Client Update Template for Automation Consultants
A short update you can paste into an email or Slack, with two examples: a finished change and one that’s waiting on the client.
Your client shouldn’t have to send “Any update?” to get one. Use this client update template to explain where the work stands and what you need from them.
The template
Paste it into an email, or into Slack with the subject as the first line. Replace each bracket and delete any line that doesn’t apply this time.
Subject: [Client or project] update, [reporting period] Hi [name], Where things stand: [One sentence your client could repeat to their boss.] What changed: [What’s finished and what it means for them day to day. Name any limit.] What we checked: [The cases you tried, including the ones that usually break.] Not checked yet: [What hasn’t been confirmed, and when it will be.] Blocked or at risk: [What’s stuck and how it affects timing.] What we need from you: [One decision or input] by [date], so we can [what it unblocks]. Next: [Next action], [owner], by [date]. You’ll hear from me again by [date]. [Your name]
A quiet week might need only “Where things stand” and “Next.” Use more of it when something changed, broke or needs a decision.
How to fill it in
- Where things stand: one plain sentence. Write it last, once you know what the rest says.
- What changed: the effect on their day (“quotes reach the right rep”) before any detail about the workflow.
- What we checked, and not checked yet: a passing test covers the cases you tried. Say which ones those were, and what you haven’t seen yet.
- Blocked or at risk: what’s stuck and which date it moves. If nothing is, delete the line.
- What we need from you: one decision, a date and what it unblocks. Add a second only if it can’t wait.
- Next: the next action, who owns it and when they’ll hear from you again.
Example: a finished change
Halfmoon Solar asked for web quote requests to go to the rep who covers the customer’s ZIP code, instead of taking turns. The change is live. Halfmoon Solar and everyone in these examples are fictional.
Subject: Halfmoon Solar lead routing update, October 5 to 9 Hi Dana, Where things stand: web quote requests now go to the rep who covers the customer’s ZIP code. It went live on Wednesday. What changed: quotes no longer take turns between reps. A quote from Marco’s territory goes to Marco, and one from Jess’s goes to Jess. One limit: a ZIP code that isn’t on your territory map goes to the shared quotes inbox, so someone still assigns those by hand. What we checked: we sent 12 test quotes, including at least one from each territory, one with no ZIP code, one with a four-digit typo and one from outside your service area. All 12 went where they should. Quotes with a missing or unrecognized ZIP code land in the shared inbox marked “Check ZIP code.” Not checked yet: the real quotes since Wednesday. Tests cover the cases we thought of, and live quotes can turn up others. Next: I’ll review this week’s live quotes on Monday and send you what I find by Tuesday. Sam
Twelve passing tests prove twelve cases. The update says so, and says when the live quotes get a look.
Example: a change waiting on the client
Next, Halfmoon wants commercial quotes to go to Nora, a new rep. The routing is built, and one rule needs Dana’s decision.
Subject: Halfmoon Solar commercial quotes update, October 19 to 23 Hi Dana, Where things stand: commercial quote routing is ready except for one rule, and I need your call on it. What changed: Nora is set up as a rep, and the routing to her is built. I’m finishing her new-quote alert and the tests while I wait. Blocked or at risk: the quote form doesn’t say which quotes are commercial, so I need a rule. Until it’s live, commercial quotes keep going to Marco and Jess by ZIP code, as they do today. What we need from you: pick one by Tuesday, October 27. 1. Any quote with a business name filled in goes to Nora. 2. Only quotes for systems over 25 kW go to Nora. With your answer by Tuesday, it can go live Thursday, October 29. A later answer moves go-live back by the same number of business days. Next: once you choose, I’ll add the rule, rerun the tests and confirm the go-live date. Sam
Dana can answer with one number. She also knows what keeps working while she thinks about it.
When a weekly update is enough
A weekly update covers steady progress, finished work and small risks that don’t need a decision before the next one.
Send a short message the same day when a blocker will move a date the client is counting on, when you need a decision before your next update, or when something live is affecting their customers. Say what happened, what it affects and what you need. Then include it in the weekly update as usual.
When nothing moved, say so in one line:
No real progress on [item] this week because [reason]. Next step: [action] by [date].
If a reply asks for something new, write it up as a request before you build, with the change request template. For the handoff at the end of a build, see Your Client Handoff Is Part of the Automation.
Drafting updates in AgentHub
If you keep your client work in AgentHub, it can draft a client update for you. Ask for a client’s update for a period, and it builds a private draft from what’s recorded for that client, including verified changes and open requests.
You choose what goes in, edit the summary and preview exactly what your client will see. Nothing is shared until you publish it, which creates a link you send yourself or email from AgentHub. AgentHub doesn’t watch your workflows or mark a change as verified on its own. The checks in an update are the ones a person recorded.