The Indirect Route to a Status Update

If you've worked in client services for a while, you've experienced when the sea calms and the wind stops blowing, and the boat just kind of stalls out in the middle of the ocean, and you're waiting on an update from the client and you're not getting one.

First off, it's okay. No news is no news.

No news is not bad news. No news is not good news.

I consult with lots of people in the industry and I know how many of them to handle that situation. Creative people can leap to imaginative reasons why the client isn't getting back to them. Sales can be a lot of pressure.

The stakes are high. It's not uncommon to jump to negative conclusions and presume the worst. The truth is that the client has a whole other job, a family, a life, and a reality that may be getting in the way of providing you the update they intended. So don't read more into it than you need to.

That said, if you've been checking in with them, you're trying to advance the project and move things along, there may come a point where you've asked for an update once or twice and not gotten a response, and you're trying to figure out how to get the update without nagging them one more time. My recommendation is to come at them with a different flavor of a check-in and arrive at the same information.

The reason they may not be providing an update is that they don't have much to provide. They may be holding off on responding until they have news, and they just don't have any right now.

One way to bring up the topic of the prospective project and provide them a new opportunity to provide an update is to tell them that you've edited part of the contract you sent over. Maybe you've updated it to reflect more current language that you've developed in another contract that you just shipped out.

This is one of the reasons why I like to use a word doc or a Google doc or something editable as the format for a contract.

Not the proposal. The proposal can be a beautifully designed, presentation-quality document that sells your capabilities and vision.

But the contract, the SOW, the MSA, is going to be read and reviewed by an attorney, or a procurement person. Someone who wants clear language that defines the scope of the project and provides expectations. They're not going to thank you for your landscape oriented masterpiece filled with beautiful imagery and charm.

If you lean in the same direction as me, share what I would describe to the client as a thoroughly conceived first draft of the contract in an editable word processing doc.

The draft is open to the client's review, as well as a medium for their questions and concerns. If there's something they want to edit, we can still make changes in a working doc.

If there's something you want to clarify, they can use editorial controls to ask questions or make suggestions within the document. A draft let's you work together to get the final, signed agreement to the finish line.

Another reason why I've found sharing an editable working document is that it provides the opportunity to poke the client, and get an update.

Rather than email a 3rd or 4th request for a status update* reach out and explain that you've made a small change to their draft agreement.

Maybe it's some language you've updated in a subsequent agreement and you want to roll those changes in to their doc too. So you're giving the heads up via this email that you're going to drop into a specific section and change certain parts or update the language. You're just giving them a heads up and they'll see that change reflected in the updated document when they go back into it. If they have any concerns about it, let you know, but you don't think it should be a big deal.

Hugs and kisses,

You

What will happen sometimes in this scenario, is the client who's been delaying getting back to you because they don't have much of a report or an update, is now just being reintroduced to the critical topic conversation —the perspective project, in a different way. They may weigh in and validate the changes. That's fine. They may want to ask you a question about the change or react to it in some way. But usually, they will accompany that response with a brief update. The very update you've been looking for!

They might write something like "Hey, I appreciate the heads up. That change should be fine. Sorry, things are taking a little bit longer than expected. We're just waiting for certain approvals, and that team is busy launching another project. I'm hoping to hear back within the next two to three weeks. Sorry for the delay."

By bringing up the topic of the perspective project in a different way, you're giving the client the opportunity to be forthcoming because they're not triggered. Instead of repeatedly asking for an update, and they're becoming defensive or procrastinating because they don't have much to update, by taking a different route to the same destination you catch them in a more open and vulnerable state. They won't have their defenses up. They will react more logically to the update in the contract. Then, they will magically also provide an update on the status of the project.

You don't need to feel hesitant to ask for an update. You're entitled to it. It's just business, and you can and should continue to follow up. You don't need to manufacture a reason to check in.

However, if your emotional intelligence is telling you that you've already asked for an update for two weeks in a row and received no response, you may hesitate to ask them again and risk feeling like a nag. If you really just want to know what's going on, try this indirect approach and see if you get a response.

So if you find yourself in a jam, or in a calmed sea, and need a to motivate a status update, trying this indirect approach to checking in may be a good way to obtain the information that you and your team are eager to receive.

*There's a point when you've asked for an update too many times, and really the client is telling you they're going to be a nightmare to work with too. There's a bridge too far you have to look out for. People are telling you who they really are all the time, take their word for it.