By Alex Coull
You've done the work. It's good. It's sitting in the client's inbox. And now you're doing the thing every agency does: refreshing, waiting, and drafting a "just circling back on this" email you don't really want to send.
Slow approvals aren't a client problem so much as a process problem, and process is something you can fix. Here are seven ways to get to yes faster, without nagging anyone.
1. Ask for one decision, not a reaction
"Let me know what you think" invites open-ended feedback and delay. "Please approve, or tell us the one change you need" invites a decision. Frame every review request around a single, concrete action, so the client knows exactly what you want from them.
2. Make approving easier than ignoring
If signing off means logging into a portal, remembering a password, and hunting for the right file, you've added friction at the exact moment you need none. The lowest-friction path wins. A one-click approval a client can action from their phone will always beat a login wall.
3. Set the deadline with the work
Don't send a deliverable and hope. Send it with a clear, reasonable line: "we'll proceed on this basis if we don't hear back by Thursday." You're not being pushy. You're giving the project a heartbeat.
4. Reduce the number of approvers
Every extra person in the approval chain multiplies the delay. Where you can, agree a single decision-maker up front. If sign-off genuinely needs a committee, get them all in one thread at once rather than one after another.
5. Show, don't attach
Feedback slows down when clients can't see what they're approving in context. Present the work where it lives, as a shared visual or an inline preview, rather than a pile of attachments they have to download and piece together.
6. Automate the follow-up
The awkward chase email is a task, and tasks can be automated. A polite, well-timed reminder that goes out on your behalf removes the delay and the discomfort in one go. You stop being the person who nags, and the system handles it quietly.
7. Close the loop visibly
When a client approves, they should see it land, and so should your team. A visible "Approved" status heads off the second round of "did you get my sign-off?" emails and lets everyone move on.
Most of these come down to one idea: remove the friction and the ambiguity around the moment of decision. If you'd like to see what slow sign-off is actually costing you, our sign-off cost calculator works it out from your own numbers.