So, I would assume most Account Managers, Project Managers, and anyone else in client services all know about (and occasionally create) call reports. However, I’d be willing to bet that eventually almost all of you have given up on them. I know, from personal experience, that the call/meeting report is thought about and started with good intentions. Inevitably, however, it ends up being one of the first items to slowly fade away. While it appears to be a good idea, it always seems like a waste of time, and the easiest task to drop. You get busy, and bogged down with tasks, and figure “who really reads these things anyway?” Well, as much as it may seem like extra, unnecessary work, I can say it is one of the best tools anyone in client services can use.

For those of you who have never heard of these, it’s basically a summary of a meeting, phone call, or even quick discussion you’ve had with a client. (It doesn’t hurt to do this with internal meetings too.) After every meeting, send a summary and list of action items to your team and your client. Trust me. It’s worth it.

The call report does NOT need to be an extensive document. It just needs to cover the basics. If you have a client who tends to “forget” what you talked about, you may need to be a bit more specific. No matter the level of detail, just do one. Every time.

I can’t tell you how many times there has been a conflict about what we decided, a task unassigned, or a lack of follow up on an urgent request. With the call report, this is practically impossible. I have had times where the client was quite upset with a situation and couldn’t believe we chose to go down a certain path for his design. Based on a meeting we had over two months ago, I vaguely remembered him requesting something along those lines, but I honestly had no idea what we decided. I feared we were in for a huge change (and a significant loss of money). Low and behold…the magical call report. I pulled up the old document that was sent to my client the day after the meeting, and copied the exact statement saying he agreed to the change. Not only did he insist on this change, but he also agreed that it was out of scope. The call report saved us hours of headaches and a bundle of money. This is not just a random example. These types of things happen at least once a week, and the meeting report has saved my team, my company, and myself a lot of problems. So, I beg of you. Take the time. It’s worth it. And who knows? It may even save a life or two.