Beaten to Death with a Carrot

Do you work for carrots? You just might. One of the most common refrains heard in the land of client relationships and business development is - "but we're going to get more work out of them." It's used as the proverbial carrot on a stick to justify going out of scope, over budget, and generally not standing up for ourselves. This mindset is quickly related to the feeling that if we push back we will risk "ruining the relationship with the client"...and thereby not get the work. If merely being honest and addressing business or communication issues with a client ruins the relationship, did we really have a...???? You get the idea. Client relationships are critical. New work from them is critical. Just don't let yourself get beat to death by that carrot on the stick.