In the consulting world, it can be tempting to maximize the revenues on a project – to bill as many hours as we can on that project. But should we not think about maximizing the revenues from a client instead?

Let’s think this through: if I bill as much as I can on one project, I may end up with a client who’s unhappy with the cost and delays on that project. I may have high revenues from that project, but I may very well never do business with that client again.

If I concentrate on completing my project within reasonable delays and with a reasonable cost, then I may end up with a client who’s happy and gives me more contracts. It’s a lot easier to keep clients happy, then to find new clients, both in terms of time and resources.