If you haven't experienced this yet, I'd put good money down that you will soon. A client who calls that isn't just kicking tires and price shopping. They’re competent. They’ve done the research, played with the tools, maybe even started down the path.
But now they’re hitting that point where strategy, clarity, and experience are the differentiator. They’re not looking for someone to say “yes”, they’re looking for someone to help them know when to say no.
The day of the savvy client is upon us. What do we do? Find out below!
The Rise of the Savvy Client
We used to have the advantage. Clients came to us for expertise, direction, and execution. Now they come with insights, tools, and expectations. They’ve sat in design sprints. They know what agile means and when it makes sense. Some even have internal teams doing 80% of what we used to bill for.
We're finally getting clients who are looking for partners, not vendors, like we've always wanted. How do we make sure we're ready?
Shifting from Providing Answers to Asking Better Questions
If your value was once in having all the answers, now it’s in asking better questions. Savvy clients want collaborators, not vendors. They’re looking for partners who challenge assumptions, reveal blind spots, and help prioritize what really matters.
Stop performing. Start co-creating.
Drop the Pretense
The performative pitch deck is dead. Bring them into your process. Build trust by opening up, not just on process and pricing, but on decision-making. The savvy client wants to get their hands dirty. Let them.
Make Peace with Not Knowing Everything
Humility goes a long way. If your client asks about a new tool and you haven’t used it? Say so. Then go learn it. The old game was authority. The new game is adaptability.
Elevate Your Strategic Voice
They don’t need you to make a thing. They need you to make it make sense. Insight, not output, is the differentiator. Context is king. Be the one who sees the whole board, not just the next tactical move.
Clients still need us. They just need us to be the partners we always told them we were. If we do this right, it's going to be much more effective for the client and even more fulfilling for us.
The smartest agencies I know are leaning into this savvy client evolution. They’re focused less on “winning the work” and more about client's needing their expertise. They’re providing insights, enriching engagements, and finding new ways to lead from within their client's organization. This is the way, so let's go!