3 Tips – To Stop Clients From Quietly Rewriting the Project

✅ Record your meetings (and actually use the summary)

I record my design meetings — even on-site ones when possible.

Tools like Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, and Fathom make this so much easier. Legally and ethically, you must tell your clients you’re recording. I’ll usually say something simple like:

“I’d like to record today’s meeting so I can pull accurate notes, next steps, and important dates to share with you and my team in a follow-up email.”

From there, I:

Use the transcript to write a clear email summary

Highlight key decisions, next steps, and dates

Upload the notes to my project portal so my team (or DVA) can see exactly what was agreed to

So when a client says, “I don’t remember saying that…” You’re not relying on your memory — you have documentation.

✅ Get written approvals at every key stage

Verbal “yeses” are lovely.
​Written approvals are gold.

Where I request approvals:

• Investment / budget
• Layouts & space plans
• Design concepts
• Drawings & elevations
• Specifications & selections

I track approvals inside my project management software so it’s all in one place — not scattered between emails and texts.

This protects:

• You – if the client later questions a decision
• Your team – everyone knows what version was approved
• The project – fewer “let’s go back to the drawing board” moments

✅ Set (and enforce) revision limits

This one is big.

In my proposal and contract, I clearly state:

How many revisions are included (ex. 1–2 rounds per room)

That it’s at the designer’s discretion what counts as a revision

That anything outside the original project scope is billed hourly at [insert your rate here]

This language helps you:

Protect your time

Prevent “death by a thousand tiny changes”

Keep the project aligned with your original vision and the agreed scope

Revisions aren’t the problem. Unlimited revisions with no structure? That’s where projects (and profit) go to die.

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2 Resources to Help You Implement This

📌 Meeting Recording & Summary Checklist​
Create a simple checklist you use for every meeting:

• Hit record (with client consent)
• Tag the meeting with the project name
• Pull 5–10 key decisions from the transcript
• Send a summary email within 24–48 hours
• Upload notes to your project portal

Use it until it becomes second nature.

📌 Revision & Scope Clause in Your Contract​
In this week's CEO Date, block time to:

• Review your proposal and contract
• Add or update your revision limit language
• Clarify how “out-of-scope” work is billed
• Make sure this is repeated in your welcome guide or process PDF so clients see it before they start changing everything

Future you (and your nervous system) will be so grateful you did this.

1 Question for You

🤔 Where in your current process do clients have the most room to “forget” what was agreed to — and what’s one change you can make this week to close that gap?

Hit reply and tell me. I love hearing how you’re refining your process.