2 per phase
The working standard: one main round, one verification round.
5 steps
The anatomy of a round that actually closes.
1 clause
The proposal wording for extra rounds — copy it below.
Why rounds spiral — and it’s not the client
Round seven isn’t a personality problem. It’s a structure problem wearing a client’s name.
The spiral
Trickle, blur, reopen
- Feedback trickles in — every email restarts the work
- Defects and wishes blur — scope grows silently
- Nothing closes formally — round 3 relitigates round 1
- Nobody verifies fixes — solved points come back
The structure
Bundle, classify, close
- One round = one version, one deadline, one list
- Every point classified: defect, wish, or later
- Fixes verified by whoever reported them
- Formal close — leftovers roll forward, announced
A clean revision round in 5 steps
Rounds don’t need more discipline from clients — they need more structure from you.
- 1
Open with a scope
The round covers a defined state (design v2, staging as of today) and a defined ask: check these pages, answer these questions. An unscoped round is an opinion box.
- 2
Collect within a deadline
3–5 business days with a named end date. All feedback lands in one place, pinned to the element — not across email, chat and calls.
- 3
Consolidate and decide
Duplicates merged, contradictions resolved WITH the client, every point classified: defect, wish, or later. The client sees the sorted list before work starts.
- 4
Fix and let the reporter verify
Each resolved point is confirmed by whoever raised it. That confirmation is what prevents round n+1 from relitigating round n.
- 5
Close formally
The round ends with an explicit close — remaining wishes roll to the next round or a change request. An unclosed round is the project’s slowest leak.
The proposal wording for extra rounds
Announced before the project, this is service. Improvised during the project, it’s a fight.
Included in this proposal: two revision rounds per phase. A revision round means: you collect all feedback on the current version within [5] business days as one bundled list, we implement the agreed points and you verify them. Feedback that arrives after the round's deadline, and wishes beyond the agreed scope, are handled in an additional round. Additional revision rounds: [X] € per round (or at [Y] €/h by effort).
Why this works
Rounds with rails, built in
bepeq makes the structure automatic: feedback lands bundled in a round with a deadline, every point carries a status, fixes get verified where they were pinned, and the round closes formally — with a record. The clause from your proposal, running as software.
Start bepeq for freeRound 1 closed
14 notes · all done
Round 2 running
Deadline: 4 days left · 3 open points
Then: sign-off with a record
Related guides and templates
Common questions about revision rounds
How many revision rounds are normal for a website project?
Two per phase is the industry’s working standard: one main round where the client reviews the full state, and one verification round to confirm the fixes. Projects that run five or seven rounds usually don’t have demanding clients — they have unstructured feedback that reopens the same topics repeatedly.
Should revision rounds be limited in the contract?
Yes — with a price for additional rounds rather than a hard refusal. “Two rounds included, extra rounds at X €” converts the most common project conflict into a normal purchase decision. The client stays free to want more; the agency stops paying for it. The clause belongs in the proposal, not in the crisis call.
What counts as one revision round?
One bundled collection of feedback on one defined version, delivered within a deadline, followed by one implementation pass and one verification. The bundling is the point: ten emails over two weeks about the same version aren’t ten opinions — but they also aren’t one round unless your process makes them one.
How do I charge for extra rounds without souring the relationship?
By announcing the rule before the project and framing it as capacity, not punishment: extra rounds are available, they cost X, and they’re scheduled like any other work. Clients accept prices; what sours relationships is discovering an invoice for something they thought was included.
Why do revision rounds get out of control?
Three causes, all structural: feedback trickles instead of bundling (every email restarts work), nobody classifies defect versus wish (scope grows silently), and rounds never formally close (round 3 relitigates round 1). Fix the structure and the same clients suddenly need half the rounds.