Carwash Part 2: Samples Of Client Status Worksheet And E-mail

In an earlier post, A Lesson In Client Communications…From The Carwash, we talked about how clients or internal stakeholders want and expect to know the status of the matter you’re working on for them — right now, when they want it, not when you decide it’s time to tell them.

But sometimes it’s not convenient for you to take the time, right then and there, to review the project plan, see what’s been done, what’s next and get back to them with the info.  That’s an invitation to client dissatisfaction, but you can avoid it with a process you can implement today.  They’ll get the status they want — with virtually as much “real-timeness” as you can get through the window of a carwash.

In our earlier post, we said you’d need:

1.  A simple status worksheet kept up-to-date for each project.  You probably already have something like this with the project management software you use regularly.

2.  An email template you (or someone on your team) can fill in with the appropriate information and send in response to a client inquiry.

We’ve been asked for samples of what they’d look like, so here they are:

Assuming the worksheet looks just like the one above, you or someone else in your office could simply send an email like this:

Dear _______: As you requested, here’s the status of (your project) as of the time of this email  (August 3, 2015).

Last action: We’ve completed the proposal and it’s being reviewed by our Law Department.
Next action: We expect it back in the next couple of days, to be sent to you August 10.

If you have any questions, please give me a call.

Sincerely,  You.

There! You’ve responded quickly, accurately and with enough to let them know the status.  If they want more information, they’ll let you know!