A client approval process that ends endless revision rounds

What an approval process is (and what it isn't)

An approval process is the agreed set of rules for how work moves from your team to "approved": who decides, when they decide, how they give feedback, and how many rounds are included. It's written down once, usually in your onboarding document and agreement, and every approval request follows it.

It isn't a tool. A review link, a shared folder or a project board can make the process easier to follow, but none of them decides who the approver is or what counts as a round. Without the rules, a better tool just makes the revision loop faster.

It also isn't a way to stop clients giving feedback. Good feedback improves the work. The process exists to collect that feedback in one place, from the right person, at the right time, so you can act on it once instead of five times.

The payoff is predictable delivery. When approvals follow the same steps every week, your publish dates hold and the hours you priced are the hours you spend.

The five rules

Rule	What you agree with the client	What it prevents
One approver	The name of the person who gives final sign-off	Conflicting feedback from different people
Batch the work	A fixed day each week or month when work is sent	Constant small requests and work seen out of context
Deadline	A response date, and what happens if it passes	Publish dates that slip without anyone deciding
Specific questions	Two or three decisions per batch	Open-ended feedback on everything
Revision policy	Number of included rounds, and what one round is	Unlimited rounds on work priced for one or two

Rule 1: One approver, named in writing

Ask at onboarding: "Who gives final approval on content?" Write the name in your onboarding document and agreement. When feedback conflicts, send it back to the approver: "Sam asked for A and Jo asked for B. Which would you like?" The client resolves their internal disagreement instead of you doing it through revisions.

Rule 2: Batch the work

Send a week or a month of work together, on a fixed day. The client blocks 20 minutes once a week instead of reacting to messages all week, and seeing the full plan reduces "can we try something different?" requests.

Rule 3: Give a deadline and say what happens after it

Every batch goes out with a response date. Agree one of these upfront, from least to most assertive: the publish date moves by the same number of days, the item is skipped this cycle, or the item is treated as approved. Don't introduce "silence means approval" mid-project.

Rule 4: Ask specific questions

Ask for decisions: "Approve as-is, or tell us what to change." "Is the offer in post 3 still correct for November?" "Option A or option B for the headline?" Specific answers can be acted on in one round.

Rule 5: Write down your revision policy

One or two rounds per deliverable is a common starting point; pick the number that matches how you price. When a client asks for another round, you don't have to refuse: "Happy to. That's outside the two included rounds, so it'll be [price] or it can come out of next month's hours. Which do you prefer?"

The emails to send

At onboarding:

Subject: How approvals will work

Hi [name],

To keep things moving, here's how we'll handle approvals:

- [Approver name] gives final approval. Others are welcome to comment.
- We'll send each [week's/month's] content together every [day].
- Please reply by [day + time]. If we don't hear back, we'll
  [move the publish date / skip / publish as scheduled].
- Each piece includes [two] rounds of changes. One round = one
  set of consolidated feedback from [approver].

Reply "sounds good" and we'll start with this week's batch.

With each batch:

Subject: [Client] content for [dates] — approval by [day]

Hi [approver],

[Number] items for [dates] are ready.
Please reply by [day, time] with "approved" or the changes you'd like.

Two questions for you:
1. [Specific question]
2. [Specific question]

[Link to the batch]

Where to keep it all

Email works for small volumes, but threads get messy fast. Whatever tool you use, it needs one link per batch the client can open without logging in, a clear approve or request-changes action per item, comments attached to the specific item, and a record of who approved what and when. When a client asks "who approved that post?" three months later, you want the answer in seconds.

How to do this in Aidelly

If you manage social content in Aidelly, you can send clients a review link for a batch of posts so they can approve or request changes without an Aidelly account. Approval settings let you decide whether posts need approval before they can be published, and comments stay attached to the post they're about.

The rules above still apply. The tool makes the process easier to follow; it doesn't replace agreeing on it with the client.

Steps you can take today

1. For each client, write down the one person who gives final approval. If you don't know, ask this week.
2. Pick a fixed day to send each client's batch, and tell them.
3. Add a response deadline to every approval email, and agree what happens when it passes.
4. Replace "let me know what you think" with two specific questions.
5. Check your agreement for a revision policy. If there isn't one, add it at the next renewal.
6. Send the onboarding approval email above to your newest client.

FAQ

How many revision rounds should an agency include?

One or two rounds per deliverable is a common starting point. Pick the number that matches how you priced the work, write it in the agreement, and define a round as one consolidated set of feedback from the approver.

What should I do when two people at the client give conflicting feedback?

Send both pieces of feedback to the named approver and ask them to choose. That keeps the decision with the client and stops you revising the work twice.

How do I stop clients from taking weeks to approve content?

Send work in batches on a fixed day, with a clear response date on every request. Agree at onboarding what happens when the date passes, such as moving the publish date or skipping the item.

Is it okay to treat no response as approval?

Only if the client agreed to it in writing before work started. Introducing it mid-project tends to damage trust, so use a softer rule, like moving the publish date, until the next agreement.

What should an approval request email include?

The dates and number of items, a response deadline, two or three specific questions, and one link to the whole batch. Ask for "approved" or the specific changes, not general thoughts.

How do I charge for extra revision rounds without upsetting the client?

Offer it as a choice rather than a refusal: a set price for the extra round, or hours taken from next month. Most clients consolidate their feedback once a round has a visible cost.

What tool do I need for client approvals?

Any tool works if it gives the client one link per batch, an approve or request-changes action per item, comments on the item itself, and a record of who approved what. Email can work for small volumes but gets hard to track as you grow.