An agency creative turnaround SLA is a written promise about how long each type of request takes, what the brief must contain, and how many revision rounds are included. Tier your requests by urgency, give each tier a clock, and write the clock into the contract along with what stops it.
TLDR: Use three tiers (urgent, routine, strategic) with a response time and a delivery time each. Count turnaround from a complete brief, cap revisions, and name who approves. In Mydrop's data, the median client approval took 6 hours, so review time is a fair thing to include in the clock.
Use three tiers, not one number
A single "48-hour turnaround" fails because a caption tweak and a campaign concept are not the same work. Use a traffic-light model.
| Tier | Typical request | Response time | Delivery (starting targets) | Revisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green (urgent) | Reactive post, small edit, crisis reply | 1 business hour | Same business day | 1 |
| Yellow (routine) | Scheduled posts, resizes, caption sets | 4 business hours | 2 business days | 2 |
| Red (strategic) | Campaign concept, new templates, video | 1 business day | 5 to 10 business days | 2 rounds per stage |
The delivery targets are starting points, not industry standards. Adjust them after you measure 4 to 6 weeks of real work, and let the agency say which tier each task belongs in.
Define when the clock starts
Most SLA disputes are about the start of the clock. Write that the clock starts only when the request is complete. A complete brief includes:
- Goal and audience in one line
- Required deliverables and formats
- Source files and approved copy
- The deadline and the tier
- The name of the approver
If something is missing, the agency replies within the response time with a list of what is needed, and the clock starts when the client provides it.
Measure the part you control: review time
Slow review often causes more delay than slow design. In Mydrop's data on posts that went through client approval, the median time from submission to approval was 6 hours, and 66% were approved within 24 hours.
Use it like this: if your own clients take 3 days to approve, a 2-day turnaround SLA is meaningless. Write a review window into the contract, such as 1 business day for routine work, and say what happens after it. A common choice is that silence for a full business day is treated as approval for green and yellow tiers, with strategic work excluded.
Contract language to copy and adapt
These clauses are a starting point. Ask a lawyer to review them before use.
- Tiers. "Requests are classified as Green, Yellow or Red by the Client at submission and confirmed by the Agency within [response time]."
- Complete brief. "Turnaround starts when the Agency receives a complete brief as defined in Schedule A."
- Revisions. "Each deliverable includes [number] rounds of revisions. Further rounds are billed at the agreed rate."
- Review window. "The Client will approve or comment within [window]. Delays beyond the window extend the delivery date by the same time."
- Missed targets. "If the Agency misses a delivery target in more than [x] of [y] requests in a month, the parties will meet to agree a corrective plan."
Avoid financial penalties for the first quarter. A corrective plan keeps the relationship intact while you learn what the numbers look like.
Track three numbers each month
You do not need a large dashboard. Track:
- Percentage delivered inside the target, per tier
- Average number of revision rounds per deliverable
- Average review time on the client side
Run the brief, comments and approval trail in one place. Mydrop's approval workflow keeps timestamps for each stage, and comments on the post keep revisions attached to the work. For templates that cut turnaround, see 7 templates to halve agency turnaround.
Agree the tiers in your next client meeting
Bring the three-tier table to your next agency or client call and ask one question: "Which tier would you put these five recent requests in?" That conversation sets 80% of the SLA. If you run client approvals with several people, start free with Mydrop and see where the clock actually runs.
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