How do you keep clients updated on a project?
Give every client one place that always shows where the project stands, what happens next and what is waiting on them, and post a short written update on a steady rhythm. Clients stop asking for status when the answer is already in front of them.
Updated
Why do clients keep asking for updates?
Usually because they cannot see the work. Progress happens in tools the client never opens, so from their side a quiet week looks the same as a stalled one.
The second reason is scatter. When news arrives by email one week, in a call the next and in a chat the week after, the client cannot tell which message is the latest word, so they ask again.
What should a client update include?
Keep it short enough to read on a phone. Clients read the first few lines, so put the answer there.
- Where it stands. The phase, the progress and whether the launch date still holds.
- What changed since the last update, in plain words.
- What happens next, and roughly when.
- What you need from the client, and by when.
- If a date moved, say so first and say why.
How often should you update clients?
Weekly suits most projects, and the rhythm matters more than the day. Send the update even when the week was quiet, because a short note that says the plan holds is reassuring, and silence is not.
Between updates, the status itself should be live. If the client can open the project at any hour and see the phase, the progress and the launch date, the weekly note only has to cover what changed.
How do you set up client updates that run themselves?
Agree the rules once at kickoff, keep the status live, and let the written update do the rest.
Agree the channel and the rhythm
At kickoff, settle where updates live, how often they come and what counts as urgent.
Put the plan in one place
Phases, milestones and the launch date, where the client can see them.
Keep status live
Move the phase and the progress as the work moves, not once a week.
Post a short update on the same day each week
What changed, what is next and what you need.
Show what is waiting on the client
Each approval or file you need, with a due date, in view on their first screen.
Answer in one thread
Keep questions and replies in one place, with read receipts, so nothing is missed.
Can AI answer a client's status questions?
It can, when it answers from the project's own data and shows where it found the answer. In Sightpane, a client can ask how the project is going and Sightpane AI replies with the phase, the progress and the launch date, and cites the update or approval it read.
On the agency side, Sightpane AI can draft the weekly update from what changed. The draft waits for a person to publish it, so nothing reaches a client that nobody on the team has read.
Questions
How long should a client update be?
A few lines. Lead with where the project stands and whether the launch date holds, then what changed, what is next and anything you need from the client.
What if nothing changed this week?
Send a short update anyway. A note that says the plan holds and names the next step is better than silence.
Should client updates go by email or in a portal?
In one place the client can always return to. A portal keeps every update, approval and message together, and can still send an email notice when something new arrives.
How do I show clients what is waiting on them?
List each approval, file or answer you need with a due date, on the first screen the client sees. In Sightpane this sits under Waiting on you on the client's home.
See it on a real project.
Open the live demo with example projects, or book a short demo and we set Sightpane up with you.
- Set up with you
- Built by Wedge Studio
- david@wedgestudio.dev
Approvals
Waiting on you
Two column menu with section links and dietary tags. Have a look on staging too.
Open the designOpen to review DAsked by David, 1d ago Jordan Lee, Mia Chen said yes. Waiting on Alex Ito ApproveRequest changesHistory
