Performance dipped on one side. Instead of excuses, they gave the customer a fair cut before they even asked.
It was a regular Friday evening. Our team had been working relentlessly for weeks on a project with tight deadlines. So, to celebrate hitting a milestone, we decided to go for a team dinner.
The atmosphere was light, the table buzzing with chatter about the week’s highs and lows. But then, the first wrong dish arrived, a cold, unappetizing grilled paneer. We joked about it, but then another dish arrived with completely the wrong ingredients.
We were a bit frustrated. After all, it was meant to be a treat, but now it was turning into a hassle.
It wasn’t much, but it felt like the right thing to do. And it stuck with me.
The next day, as the Project Manager reviewed one of our customer accounts, he couldn’t help but think, if restaurants can do that when their food doesn’t meet expectations, why can’t we as suppliers do the same when team performance doesn’t meet our customer expectations?
We had recently deployed a small team to a customer. They had partnered with us to accelerate development of their asset tracking and predictive maintenance platform, an Industry 4.0 solution aimed at reducing downtime and optimizing equipment performance
The work was progressing well; two engineers were consistently meeting expectations, delivering quality results, and going above and beyond. But the third engineer? Not so much.
His work was consistently bouncing in QA. Peer reviews were below par. The Project Manager had to intervene twice to resolve issues last minute. It didn’t sit right with us that the customer had to deal with this silently, especially when the rest of the team was delivering strong outcomes.
Project Manager shared my thoughts with Sarah, our Delivery Head. “We need to fix this,” he said. “No long reports, no excuses, just fairness. Let’s apply a discount for performance below expectations, like how a restaurant removes a cold dish from your bill.”
On Monday, we sent this to the Customer :
“If any team member’s performance falls below 80%, or if they go on a Performance Improvement Plan, we’ll apply a discount. You’ll only pay for the value delivered.”
The response was immediate. “Honestly, this is the first time a supplier has offered this without us asking. I really appreciate it,” the customer said.
And then came the part that made us pause:
“It’s a rare thing. Most partners either ignore the dip or explain it away. You folks stepped up without being pushed. It tells me you’re actually tracking performance on your side, not just waiting for us to flag it.”
He continued,
“It’s the kind of accountability we expect internally and seeing it from an external partner is refreshing. It saves us time, it builds trust. And honestly, it makes us want to invest more in this relationship.”
That was the turning point. We weren’t just another vendor anymore.
We were a partner who cared about the results, who was willing to take responsibility when things didn’t go as planned.
What happened next was simple but powerful.
Our team took the message to heart. Tech Leads became more proactive in mentoring, recognizing that performance wasn’t just about ticking boxes, it was about ensuring quality at every step. And when issues did arise, we addressed them early, before they could escalate.
The shift was visible across the board. Everyone understood that their contribution mattered, not just in terms of hours worked, but in the value they delivered. We were no longer just a team working to meet expectations, we were committed to exceeding them.
And as for the customer ?
They didn’t have to quietly carry underperformers anymore.
No more micromanaging delivery.
Instead, they saw real collaboration, where every member added tangible value. It wasn’t just about keeping the project on track, it was about making sure the right things were being done the right way.
For us, it wasn’t just about billing anymore. It became about being an integral part of the customer’s growth story. We weren’t just suppliers; we were partners in their journey.
It all came down to that one simple decision: to be transparent, to be fair, and to make sure we were only charging for what was truly delivered. Just like the restaurant adjusting the bill for a cold dish, we adjusted ours when performance didn’t meet expectations. And it worked.
By establishing transparency, we built trust. This led to higher customer engagement and, over time, a deeper, more mature relationship. And as we continued delivering value, the partnership only grew stronger.
Curious about applying the same transparency and value-based billing? Reach out, and let’s talk about how we can partner on your growth journey.
Key Takeaway
You won’t pay for poor performance, we adjust the bill ourselves,
so bad hires never become your hidden cost.
