Question 1

How do you recognize it?

Accepted Answer

First-draft turnaround drops to under 48 hours, but the build sits in client review for three weeks with no sign-off. Revision counts per site climb past six rounds while the original scope assumed two. Account managers start scheduling calls to walk clients through the editor because clients will not touch it themselves. Delivery margin on fixed-fee site builds falls below 30 percent once revision hours are logged against the retainer.

Question 2

Why does it happen?

Accepted Answer

Generation speed sets an expectation of instant change, so clients treat every layout, headline, and image swap as a free edit rather than a scoped change order. Prompts produce plausible but generic copy and stock imagery, which gives clients nothing concrete to approve and invites open-ended rewriting. Agencies sell the build as a fixed deliverable while the platform makes the site feel perpetually editable, so the contract and the product tell the client two different stories. Nobody owns the approval gate: the same person who generated the draft is also absorbing client feedback, so scope creep is never priced.

Question 3

How do you fix it?

Accepted Answer

Cap included revisions in the statement of work at two rounds and price round three onward at an hourly rate, stated in the proposal before the kickoff call. Lock copy and imagery in a single approval document before any layout work begins, so design changes cannot reopen content decisions. Run a 30-minute handover session where the client edits one page live in the builder, which converts future requests into either self-service or a paid ticket. Track revision hours per site for 60 days and retire any offer tier where logged hours exceed 25 percent of the fixed fee.

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