As project managers, we’ve all heard the adage, “The customer is always right.” While it’s a well-intentioned mantra aimed at fostering great customer service in business, especially project management, this mindset can lead to challenges if taken literally. The truth is that customers—while valuable—don’t always have the right answers or give the right direction in projects. It’s our job to strike a delicate balance between respecting the customer’s input, keeping client satisfaction at high levels, and delivering a successful project. In project management, this is what separates the good and the not-so-good project managers.
Here’s why this myth can be problematic and how we, as PMs, can navigate these situations effectively.
Intentions May Not Align with the Scope of Work
Customers sometimes want things that weren’t originally agreed upon in the contract. For example, after seeing the project in progress, they might feel “inspired” to suggest new features or changes to timelines. Thus, the dreaded “scope creep” or “gold plating” comes crawling in like an unwanted house guest to eat up all your food, leading to delays or budget overruns. As project managers, we are better equipped than most customers to analyze proposed changes and decide how they will impact the project. PMs should manage these client suggestions like they would their own checkbook.
How to address this tricky problem:
Clarify and Document the Scope From the Beginning: Ensure all deliverables, timelines, and responsibilities are documented in the SOW. Review it with the client to ensure that everyone understands the alignment. Many times, this is already done before a project manager is assigned. If that is the case, read and know the agreement before you start managing it.
Speak Up Immediately: Don’t let your desire to keep the customer happy stop you from raising an issue with scope as soon as it is brought to your attention. It’s all about the agreement, not feelings. This is a fear that project managers need to get past. You might know my hobby horse from past posts or blogs: Communication! Valuable project managers know how to communicate to satisfy the client and still manage toward the agreement, scope, deliverables, timeline, etc.
Use a Change Management Process: Have a formal process for handling scope changes, including cost and schedule impacts, and never skip it! It might be tempting to just exchange a few emails, but you will increase the likelihood of misunderstandings, disagreements, and dissatisfaction without formally managing change.
Unrealistic Expectations
Whether from inexperience, pressure from their own obligations, to make themselves look good, or any other reason, clients might attempt to push deadlines and goals that are not realistic. Getting projects done inherently involves push and pull from various stakeholders and the client, but if handled respectfully by all parties, this can result in an optimal outcome for everyone. Ultimately, project managers have the training, knowledge, and experience to determine what is realistic. Determining what is realistic/unrealistic should match the agreement, not how we feel it should be. Project managers are also the ones who will be left holding the bag if we approve a goal or deadline that fails or is outside of the agreement.
How to address this problem:
Educate Clients: Walk clients through the agreed-upon timelines and outcomes when unrealistic expectations arise. Document them and follow up. Offer a brief review of the expectations with the client. Communication, communication, communication!
Use Data to Set Expectations: Share data you get from your team (like estimates) and the agreement to illustrate achievable goals and timeframes that align with the agreement. Be patient while helping the client understand.
Offer Add-On Options: If clients want extra features, always respect what they want and do an assessment. This shows that you care. After the assessment, offer them as billable additions (change order) or other options like switching it with another scope (scope reduction) or add them to a wish list for a future phase, etc.
Communicate, then Communicate Some More: Use your communication skills and active listening to make sure you provide the client with the information they need to feel confident in the direction of the project. Using active listening skills will help you be sure that you recognize and address the client’s needs. Even if the customer expects something out of scope, you can still listen, care, and take action without giving away things for free.
Keep it Collaborative: Position yourself as a partner in achieving their goals rather than an obstacle. Document expectations, change requests, action items, etc.
Conflicting Agendas
A customer’s priorities may not always align with the overall objectives of the project. For example, a stakeholder might prioritize their department’s needs over the project’s success or other departments as a whole, which can lead to misaligned decisions or inefficiencies. Sometimes, clients might feel pressured to achieve an outcome that they haven’t fully communicated, leading to confusion and frustration. This one can be tricky as it is a common area of project trouble.
How to address this tricky problem:
Ask Questions: Communicate, listen, and then dive into the “why” behind their request. Often, this reveals the real issue they’re trying to solve and focuses on ways to solve it.
Align Stakeholder Objectives: A project manager is to keep stakeholders aligned on project goals. Revisit these goals regularly during project updates. When solving a problem, keep everyone who needs to be informed updated. This is what a communication plan is for.
Follow up: After assessing the request or problem, respond using the agreement as a guide. Again, it could be a change request, action item, or something the customer drops after the discussion around the agreement, the issue, the investigation, and the findings. Always document!
Risky Decisions
Clients may push for shortcuts that increase the likelihood of problems. For example, they might want to skip testing phases to meet a deadline, which can lead to errors or system failures later. Usually, this comes into play when a client or stakeholder is experiencing pressure from another source and they are wanting a quick fix to resolve the tension. It is a project manager’s job to be a brick wall, resisting the pressure to make decisions that satisfy in the short term but cause lasting damage. However, it’s tricky because you don’t want the customer to see you as a stubborn brick wall.
How to address this tricky problem:
Perform Risk Assessments: Communicate, listen, and care. Identify potential risks, including skipping phases, and discuss with the client the risks involved. After investigating, come back with clear data on the consequences of the decisions. Mention and document this as a risk with the consequences (probability and impact).
Escalate When Necessary: If a client insists on risky decisions, escalate to higher management or stakeholders to advocate for the project’s integrity. Ask for help! At the end of the day, most stakeholders want a successful project that lives up to the agreement.
Hold Strong and Be Confident: Don’t be afraid to calmly and respectfully decline asks that will endanger the project’s success. You can say after investigating the possibility of that decision, we cannot move forward. You may be able to provide other options and make sure everything is documented.
Blame Shifting
When delays or issues occur due to the customer’s own challenges, like not setting up an environment on time, etc., they may pressure the project manager to absorb the impact instead of formally addressing the issue with a change order. This can lead to disputes over cost or schedule adjustments and will leave you, the project manager, out on a ledge when the consequences inevitably catch up with the customer’s poor decisions. It’s tempting to say: why not? It’s someone else’s money. Again, handling this like it was your bank account is the mature thing to do. Many PMs never get past this mindset in their careers.
While it’s important to challenge customers when necessary, how we approach these conversations matters. The goal isn’t to prove them wrong but to build trust and collaborate on the best path forward and demonstrate our care for the project and their input.
How to address this tricky problem:
Document Everything: Keep detailed records of timelines, delays, and client responsibilities as you manage tools to capture risks, issues, decisions, actions (investigating/results), and statuses. Use these to address any disputes about accountability.
Address Delays Directly: When delays occur, immediately identify, investigate, come back with options, communicate their impact, and propose a formal change order to adjust the schedule, cost, or any other options.
Patience and Communication are Key
These are just a few of the issues, albeit tough ones, that might arise when working with customers. There can be many variations on these themes, but most can be dealt with if you take your time and exercise patience and sound communication principles like active listening. Always give clients the benefit of the doubt and assume that they mean well. Most people do. Remember, you all have the same goal: a successful project. Here is a golden nugget to be explained in a future post/blog: the level of relationship determines the speed of the response. So, when in doubt about the relationship, listen, care, and let them know you will investigate and get back to them the next day (or a committed future date, depending on who is involved in the investigation). However, communication and keeping the customer updated on the investigation is important.
The Myth, Reframed
The customer is not always right, but they are always valuable. Their perspective and feedback are critical. As project managers, our role isn’t to blindly follow their lead but to guide them with expertise, empathy, and respect—and always follow the agreement.
When we debunk the myth that “the customer is always right,” we create space for smarter decisions, stronger relationships, and better outcomes. After all, success isn’t about being right—it’s about finishing the agreement. This illustrates another good reason for project managers to increase communication skills and handle difficult situations gracefully while still managing to the agreement.