Chasing a client who has gone quiet, without apologising

A client who is not answering is almost never a client avoiding you. It is a client with your message in a list, under forty others, putting off the reply until a moment when they can do it properly. That moment never comes.

Meanwhile the job sits still, your schedule slips, and you hesitate to write a third time because you do not want to look pushy.

Why they go quiet

Four reasons, and only one of them is about you.

They do not know what to answer. You asked for "the copy", they do not have the copy, they have not decided who would write it either, and replying would mean announcing that nothing has been done. Silence is more comfortable.

They did not see it was on them. Your message ended on a statement rather than a request. They read it, thought "good", and moved on.

They are waiting on somebody else. A partner, an accountant, their management. They do not tell you because they think they will reply tomorrow, every day, for twelve days.

They have changed their mind about the project. That is the one that actually matters, and the one nobody volunteers.

None of the four resolves itself by waiting.

The rhythm: three messages, then a decision

Chasing is not hounding, and the difference is not the number of messages, it is what they contain.

Two working days after the first. Short, no reproach, and above all: repeat the request in full. Do not send "just following up" on top of a thread somebody would have to scroll, ask for the thing again.

Five working days later. This time add the consequence, factually. "Without the copy I cannot start the layout, and the delivery set for the 12th would move by the same amount." That is not a threat, it is information they did not have.

Ten working days later. Offer a way out rather than another chase. A closed question answered in one word, or a ten-minute call. A client who cannot find the energy to write a paragraph can find it to say "yes" or to click a slot.

After the third, stop chasing and change register: this is no longer a communication problem, it is a decision to make. The first two, though, can be set up once and sent on their own: that is what an automatic reminder does.

What a chase should say

Three things, and nothing else.

• What you are waiting for, named precisely. "The home page copy", not "your content".
• Why it blocks, in one sentence. What cannot move until it arrives.
• A tiny action. Answering a closed question, clicking a link, dropping a file. The lower the step, the sooner it gets taken.

And one thing not to write: an apology. "Sorry to chase" plants the idea that you are the nuisance, when you are waiting on something you were promised. A polite chase is not a chase that apologises.

When to call it

A dormant job costs more than it earns: it takes up room in your head and in your schedule, and it stops you saying yes to something else.

Set yourself a limit and say it out loud. One last message announcing that without an answer by a given date, the job goes on hold and the slot goes back into the schedule. That message gets more replies than the previous three put together, for a simple reason: it is the first one that asks for an actual decision.

If a deposit was paid, it stays earned against the work already done. That is also why a deposit is asked for at the order and not later: what order to ask for the money in.

What Kalepio does with it

Scoping chases do not exist when every question was asked at once, at the start, in a single form. That is half the problem solved before it happens: scoping a job without ten rounds of back and forth.

For the other half, the job carries a state both sides can see. When it is waiting on the client they read that on their own page, in their own words, and they have nothing to dig out of an inbox in order to reply: the form is still there, at the same address, with their earlier answers on it.

And on your side, "waiting on the client" is a list. It is the one you open on Monday morning, and it tells you who to chase without reopening a single conversation.

Frequently asked questions

How long should you wait before chasing a client?

Two working days for the first chase, five for the second, ten for the third. Sooner reads as pushy, later suggests it was not important.

How many times should you chase a client who is not replying?

Three, then change register. After three unanswered messages the problem is no longer communication but the job itself, and a fourth reminder adds nothing.

How do you chase a client without being pushy?

By repeating the request in full rather than forwarding the thread, by giving the consequence factually, and by offering an action that takes one click. And without apologising: you are waiting on something you were promised.

What if a client stops replying altogether?

Send one last message naming a date after which the job goes on hold and the slot goes back into the schedule. It is the message that gets the most replies, because it is the first one asking for a decision.