A client bringing in their own designer or creative reviewer usually comes from a genuine desire for quality control, and without clear boundaries it can blur who's actually responsible for the work and slow every decision down to a three-way conversation. Refusing outright can read as defensive, and accommodating it without structure invites exactly the confusion it's meant to prevent.
Making it work isn't about resisting the extra reviewer. It's defining clearly what they actually review and who has the final say.
Can blur ownership of the work and slow decisions down
A second creative voice in the loop, without clear boundaries, can turn a straightforward review into a three-way negotiation where nobody's sure whose feedback actually governs. Recognize this risk upfront rather than discovering it mid-project.
Clarify who actually has final say before the work begins
Establish explicitly, before work starts, whether the client's reviewer has genuine decision authority or an advisory role feeding into the client's own final call. This single clarification prevents most of the friction that follows.
In Stelaah, feedback and approvals can be tracked per reviewer on the client record, so it's clear whose input shaped a given decision even with more than one voice involved. See how approvals works.
Define what they review, and at what stage, not open-ended access
Open-ended access for an outside reviewer at every stage invites feedback on work that isn't ready for it yet. Define specific checkpoints where their review happens, rather than leaving it open to weigh in at any point.
Protect a single, consolidated source of feedback, not two separate channels
Feedback arriving from the client and their reviewer through separate, uncoordinated channels creates contradictions the team has to untangle. Require feedback to be consolidated into one channel before it reaches you, even if that consolidation happens on the client's side.
Price for the added coordination, since it's real extra work
Managing an additional reviewer genuinely adds coordination overhead, extra review cycles, extra alignment conversations, that a standard engagement doesn't carry. Reflect that real cost in the price rather than absorbing it silently.
A simple checklist
If you do nothing else, do these five things:
- Clarify who has final decision authority before work begins.
- Define specific checkpoints for their review, not open-ended access.
- Require feedback to arrive consolidated through one channel.
- Price for the real added coordination overhead.
- Don't let a second creative voice blur who's actually accountable.
Do that, and an outside reviewer becomes a structured part of the process, not a source of contradictory feedback and stalled decisions.
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