AGENCY PRICING & RETENTION
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Your learning path: 22 lessons.
Module 02 / Lesson 06 · Read, apply, check
Define deliverables and approval rules that protect quality, timing and a shared understanding of completion.
A deliverable needs more than a name. Specify its purpose, format, expected scale, source requirements and the standard for acceptance. For example, an executive commentary draft might include one interview, a defined subject, a fact-check stage and an agreed revision process. Avoid vague adjectives such as compelling or world-class as the only completion test. They can express aspiration but do not tell the team what to deliver. Acceptance should focus on the agreed brief and verifiable requirements, while leaving room for professional judgment. Independent publication is a separate event unless the offer explicitly concerns a verified commercial route.
List what the client must supply and when: data, permissions, interview access, brand material and a named approver. Identify the consequence of a late or unusable input in practical terms. The delivery date may move, the claim may narrow or a replacement task may need approval. Do not assume the team can recover every lost day by working faster. Build reasonable review time into the plan and show the client which dates are fixed by external events. A dependency register is useful only if someone updates it and raises a decision when a required item is missing.
A revision round should mean a consolidated set of comments from the authorized reviewer on the agreed brief. Distinguish corrections of agency errors from a new direction, additional interview or rewritten strategy. State how many rounds are included and how contradictory feedback will be resolved. Ask the client to consolidate internal comments rather than sending several competing versions to the writer. Keep a version history and an approval record so everyone knows which draft is current. The purpose is not to charge for every correction; it is to prevent a moving brief from being treated as ordinary proofreading.
Set a response window and a route for reminders, escalation and rescheduling. Silence should not be casually treated as permission to release sensitive claims or attributed quotations. If the agreement contains any deemed-acceptance provision, it needs precise scope and appropriate review; publication approval may still require an affirmative decision. Explain how a delayed client response affects reserved production time and whether additional rush work is available. Record changes in writing with the new owner and date. This makes the schedule a shared operating agreement rather than a calendar the agency is expected to defend regardless of circumstances.
Purpose, format, inputs and completion standard.
One approver consolidates feedback.
Separate corrections from changed scope.
Record the approved version and explicit decision.
A fictional consultancy commissions a thought-leadership article based on one executive interview. The scope includes a source check and two consolidated revision rounds. The client names its communications director as approver and agrees to return comments within three working days. After the first draft, legal and sales send contradictory edits directly to the writer. The account lead returns a single comparison sheet to the communications director, who resolves the conflict before the second round begins. A request to add another market and two customer interviews is priced as a scope change. When a source approval arrives late, the team moves the release date rather than assuming silence means consent. The final record contains the approved version, supporting evidence and a clear release instruction, so the delivery team can distinguish completion from the separate decision to distribute the article.
Another team offers two revisions but never defines a round or an approver. Five departments send comments over two weeks, each assuming their message is the first round. The writer keeps revising, then publishes the latest version to meet the original date even though a quotation remains unapproved. The conflict is not solved by counting emails more strictly. It requires consolidated authority, version control and a clear distinction between drafting acceptance and release permission.
A revision limit should not become an excuse to leave agency mistakes uncorrected. Separate defects against the agreed brief from changed preferences or new requirements. Fair treatment preserves trust while allowing the agency to price genuinely additional work. The strongest process makes that distinction before a disagreement, with examples both parties can understand.
Approval and acceptance provisions can carry legal consequences. Use clear, reviewed terms appropriate to the engagement, especially for sensitive claims and quotations. This lesson provides an operating checklist, not a universal contract clause or permission to publish material merely because a client failed to respond.
Do this today · 30 minutes
Write acceptance and revision rules for the consultancy article.
Use a document or spreadsheet and the fictional case in this lesson. Work with synthetic information; no purchase, real client records or actual transaction is required.
Before: Purpose, format, inputs and completion standard.
After: Record the approved version and explicit decision.
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Ask a colleague to challenge the assumptions. Record the decision, the evidence still needed, its owner and a review date before applying the plan to a real agency.
Before you move on
Your article scope includes two revision rounds, but legal and sales send contradictory comments directly to the writer. A customer quote is still unapproved and the original release date is tomorrow. Which action best protects the agreed process and the client?
Next lesson →BDC: preparing and selling a business
Lesson edition 1.0 · References reviewed 16 October 2026 · Practical exercise reviewed 16 October 2026. Examples are illustrative teaching scenarios.
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