# Agency SOP: client communication

One page your account managers can actually follow, so every client gets the same experience whoever is handling them. Adjust the response times to your own SLA before you publish it — the numbers here are a starting point, not a standard.

**Purpose:** consistent, predictable communication with every client. **Owner:** the account manager.

## Channels

- Project updates, files and approvals: the client portal or project tool — the single source of truth
- Quick questions: the agreed chat channel; decisions get logged back to the portal
- Urgent issues: phone first, then a written follow-up

## Response times, in business hours

| Kind of message | Respond within |
|---|---|
| Urgent — site down, campaign broken | 2 hours |
| Normal questions | 1 business day |
| Change requests | Acknowledge in 1 business day, estimate in 3 |

Adjust all three to your own SLA.

## Cadence

- Weekly: a short written status update — done, next, blocked, needs the client
- Monthly: the report, plus a review call
- Quarterly: a strategy review

## Rules

1. Confirm every decision in writing.
2. Out-of-scope requests get a written estimate before any work starts.
3. Bad news early, with a proposed fix.
4. Every action item has a named owner and a date.
5. Log holidays and out-of-office ahead of time, with a backup contact.

## Escalation

Account manager → project lead → agency owner. Record the issue, the resolution and the follow-up.

> Rule 2 is the one that protects margin. An out-of-scope request answered with "sure, we will fit it in" is the single most common way a profitable retainer stops being profitable.

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Free to use, change and republish: released under CC0 1.0 (public domain).
From https://huelab-byte.github.io/tryclientos/templates/ — a free resource from the
ClientOS team. ClientOS is a self-hosted, white-label client portal for service
agencies: https://getclientos.com