Free template · client unrealistic deadline

When the client's timeline is impossible: the counter-offer

They want the whole thing in two weeks. It's a six-week job. Saying yes means missing it; saying no means losing it.

The email

Subject: [PROJECT] — what fits in [DEADLINE]

Hi [NAME],

I can't do the full scope by [DEADLINE], and I'd rather tell you that
now than at the end of it.

Two things that do work:

A. [SCOPE_A] by [DEADLINE] — the part that unblocks you. [PRICE_A].
B. All of it, done properly, by [FULLDATE]. [PRICE_B].

Which one do you want? And if it genuinely has to be everything by
[DEADLINE], say so and I'll help you find someone with the bench
for it.

[YOU]

Replace everything in [BRACKETS] before you send it. A stray [NAME] is the most expensive typo in freelancing.

Why it works

It replaces a yes/no question with a menu, and people who are given a menu pick from the menu. Option A protects the date they actually care about by shrinking the scope instead of the quality. And offering to help them find someone else is what proves the constraint is real rather than a bargaining move.

What most people send instead

Saying yes and privately planning to negotiate later. You will be negotiating from a position of already being late, which is the worst position there is.