Five ways to get approval quicker

Whether you’re a designer, account handler, or client seeking internal approvals, getting sign off on a project can sometimes be the hardest part. You get endless rounds of amends, unclear feedback and the whole process seems to take forever.

But it doesn’t have to be like that. When speaking to clients or writing emails, follow these few simple techniques and you’ll almost certainly increase your approval success rate.

1. Ask for approval

As strange as it sounds, actually asking for formal approval is something that gets missed from most project update emails. Make a point of mentioning approvals as often as you can. You don’t have to be blunt about it – use it as an opportunity for everyone to maintain focus:

… and let me know if you’re still confident we can get approval before Friday as planned.

2. Be positive about the work you’ve done

If you’re positive and confident about what you have produced, then it’s far easier for your client to be, too. Be negative, and… you know the rest. So, instead of: “Let me know if you like it”, try:

… it’s the perfect solution, I’m sure you’ll love it!

3. Ask only for small amends

At this point in the project, you’ve already put a huge amount of effort into clarifying the brief, doing preliminary work, devising a solution, designing or writing the piece and refining some of the details. All you want now is a final spit-and-polish, not fundamental changes.

So, be careful to narrow the focus of amends to small things like details and factual errors:

… double check all the facts and let me know if there’s anything else you’d like us to consider tweaking.

4. Give a clear deadline

Be clear when you need feedback by. Your client’s relying on you to help them get the project delivered on time. And you’re working on other things as well, right? So you need to receive amends by a specific point in time to make sure everything happens efficiently and you’re able to meet all your deadlines:

… I’ll need your feedback and amends by 4pm tomorrow at the latest so we can keep on track for delivery.

Anything other than clear point in time will almost always mean you get feedback later than you’d ideally like and you risk missing your final deadline.

5. Recap the brief

When you’re nearing the end of a project, it’s natural for everyone to stop looking at the brief and to see the design or copy in front of them in isolation.

But approvals must be done in reference to the brief: it helps avoid panicked last minute changes or questions from the Board that could hold things up, or suggestions that are completely off-brief.

Replay important parts of the brief, or discussions you’ve had along the way. Be strategic, too – use your experience to predict what might be queried and focus on that in your covering note:

… the logo looks amazing in that position! It was the right decision to keep it that size – any bigger and the whole thing would have looked a lot less sophisticated.

And:

… as discussed, I’ve made that box bigger – it alters the look of it, but we know why the change was needed.

Be in control

Getting swift and painless approvals, with amends trimmed to a minimum, is a valuable skill for all designers, account handlers and clients needing to get internal approvals. It helps you keep projects on track, makes planning your week a lot easier and means the work you do is more profitable and enjoyable.