Satisfying all its customers’ needs is always the top priority for any startup company. But in the rush to accomplish that goal, you might find yourself doing too much. And as it turns out, client overservicing can become as much of an issue as under servicing. Let’s look at this matter further and find out how we can avoid such problems.
Understanding What Client Overservicing Is
In its simplest definition, overservicing refers to the tendency of companies to provide more than what their customers might need. However, it is essential to note that this is different from the notion of “going above and beyond.” In the latter, you are simply providing more than what the customer has initially expected.
Image from Ginger Comms.
On the other hand, overservicing is doing work already outside of the project scope. You might also find yourself setting inappropriate client expectations. All of these can create many problems that we will discuss below.
Why Companies Overservice
One of the biggest reasons companies over service is that it helps establish a good rapport with clients. An instance of giving more than what the client expected is a good gesture to show that you are ready to give more. And this initial impression creates the temptation to promise a lot more than you bargained for.
There is also the belief that overserving can help increase your profits. The idea here is that, by giving more than what they wanted, you convince clients to pay more. However, this strategy may not always work with different clients.
Why Overservicing Is Bad
As is with under servicing, going to the extreme for your client can result in more harm to the business than benefits. The following are reasons why overservicing can be bad for your startup business.
Less Effective Use Of Resources
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Trying to provide more to your clients means you will also need to expend more. While doing it from time to time will still make it more manageable, the increased frequency can stretch the limits of your resources. That can also suck the ones allotted for other projects.
Increasing The Risk Of Unfulfilled Promises
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The more you promise to your clients, the more likely they will request things. However, there may come to a point when you can’t fulfill these promises satisfactorily. That can result in the breakdown of client trust in you.
Increased Burden To Your Team
Comic by Scott Adams.
Trying to fulfill all the service promises you have for clients can result in your team working well beyond their usual capacity. That can burn them out significantly. And if not dealt with, it also results in higher employee turnovers.
How Your Startup Business Can Avoid Over Servicing
While it might seem straightforward, dealing with overservicing is far from that. Here, you have to find the balance between going beyond and going overboard. For that, there are various strategies you can employ.
Determining When Your Startup Company Is Overservicing
The first thing that you need to know when trying to fix overservicing is if you are indeed doing it in the first place. As mentioned earlier, you can go on without realizing that you are giving too much. To get a better idea of whether you are entering that state, review your service data. Some of the pertinent questions you should ask here include the following.
- What percentage of your projects have overshot the initial brief and by how much?
- Did the extra work you do affect your profit margins?
- How did overservicing on this project/client affect your work on others?
By looking at the numbers, you see how much you are overstretching your work for a particular service. You also know the impact of that seemingly small addition to your work.
To clearly understand whether such overstretches are one-offs or a recurring pattern, you should monitor this data regularly. When you outsource your operations to us, we can act as that monitor, tracking project data in the background. We can provide an unbiased assessment for you, ensuring you can judge the situation more effectively.
Planning Your Projects
Arguably the best solution to overservicing is to plan your startup company projects accordingly. Here, your goal should be to map the scope correctly. That prevents potential scope bloating when you start discussing the work with clients.
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Aside from defining the work you will do for the client, list the ones you won’t. That step is crucial as it sets the service boundaries more clearly. You would also want to establish the amount of leeway you can accept for changes in scope. That gives your clients an idea of where they stand.
Dealing With Scope Creep
However, even with careful planning, there will still be some scope creep. It is inevitable, as clients will use the option above to change the work’s course to their liking. However, you can still effectively manage that creep through an established change process.
Image from Zentao.
Here, you need to ensure that every change request, no matter how small, should go through the process. You would also want to make the criteria for approval clear so that the requests are submitted accordingly. That avoids any lengthy back and forth due to minor technicalities. As part of our support duties, we can monitor these change requests for you and have them processed for approval.
Guiding Your Startup Company Employees
You also need to help your team understand how to avoid the problem themselves. In the urge to do their jobs, they exert too much effort. For this, you need to sit down with your employees and ask them why they do that. That will give you an idea of any intervention to take.
Image from Harvard Business School.
For instance, they might be doing so to reach service quota requirements. In that case, you would want to review these quotas and determine whether they might be too much at this point. You can then decide whether lowering the quota would be a good solution.
Additionally, explain to your team why overservicing is not good. Look at it not just from the business perspective but also their point of view. Tell them that overservicing can lead to burnout.
Keep Your Startup Company On The Right Track To Providing Service
Virtua Solutions understands the dangers of overservicing very well. As such, we ensure that the service to our clients is within the right range. And when you sign up with us, we will also help you avoid that problem. Our team will monitor work capacity and see that it is within the allowed limit. Contact us today and let’s provide the best results to your clients.