Handling Client Expectations During Project Hiccups

Over the past 20 years in market research, many project issues I've seen stem from mismanaging client expectations. Whether you work for a research firm, an agency, a consultancy, or any other business that involves regular client discussions, here are 4 pointers. 1️⃣ Communication—Regularly communicate, candidly ask the client how often they want updates, and never let a week go by without touching base, regardless of the project stage. Anticipate questions and answer them before they ask. A client sending an email asking, "What's the status of...?" is a failure on your end - within reason. Lack of responsiveness leads to mistrust, even more micromanagement, skepticism, and other issues that can be snuffed out by communicating openly. 2️⃣ Be Realistic—We all want to say "yes" to clients, but there are often ways to showcase your experience and expertise by being honest about what can be achieved with a given timeline and budget. The expectation could be a lack of understanding about the process or industry norms. Underpromise and overdeliver versus overpromise and underdeliver. Those honest conversations may appear inflexible, but they're often more about setting expectations and setting up both parties for long-term sustainable success. Saying "no" to this project could be a better long-term decision for the account than saying "yes" and failing with no second chance. 3️⃣ Understand Perspective—Take the time to actively listen to your client's needs, goals, and priorities. It goes beyond listening and includes asking smart (and sometimes bolder) questions to get a complete understanding. What drove the need for research? Why is receiving results within 2 weeks crucial? What happens if you don't receive results in 2 weeks? Understanding what's pushing the decisions behind the scenes can be a game changer. 4️⃣ Solutions Over Problems—Never present a problem or an issue to a client without a path forward. "This happened, but here are 3 things we can do to fix it." You need to be more than someone who relays information, you need to be a true consultant. Be able to justify each recommendation and explain the pros and cons of each path. -------------------------------------- Need MR advice? Message me. 📩 Visit @Drive Research 💻  1400+ articles to help you. ✏️ --------------------------------------

Saying "yes" feels right, but "no" can save your project. And also save your client’s trust. Last week I had a tough time with one of my clients. Firefighting with a last-minute high-priority request. → The request was outside the scope. → No one is trained to do it. → And, I need to deliver it next week. These unrealistic expectations are nothing new in project management. I had two choices to respond to this conversation: 1/ Say yes and rush to finish. 2/ Have a tough conversation and protect the project. I chose the second. It would have been easier to say: ↳ "I’ll move things around and figure it out." ↳ "It’s tight, but I’ll make it happen somehow." The first option feels easier. You want to be helpful. You want to be seen as a problem solver. But what happens when you agree to unrealistic expectations. Particularly the one that is unclear. → They lead to mistakes. → Mistakes lead to rework. → Rework leads to missed deadlines and broken trust. Here’s a better way to handle such situations: → Listen and acknowledge the urgency. → Explain the impact of rushing. → Offer a structured way to address the request. For example: "Let’s do this right, not just fast. If we rush, we’ll need to redo work later. Instead of squeezing it in, let’s reprioritize, consult the team and review the impact. Please submit a change request so we can assess it properly." Will it be uncomfortable? Yes, it will be. Will there be push back? Yes, there will be. But in the end, your client will respect the process. You’ll save your project from scope creep. The team will trust you. Difficult conversations aren’t about saying NO. They’re about setting clear expectations, so projects actually succeed.

In my early days, I said “yes” to everything. A client would ask for 5 flows and 3 campaigns to be built—immediately—and I’d get started right away, convinced that quick delivery was the key to keeping clients happy. But here’s what actually happened: ▪️ Rushing meant there wasn’t enough time for a well-thought-out strategy. ▪️ Emails were sent without the proper testing or optimization. ▪️ The client got what they asked for, but the results fell short of expectations. That’s when I realized: managing expectations isn’t about agreeing to every request. It’s about slowing down, prioritizing, and leading with strategy. Now, when a client asks for multiple flows and campaigns at once, I approach it differently. I’ll say: “Let’s focus on what will create the biggest impact first. Which flow or campaign ties most directly to your immediate goals? We can start there, test it, and build out the rest step by step.” That shift has made all the difference. Instead of rushing to check off every task, the process becomes thoughtful, and the client sees measurable results—not just a completed to-do list. It’s not about doing more, it’s about doing what matters. Have you faced this kind of situation with a client? How did you approach it?

I’ve seen too many teams caught off guard when a project veers off track. The plan looks solid. The goal feels doable. And the path appears to be smooth and straightforward, until you start driving and find out the path is actually a winding road with bumps and hairpin turns along the way. A better mindset is to accept that problems will happen and prepare to face them together. For instance, on a recent project, we ran into timeline constraints almost immediately. It was a tough start that put pressure on the team and tested their ability to self-manage. But rather than waiting for leadership to intervene, the team leaned into one of our core values: Team Wins. They didn't pretend everything was fine. They acknowledged the issues, focused on what they could control, and initiated honest, proactive conversations with the client. By resetting expectations early, we built trust and gave everyone the opportunity to realign around a realistic, achievable plan. In the end, the project came in ahead of the realigned schedule, and the client stayed happy throughout the process. The difference between chaos and momentum is how early you're willing to acknowledge and surface the inevitable bumps in the road - and how committed your team is to solving them together.