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My “zero-revision” method for client presentations


I’ve been thinking a lot about our client process lately. We kicked off this year with our most booked quarter for our brand design studio, so it’s been on my mind!

Specifically three things we’re lacking:

  1. We don’t have a welcome packet for new clients.

  2. We don’t have a fancy Zoom account for presentation calls.

  3. We don’t have an automated email sequence for potential clients.

As great as these things can be for online businesses, I’ve avoided them for one reason — they won’t significantly improve our red-carpet client experience.

Instead, I’ve focused on three main things that over the past 4.5 years has led our brand design studio consistently gets zero revisions from clients. (yes, ZERO!) ie: we send the first proof and have no changes from clients.

In case you think this means my mom must be my only client to be able to receive such great feedback, know that we’ve worked with premium brands such as Melyssa Griffin, ByRegina and Whitney English.

And before you think that we are magical and the exception, know that our 500+ Share-worthy Design students have experienced the same results using our process! I believe you can get these results too 🙂

Step 1: Think of your design presentation as a pitch. You are selling the solution to your client.

Step 2: Remove barriers from your client. Less decisions = smooth process. (for us this means presenting one logo solution among other things!

Step 3: Strategically guide your client through the presentation.

That’s why I’m diving in deep into perfecting client presentations today.

Remove distractions and focus on what matters to creating a valuable client experience for your clients. Specifically how to wow them through client presentations to get zero revisions. ZERO!

So… why is the client experience so important?
  • These days most of my clients come from referrals. These are premium clients. Referrals only stem from a quality experience — so it’s worth perfecting your process!

  • Our best designs shouldn’t be left on the cutting room floor, or shared in an Instagram post with a sad emoji that the client went another direction. They deserve to go live and help our clients grow their business! (Ain’t nobody got time for compromised design work.)

  • Unhappy clients = unhappy designers. After years working in-house and at an agency, I was ready to ditch client work filled with friction and endless revisions. Surely there’s got to be a better way (or better clients?). There is :).

Today I’m sharing a quick 10 minute video training where you’ll uncover:

  • What our exact presentation looks like

  • How to guide your clients through your hard work

  • How to “pitch” your presentation to get zero revisions

Click here to see my video breakdown


There’s a few key factors in nailing the client presentation:

  1. Strategy first. Before you can nail the presentation, you need to make sure the brand strategy aligns with the client. This helps to get your client to sign off on the direction before you even begin sketching! (I show what our discovery phase looks like here)

  2. Guide your client. Rather than doing the ole’ “drop and run” with your design proof, take some time to court your client through the presentation.

  3. Provide parameters around feedback. Guiding your client through how to provide effective feedback often prevents any revisions at all :). I share the exact language I tell my clients here.

  4. Present with context. As designers we can envision how a design will be carried out through several mediums, but sometimes our clients need a little more visual help to show the brand in context. Mockups are your friend here! My favorites are from Moyo Studio* (lovely small business with equally as lovely + minimal mockups).

  5. Provide rationale. People consume information in different ways. Along with our live call, we provide written rationale that our clients can read through as they view their design proof.

  6. Have an outline of what to say during the presentation (or swipe my exact outline I share here!) This keeps you on track and makes sure you don’t go “off book” at a crucial time such as presenting the design.

Hope this helps you nail your next client presentation! I’d love for our design industry to shift and for our “zero-revision” method to become more of the norm for us designers. Not only will it make our side as the designer more enjoyable, our clients will reap the benefits too!

*denotes an affiliate link. I was planning to share Moyo with you anyways, when Molly reached out and generously added me as a partner :). Thanks for your support!

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Snag our Zero-Revision Presentation Method to nail your next client project. In this quick 10-minute training you’ll see exactly what our client presentations look like, the scripts we use and more to cut down revisions!