Turn Nightmare Clients into Dream Clients with Status Reports

Nightmare clients. They ghost you. They ignore your boundaries. They’re never happy with your work. What to do, what to do?!

Sometimes, the best thing to do  with a bad client is to say goodbye, as long as you can do that thanks to your contract. But in other cases, you can turn a bad client relationship  into a good one. 

Sharing status reports with your clients is one strategy that can help.

What is a status report?

A status report is a complete overview of your week over a specific period of time. It can be weekly or monthly, but your ultimate goal in creating and sharing status reports with your clients is to show what you’ve worked on during that period.

Think of status reports as mini versions of your annual reports for your business. They recap what you’ve accomplished in  the past, what you’re working on in  the present, and what you plan to get done in  the future.

What are the benefits of creating and sharing status reports with clients?

Builds client trust

Imagine one of your current projects from your client’s perspective. They only know how things are going when you email, chat, or text, right? They have to trust that things are progressing even if they’re not checking in with you every day. 

That’s one reason why some clients  ignore boundaries and/or bombard you with messages. They just want to know that you’re making progress on their work.

A status report reminds your clients that you’re always working, even if you’re not constantly talking to them or sending updates every day. Your clients can expect your weekly or monthly reports and just  relax.

Keeps you accountable

By “keeps you accountable,” we don’t mean that you’re secretly online shopping or binging Netflix while you’re supposed to be working. Status reports simply show what you’ve been doing and how your client work is progressing.

It sounds simple, but “showing your work” as we were all taught in school can actually help manage expectations and ease stress. If it seems like your clients expect their deliverables or results much more quickly than you think, blame marketing and social media. Both can give clients unrealistic expectations on timelines.

Saves money on marketing

Status reports build trust with your clients. They know that you value transparency and communication. In short, status reports make you look good.

By doing status reports for all of your clients, you strengthen each and every client relationship. And happy clients will likely ask for more of your services, more of your time, or even  keep you on retainer. All this can lead up to spendinglessmoney on marketing efforts to find new clients.  

Easy to create

We know what you’re thinking. “Yay, another thing to add to my to-do list.Pass.” We get it, but we also politely disagree. 

Status reports are actually pretty easy to create. And if you use a template — you know  how much we love templates — you save even more time writing up your report. You can even outsource this task to an assistant, moving it completely off of that pesky to-do list.

What to include in your status reports

Now that we’ve talked about how valuable status reports are, let’s go over what a status report should include. Be brief and concise; this isn’t the time to get creative or ramble on too long. 

Title and date

Make your reports easy to find for both you and your client! Include a descriptive yet brief title, as well as the date. Your title can be as simple as “Monthly Status Report for October 2020 for X Project” or “Weekly Marketing Campaign Performance Report.”

You can also include the date you submitted your report under the report date if you like.

Names and roles

If it’s just you flying solo, feel free to skip this information. But if you have a team, you might want to include everyone’s names and roles at the top of your report.

Brief summary

When we say “brief,” we mean brief! One to three sentences summarizing your project or objectives will do.

Completed and in-progress tasks

Here’s where the good stuff is. Present everything you’ve accomplished during the week or month. Then, share updates on any ongoing projects. Completed tasks might look like:

Crafted presentation for upcoming conference

Sold X of new product

Make sure to list deliverables, specific metrics, and accomplishments. As for in-progress tasks, they might look like:

Writing launch emails for X product

Monitoring current ad campaign

Brief overview of next period

You covered the past and the present. The next part of your report looks toward the future. A future overview notes any unfinished projects or new projects you need to begin. This might look like:

Begin brainstorming content for Q4

Finish editing batch of YouTube videos

Write copy for new product page

Now, your client knows what you’ve completed, what you’re working on now, and what you know you need to pay attention to in the near future.

Always show your work

See? Status reports are easy peasy. Just remember to keep it simple and check that your report is readable with short paragraphs, lists, and headings. Include completed, in-progress, and future tasks. And always include a title and date!

Can you tell that The Contract Shop® loves templates? We don’t have one for status reports,butwe have contract templates customized for tons of businesses out there. From coaching to photography to social media management and more, we have you covered. Get your next template for your business  from our shop today!