Hi Reader!
The past few months, I’ve been wrapping up the last MCLEs I needed for my bar license renewal.
And one of the sessions I attended was on client communication. Because it’s something all service providers need reminders about.
There were two big themes of the session:
- bad news doesn’t get better with time
- you need to set communication expectations that align with the work
Both of these were lessons I noted early on in my “Stuff I’ll Never Do Again” book.
The first is obvious: if you have bad news to tell a client, delaying it won’t improve things. (And in some cases, it will make it worse because the client thinks you are trying to hide things from them.)
The second one isn’t as obvious. But setting these expectations early will help create a smoother working relationship, save both sides stress and worry, and keep everyone’s inbox a little saner.
For example, when I’m working with a client on a contract negotiation, I set the expectation that I’ll update you within one business day of talking to the other side. Because I want to keep the momentum going.
But when I’m helping someone with a trademark, I set the expectation that the USPTO won’t take any action on their application for months. And so they should assume that everything is progressing as planned unless I tell them otherwise for the first several months. (I give them an exact number of months in the email based on the current USPTO processing times.)
After that, I tell them I’ll pop in every month or so with a no movement email or an update. I send these quick emails right after I check the USPTO database, and they make the client feel like I’m looking out for them, even if there isn’t any progress.
👉 Your action item
Take a few minutes to brainstorm the communication expectations you want clients to have, depending on the project. And then for each current project, decide if you need to send a quick “check-in” email to establish those communication expectations.
If you only have 20 minutes this week, the task above is the most important thing to do. But if you have a little more time, keep reading.
Chat soon,
The clause to notice
One small section of a contract that can have an outsized impact later.
This week’s clause: Notices
What happens when you need to officially communicate changes or issues to your client? That’s where the notices clause comes into play. It explains how “formal” communications can be sent and where they need to go.
One pro tip: Your contract might allow you to send notices multiple ways: email, project management software, mail, or courier. And when you have multiple options, I always tell clients to match the method to the situation.
If everyone is on good terms and you are doing a simple contract amendment, then email is absolutely the right call. But if the client has been ignoring your payment emails or invoices and you are terminating the contract, that’s when sending via certified mail or using a courier like FedEx is appropriate.
If contracts are starting to come up more often in your business, the Contract Decoder is your secret weapon to signing contracts with confidence.
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Other things on my radar…
- I dropped a link a few weeks back about some of the deceptive pricing lawsuits that are happening. This article has a great breakdown of the various state laws around stating a former price, including the NJ law that requires the former price to be the price for at least 28 of the last 90 days.
- If you state that your products are “Made in the USA,” then it’s a good idea to understand the latest Executive Order around these claims. Because FTC enforcement of these claims will likely increase this year.
- The FTC’s Click to Cancel rule was vacated, but it looks like it will be coming back in a slightly altered form. Here’s the latest on what the FTC is proposing the rule to be.
