Dan Hull has an interesting addition to his rules of good client service. The post is entitled "Over-Communicate": Bombard, Copy and Confirm." The gist of Dan's message is not at as far-reaching as the statement of the rule. Noting that the rule has "obvious exceptions," Dan articulates what I think is the core of the rule: know what your client wants and provide it to him or her.
There is a danger of "bombarding" clients with communications. Frequently, clients are paying you to be exercise judgment about what they need to hear or read and what they don't need to hear or read. The more important the issue, the more your client needs to know. My formulation of this "rule": No surprises. And they best way to avoid surprises is to have an on-going dialogue with your clients where you ask if he or she wants to be involved with an issue, kept apprised to simply advised at its conclusion.
Bear in mind that sometimes the rules change. For example, if your client, the General Counsel, is involved in a major acquisition, she may not want to be advised at the same level of detail simply because she doesn't have the time to read everything she otherwise would. Talk about it from time to time. Its the best way.
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