I finally cracked the code on getting clients to actually read my creative briefs

Had this problem for years where I'd send a brief and they'd just skim it and miss key details. Then I tried something super simple. I started putting the most important thing - the core concept or the one thing they absolutely need to answer - in a bold text box right at the top of the first page. Not buried in paragraph three like I used to do. Did this for a branding project last month for a coffee shop in Austin and the client came back with exactly what I needed on the first try. No more asking them to re-read or clarify stuff. It's such a small thing but it's saved me like three back-and-forth rounds per project. Has anyone else found a formatting hack that actually made clients pay attention?

2 comments

2 Comments

felix48814d ago

Oh man, "the one thing they absolutely need to answer." You'd think that would be common sense but clients have a superpower where they skip over anything that's not blinking at them. I did something similar for a local auto shop's website redesign. Put a big yellow box at the top that just said "WHAT'S THE VIBE, BOSS?" with three checkboxes under it. Worked like a charm because apparently adults need to be treated like toddlers sometimes. It's weird how formatting works better than actually asking them to read, but here we are.

grant_torres6d ago

Ten minutes after sending over a 14 page discovery doc for a bakery client, I got back "looks good!" with zero answers filled in. Meanwhile, the one time I used a single boring bullet point in an email asking about their budget, they replied within an hour with three paragraphs about it. So honestly, maybe the blank text approach works because it gives them zero clues about what you actually want, and they have to think for once. Toddlers might be more honest, but at least they don't pretend they read your doc.