Midway through a POC, the customer keeps adding "small" requests. How do you manage it?

Strong answer

Go back to the written POC scope and definition of done. For each new request, acknowledge it, log it in a visible parking list, and state the trade-off: "We can add this, and it moves the end date by a week, or we swap it for X." Let the sponsor choose. Requests that help prove the original success criteria can come in; those that do not go to the post-POC plan. This protects the POC's purpose, which is a clear decision, while showing the customer you heard them.

Weak-answer indicators

• Says yes to everything
• Refuses all changes
• No written scope to refer to