When Your Clients Want to Phone It In

There's a special kind of frustration that comes when you realize you're working harder on someone else's project than they are. The meetings where they're distracted, the feedback that arrives three weeks late, the sudden flood of opinions after months of silence — these aren't just annoying inconveniences. They're symptoms of a deeper problem that impacts everything from creative quality to team morale to actual ROI. In this episode, we explore the uncomfortable reality of working with disengaged clients and why it matters more than you might think. We break down the root causes — from burnout and fragmentation to simple lack of understanding about what good collaboration requires — and examine how disengagement creates a ripple effect that damages the work, the process, and the people involved. But this isn't just about venting frustrations. Tune in as we share practical approaches for reigniting client engagement, from reframing conversations around outcomes to establishing clear decision-makers and structured review phases, and most importantly, how to protect your team's energy and the project's integrity.