It's a request for a translation.
A client who says "make it pop" isn't telling you what to change. He's telling you something feels wrong and he doesn't have the vocabulary to locate it.
Early on, I handled this the way most artists do. I'd guess. Crank the saturation, add a rim light, sharpen everything, send it back and hope.
Half the time the client said "closer" and we'd do another blind round.
The invoice stayed the same. The rounds multiplied.
The shift came when I stopped treating vague feedback as instructions and started treating it as a symptom.
"Make it pop" usually means: I can't tell what to look at first.
"It feels flat" usually means: nothing separates the subject from the background.
"Something's off" usually means: my expectation and this image disagree, help me find where.
So now I don't guess. I answer vague feedback with one narrowing question:
"When you look at it, where does your eye go first, and where do you want it to go?"
Suddenly the client can answer, because I'm asking about his experience, not about lighting terms he doesn't have.
One question, and a three-round guessing game becomes a one-round fix.
Your clients will never learn to give better feedback.
Translating it is part of the job. The artists who accept that stop dreading feedback entirely.
– Moritz
Tiny tactical tip:
Write down the last vague note a client gave you, and next to it what it probably meant in plain terms.
Building that private dictionary takes two minutes per project, and after five projects you'll translate most feedback on sight.