Red flags in a client brief, and what to ask about them

Almost every project that went badly was visible in the brief. Not obvious — visible. The warning was a sentence everyone read and nobody asked about, because asking felt like being difficult with someone who was about to give you money.

A red flag isn't a reason to decline. It's a reason to ask one more question. Most of them turn out to be nothing. The ones that don't turn out to be everything, and you find out for the price of an email.

The phrases, and what they usually mean

In the brief	What it often means	Ask this
"We're flexible on scope"	Scope hasn't been decided by anyone with authority	"What's definitely in, and what's definitely out?"
"This should be straightforward"	They've underestimated it, and the estimate is now the expectation	"What are you assuming makes it straightforward?"
"We'd like to see some initial ideas"	Free work, and a decision made on the free work	"We do that as a paid first stage — shall I price it?"
"The previous agency didn't get it"	Could be true; could be the fourth time	"What would you do differently this time?"
"We need this by [date]" with no reason given	Arbitrary, or an external deadline they haven't told you about	"What happens on that date?"
"Budget: TBC"	No approval, or they want your number first	"What range are you working to? I'll say now if we're outside it"
"Please include three concepts"	Cost multiplied by three, price expected to stay flat	"What would you do with the two you don't pick?"
"Our team will provide the content"	The project will stall for months waiting on content	"Who specifically, and by when? What if it's late?"
"Just a refresh of what we have"	Full rebuild, described optimistically	"What are we keeping exactly as it is?"
"We want a partner, not a supplier"	Sometimes genuine; sometimes unpaid extras	"What does that look like day to day?"

None of these are disqualifying. All of them are cheap to ask about, and the quality of the answer tells you more than the flag did.

The four that matter most

Most red flags are minor. Four are structural, meaning no amount of good delivery fixes them.

No named decision-maker. If the brief doesn't say who signs off, ask. If the answer is a committee, ask who breaks a tie. Projects without a single person who can say yes don't stall at the end — they stall at every stage, and you absorb the cost of each delay.

Success isn't defined. A brief that says "modern", "premium", "engaging", "world-class" and never says what would count as working is describing taste, not an outcome. You will be judged against a standard invented after delivery. Ask: "Six months after this goes live, what's different?" If the answer is another adjective, keep asking.

The deadline is fixed and the scope isn't. This is the most common way agencies lose money on work they did well. If the date can't move and the scope can grow, you've agreed to an unlimited commitment. Fix one of them in writing before you start, and say which one gives if there's a conflict.

Nobody has done this internally before. A first-of-its-kind project inside a client's business carries a hidden cost: you're not just delivering, you're teaching them how to buy it. Sometimes that's a great position. Always price it.

Red flags in how they behave, not what they write

The brief is drafted. Behaviour is not, and it's more informative.

• Urgency that doesn't match their responsiveness. They need it in six weeks but take nine days to answer an email. That pattern continues after you sign, and the deadline stays where it is.
• Wanting detail before a conversation. A prospect who wants a full costed proposal but won't spend 30 minutes on a call is either comparing prices or building a business case with your document.
• Talking about your rate before your work. Not always a problem. Combined with anything else on this list, it's the strongest predictor of a painful project you'll get.
• The person briefing you is junior and can't answer basic questions. Not their fault. But it means the brief was assembled rather than decided, and the real requirements will arrive later.
• Reluctance to let you speak to the people affected. If you can't talk to the team who'll use what you build, or to their customers, you're being asked to work from one person's interpretation.

How to ask without sounding difficult

The framing that works, in almost every case, is that you're asking in order to be accurate rather than in order to be cautious.

Before I put a number on this, three things I want to check — mostly so the price is honest rather than padded with guesses:

1. Who signs this off, and have they seen the brief?
2. The date in the brief — is that driven by something external, or is it a target?
3. On content, who's providing it and when? If it's late, do we hold the date or move it?

Happy to do this on a call if that's quicker.

That's it. No accusation, no hedging, and it gives them a reason to answer properly: a more accurate price.

If the answers come back clear, you've de-risked the project and made a good impression, because most bidders won't have asked. If the answers come back vague on all three, you've learned something worth far more than the hour you'd have spent writing.

Write down what you saw

The genuinely useful habit: when a project goes wrong, go back to the original brief and find the sentence that predicted it. It's almost always there.

Keep a running list — your own version of the table above, in your own words, from your own bad projects. After a dozen entries it becomes the most valuable sales document your agency owns, because it's specific to the kind of work you do and the kind of client who buys it.

This week

Take the brief on your current worst project — the one that's over budget, or late, or endlessly revised. Read it again from the start and find the sentence that told you.

Then take the brief sitting in your inbox right now and send the three questions above. Today, before you write anything.