Why Your Client Updates Are Costing You the Relationship | EP 45

You're two weeks into a client project. Work is moving, you're deep in research, drafting, building exactly what you promised. But there's nothing exciting to report yet, so you stay quiet. You tell yourself you'll send an update once there's something real to show.

Meanwhile, your client is staring at an inbox that hasn't moved in over a week, quietly filling that silence with a story you never meant to tell.

This episode breaks down what's actually happening on the other side of your "I'll update them later" instinct. You'll learn why client silence almost never reads as "nothing to report",  it reads as something has gone wrong, even when your work is completely on track. You'll hear what's really driving that assumption (it's not about whether your client trusts you specifically, it's about how brains handle missing information), and why the real cost shows up later: hesitant referrals, more micromanaging, quiet doubts about whether you're still the right fit. Then you'll get a simple, low-effort communication cadence you can use on any project so silence never gets the chance to do the damage for you.

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What to listen for in this episode:

• Why client silence almost never reads as "things are fine" and what your client's mind does instead when it has no information to go on.
• The real cost of going quiet mid-project, it's not just an awkward check-in email, it's the trust and referrals you don't even realize you're losing.
• A simple four-part update cadence that keeps clients confident without turning you into someone glued to your inbox.

If your clients can't see your process, your communication is the only thing they have to go on. What is your silence currently telling them? 

Transcript

Sara (Rembert) Lowell (00:00.236)
You're listening to Entrepreneur Encounter, the podcast where soft skills meet real talk for creative business owners who are building with purpose. I'm Dana, a Pinterest marketing strategist and agency owner helping wedding pros and creative entrepreneurs get seen without burning out. And I'm Sarah, a business and team strategist who helps small teams and podcasters communicate clearly, lead with empathy, and grow sustainably. Together we're unpacking the messy, meaningful side of entrepreneurship.

From boundaries to burnout, leadership to listening, so you can build a business that actually fits your life.

Sara (Rembert) Lowell (00:46.732)
You are working on a project for your client. Things are moving along. You know, you're deep in your research, you're deep in drafting out a standard operating procedure. You're you're in it. You're in the work. But there's really nothing exciting to report back. So you don't send an update to your client. Because what do you even say? Do you just say, I'm still working on it? Although that feels reasonable in the moment, you think.

I'll update them when there's something real to show. Except on the client side, the silence doesn't read things are progressing. It reads in their mind that something is going wrong. And that's what we're talking about today. You can do everything right on schedule inside the scope, no problems at all. And the absence of communication is what actually

damage the relationship. And this is what you're going to hear or watch while you listen to this episode. Why going quiet during a project gets misread? What is actually happening in your client's head during that silence? Because I know for a fact sometimes if I don't hear back from someone in a week or so, I'm wondering if things are actually getting done. And the specific low effort habits that can

Fix that without turning into having to send emails every single day to give an update of still working on it. If you do any client any kind of client work, design, writing, marketing, consulting, whatever it is, anything with a delivery gap between we started and here's a result, this is one's for you. Before we get into it, I want to mention something. It's called the spotlight swap, and this is where

We want to feature you, the entrepreneur, on our newsletter. And we swap. So what this entails is we showcase your freebie and you showcase ours. It's to help each other out to get in front of other audiences so that we're not left wondering, like, what kind of audience should I show up for today? There's no cost, it's just a collaboration to where we can again build our audiences. So if that sounds

Sara (Rembert) Lowell (03:11.981)
Like something that you're interested in, the link is going to be down in the description where you can apply to get on that spotlight. Here's a thing that's trips people up, right? It's you know the project is fine. You have full visibility into it. You know what's being done, what's left, and why it's taking the time it's taking. Your client has none of that. They don't see the work, they see the absence of an update.

And when people don't have information, they're left wondering. They fill they fill this gap, usually with the worst available story. You know, you may thinking, no, this project's not getting done. What did I pay this person to do? What's going on? All these questions are in your mind. This is not your client being difficult or anxious. This is actually part of human nature because we are just we don't like to be left to wonder. For example, so you watch your favorite TV show.

And now you're left with a big cliffhanger, and now you have to wait. That's frustrating. I mean, that was probably more so back in the day, not not necessarily now, because obviously you watch shows on Netflix and you can just go into the next episode. Anyways, so there's no actual data, which I mean, there is data, but no data defaults to bad data. So they're thinking that something is wrong. It's not about

It's not about trust in your you specifically. It's about how our brains work when they can't see something. Which means the silence isn't neutral because you intend to be neutral. To you, it says nothing to report. Like I have nothing to report. To them, it can say, This is behind schedule. They forgot about me or something's wrong, and I don't know how to they don't know how to tell me. I mean, that could be the case.

And this is why people think like this because of past experiences. So they are left to wonder. And this is why communication is so important. Communication is one of my favorite soft skills on all the list of soft skills, because communication ties into every soft skill that you have to intertwine into your business. So let's get specific about what the worst case story usually sounds like. Because I think naming it

Sara (Rembert) Lowell (05:38.201)
can make this help. If a client hasn't heard from you, maybe in a week and a half, the thought isn't usually great, their heads down. It's did they forget about this? Or is it this is taking longer than it should? And that's brutal. Like you don't want your clients thinking like that because then they unfortunately start to lose trust. They think, did I make a mistake hiring them?

And this is where the part that matters. None of that has anything to do with the actual quality of the work. I'm sure your work is great. You could deliver something excellent two weeks from now, and the client's trust has already taken a hit. It's because the silence, and that's that's the real cost cost. It's not just an awkward moment. It's about your reputation. Clients feel that uncertainty are more likely to mu micromanage next time.

hesitate to refer you or quietly start wondering if they need someone more community. Even though communication wasn't actually the problem, the visibility was. Clients aren't paying you to be productive. They're paying you to feel confident that you're being productive. Those are two different jobs. And most of us are only doing the first one. Here's an example. Early on I I take on I take on a project, go quiet,

For the entire build phase and resurface when it's finished. In my head, I'm thinking, it's efficient because I did the work. It is done. Why interrupt the client when nothing with when there's no updates? More than once, you know, receiving the just checking in, how's it going? Email. And the work was fine the whole time. I just hadn't given them anywhere to put their attention except their own imagination. Because I worked on this project for

So long and they didn't get any updates. You cannot do that. And the fix wasn't to do more work. It was you have to say something, even when there's nothing exciting to say. The goal isn't constant communication. You literally don't have to every 20 minutes, every 30 minutes. That can be a dull problem. It reads that you know that that can read as anxious or makes you look like you don't have boundaries either. Yes, there's that.

Sara (Rembert) Lowell (08:06.211)
That line, that boundary line. The goal is to figure out the rhythm on which you can communicate with your client. So let's look at the first shift that you can make. You can separate exciting update from status update. You don't need the news, you need a sentence. That's it. Something like quick update, still on track for Friday the 19th.

Currently working through phase two, nothing needed from you, just keeping you posted. That's it. That's going to take you five seconds to write, and it's going to close that gap so that your client is not assuming the worst. We don't want that. The second shift is to set the cadence up front at the start of the project. So the client isn't wondering.

when they'll hear from you next. So what that means is every Friday I will check in with you when where things stand. And that's going to remove the guesswork from your client. Now silence between Friday isn't silence. It's just the agreed rhythm. That's what you are going to for the boundaries that you're setting with the project. Another shift so to piggyback off of what I just mentioned with

Giving the cadence onto what you communicate. Now, this can depend on the length of the project. A two week project might only need one midpoint check in. A three month project needs a standing weekly or bi weekly touch point. So this is just again, depending on the project that you're doing, depending on what you're working with, you just want to make sure there's some.

points in that time that you're working with your client that you communicate what's going on. This is in the fourth one, the fourth shift that unfortunately some people skip. And this is when things are slower than expected. Say that too. Instead of waiting until it's a bare conversation, you can just say, hey, this phase is taking a bit longer than than planned. Still tracking for the final dot deadline. Just say that. Just

Sara (Rembert) Lowell (10:30.415)
Communicate that with them. Because again, if you're not communicating, then they're left there to wander, and then the silence eats out them, and it's just like this back and forth thing you don't want. None of this is about over-explaining your process. It's about giving the client just enough visibility that they don't have to invent the rest. They don't have to make up the story. And then when you communicate at certain points within the project, within the task.

However, you set that up from the get-go, then they will think, okay, cool. This person knows how to communicate. I would like to refer them to somebody else that may need them. So you are setting the tone, you're setting the expectations, you're telling them, hey, this is what we're doing, this is how I'm communicating. Cause it all goes back to the beginning. You're building your reputation. Because if you are not communicating.

And if they reach reach out to you and you don't communicate with that, you leave them in the dark, then I they're gonna build that story and they're not gonna wanna work with you again. So there's one thing to to take from this episode. Silence isn't neutral. In the absence of information, people don't assume the best, they assume the worst. And that assumption shapes how they feel about working with you, even when the work is excellent. Thank you all for tuning in to Entrepreneur Encounter. If you're interested in the spotlight swap,

Definitely check that out. And till next time, you can now follow us on LinkedIn at Entrepreneur Encounter.

Sara (Rembert) Lowell (12:10.179)
Thanks for spending time with us today. If something in this episode gave you a fresh perspective, share it with a friend or send us a DM. We love hearing how these conversations land with you. And if you're curious about how soft skills can support your next season of growth, we each have more resources to share. You can find Dana on Instagram at Dana's.desk.nc for Pinchestrategy and Intentional Marketing. And Sarah.

at UR Rembert for team development, business leadership, and podcast support. Until next time, keep leading with purpose and growing with intention.