Research shows what we know: clients are not waving they’re drowning

Feel like your clients are ghosting you, or that project updates are lost in a sea of unread emails? You’re not imagining it. The latest What Clients Think* survey found 80% of clients are under-resourced and overwhelmed.

Luckily the survey also has the answers …

Make the next step obvious

It’s clear many clients are overwhelmed. The survey shows they crave agencies who ‘drive projects’, ‘make them more accountable’ and ‘take things off my plate’. Yet many design agencies still end every email with ‘let me know your thoughts’ or ‘what do you want to do next?’.

Try this instead

End every client email or meeting with a single, clear next step.
Use a checklist or a one-line summary:

“Here’s what I need from you by Friday: approve the draft or send edits.”
“Next step: I’ll send the revised concept by Tuesday. You just need to review and reply ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”
“Attached: a 2-minute Loom video walking you through the changes, no meeting needed unless you want one.”

Why it works

It works because it reduces decision fatigue for your client. It keeps projects moving (and invoices flowing) and you become the design agency that makes their life easier, not another task on their to-do list.

Next steps

If you want to go further, try sending a “project at a glance” summary every Friday afternoon.
One page, bullet points.
It helps manage client expectations, it’s proactive rather than reactive, and everyone can head into the weekend understanding what’s needed to keep a project moving.

I sent Friday emails routinely to my clients and they loved it but surprisingly I’ve not heard of anyone else who does it.

As always, happy to discuss further, just email Carol

*What clients think is an annual report based on 700 client interviews conducted on behalf of creative agencies.

Carol Mackay

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