A prospect asks for a demo, understands the problem, and has money to spend. Then the requests arrive: a different workflow, three integrations, a custom report, and a launch date that would occupy your whole team.
It is a serious opportunity. You should also ask what accepting it would mean for the customers and product you already have.
Early founders have good reasons to take unusual work. Revenue can pay salaries, a demanding customer can teach you something useful, and a service project can become a viable business. Make that choice with an honest account of the work.
Describe the work behind the contract
Consider a fictional company that helps independent agencies prepare client reports. Its existing customers connect their accounts, review a draft, and send it to a client. A larger prospect wants approval permissions across several departments and an export into its internal finance system.
Start by writing down the commitments. Include onboarding, development, review meetings, security questions, training, support, and maintenance after launch. Ask who will use each requested feature and what happens if it is unavailable.
Some requests may be preferences. Others may be conditions of purchase. Find out before putting them into a proposal. The buyer may accept a simpler first version if it completes the job they need done.
The customer discovery guide includes an interview log for separating what a prospect currently does from what they say they might want. Ask about the last time the problem occurred and the work required to handle it.
Compare the account with the customers you want
Look at the customers who already get value from the product. What do they have in common? Consider the task, the person doing it, how often it occurs, and the conditions that make delivery practical.
A larger company can share the same need and still require a very different business to serve it. Its buying process might involve procurement, multiple approvers, and a support commitment your current price does not cover.
Use the ideal customer profile guide to record both fit and disqualifiers. Compare the prospect with those criteria before changing the criteria to accommodate an attractive contract.
If this account would move you toward a different customer group, describe that choice explicitly. Review whether other buyers share the need, whether you can reach them, and whether your team wants to serve them. One prospect provides a place to investigate; it does not establish a market by itself.
Price the obligation you are accepting
Estimate the effort using the people who will actually do the work. Include a range where the integration or approval process is uncertain. Check what other commitments would slip while the team delivers it.
You may discover that the account makes sense as a paid service project with a defined scope and maintenance terms. You may be able to offer a standard package with a few paid additions. Or the buyer's requirements may exceed what you can responsibly promise.
Review the unit economics worksheet and pricing guide before assuming a large contract will be profitable. Revenue arrives with delivery obligations. A one-time build can also create years of small support requests.
Record which parts of the work could help other customers. Be specific: a reusable export is different from a report built around one company's internal codes. Someone will need to maintain both.
Leave the buyer with an accurate answer
If the fit is poor, explain the gap plainly. You could say: “We support a single team reviewing its own reports. Your approval process needs permissions we do not currently provide, and we cannot commit to building them for your deadline.”
Offer a narrower scope only if it would help the buyer. Do not describe an unsupported workaround as a finished capability. If you know a suitable provider, you can offer an introduction with both parties' agreement.
When a promising account goes quiet or declines your revised offer, record why. Over time, repeated objections may show that your positioning attracts buyers with needs you cannot meet. The positioning and messaging guide can help you make the intended customer and use case clearer before the next sales call.
Choose one open opportunity that would require substantial custom work. Write down the full obligation, the customers it could help next, and what your team would delay to accept it. Use those three answers to decide what you can offer.