June 29, 2026
Priority Is Scope Control
On a recent coaching call, a student and I were designing an “all you can eat” subscription service.
The basic idea was:
The client pays a fixed monthly fee.
They can submit as many requests as they want.
The provider handles the work on an ongoing basis.
Simple enough.
But the obvious fear with this sort of offer is:
“What if they abuse it?”
What if they treat it like a buffet and start filling their pockets with shrimp?
The instinct is to cap the number of requests per month.
Don’t do that.
As soon as you say “up to five requests per month,” the buyer starts dividing your price by five.
Now you’re back to selling units.
Here’s the thing...
Unlimited does not mean uncontrolled.
You can control scope without counting requests.
For example:
- Define exactly what kinds of requests are included.
- Require clean inputs before work begins.
- Work on one request at a time.
- Let the client choose the highest priority item.
- Promise turnaround on the highest priority item, not the entire queue.
This keeps the offer feeling unlimited to the buyer while giving you a throttle on throughput.
If they submit ten requests, fine.
Which one matters most?
You work on that one.
When it’s done, they pick the next one.
Some lower-priority requests may sit in the queue long enough to become irrelevant.
That’s not a bug.
That’s the system working.
The goal is not to finish everything they can possibly think of.
The goal is to deliver enough valuable work every month that staying subscribed feels like a no-brainer.
Yours,
—J