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Overview

We hosted the wonderful and enigmatic (and long distance runner) Dean Schuster, the founder and owner of truematter, and he presented a terrific take on managing your clients that included a status report that we all loved and adored so much that we created a new template.

First off, your status must always do these four things:

  • Set parameters (in your language in the way you want to control the narrative)
  • Provoke discussion (let’s talk early and often about everything)
  • Enable project control (calm, cool, collected clarity helps your clients feel chill too)
  • Drive account growth (you are building trust, keeping them chill, they will love you)

How? A quick and visual status: green, yellow, red. Need a client’s attention/decision/action? Nothing will drive conversations faster than anything other than green. Goal: you should never get to red as yellow should drive all the discussion you need.

Dean Schuster has been envisioning and creating human-centered digital products since the advent of the commercial web. He is founder and owner of the user experience strategy firm truematter, leading the team to help national and international organizations change the way they do business online. He travels all over the world to speak and teach, mentoring professionals and challenging teams to a higher standard for digital experiences. Dean is also an avid ultra-marathoner and trail racer, often found in out-of-the-way places, including Antarctica.