agreements
Commercial Foundations brings this thinking into the practical agreements that support a business. Our one-off, fixed-fee services are designed to remove uncertainty and bring commercial calm, with the scope of work agreed clearly.
Contract Reviews help clients assess whether agreements are fair and commercially sound. Negotiation Support helps strengthen their position and work towards terms that fit the business. Shareholder Agreements clarify roles and responsibilities, while Directors Agreements set boundaries and expectations.
These are connected questions: what are we committing to, who is responsible and what happens when circumstances change?
As you reflect on this year, look at one assignment that took more time than expected. Was the estimate too optimistic? Was the scope unclear? Did additional work begin without a separate agreement?
The answer gives you something practical to change before the next quote goes out.
If your contracts or commercial arrangements need a clearer starting point, explore Commercial Foundations and our contract review support. You can schedule a free 30-minute discovery call to talk through what is needed and what can wait.
Underquoting is a mistake we have made. Better contingency, clearer scope and honest conversations are how we learn from it.