One of the most underrated skills in client services is how you explain changes.
I run a marketing agency focused on paid marketing and I always say: we don’t really sell Google Ads Management – we sell security that their ads are being managed properly. We’re selling peace of mind. To deliver on that we need to make sure we are always giving confidence with every update.
I recently wrote out a framework for my team to follow when presenting adjustments. It’s simple, repeatable, and designed to give confidence to our clients during execution changes.
The Client Change Explanation Framework
When you’re sharing updates with a client, make sure you cover these six elements:
1. Context / Observation
What did you see? What triggered the change?
“We saw this happening…”
Framing the change as proactive (“we caught this early”) rather than reactive builds confidence. I always emphasize that we don’t point fingers here either.
If someone is acutely at fault (even if it was you) we point to the reason for the change but we don’t point fingers at a person or business. We always position ourselves as problem solvers who deliver on what we do, not who we put down.
2. Decision / Action
What exactly did you do?
“So I cut out the non-performers and shifted the budget to the best ads.”
State clearly what you did.
3. Benefit
Why does this matter to the client?
Tie the adjustment to their goals.
“This should help Meta optimize faster and get us better results.”
4. Monitoring / Ownership
How are you keeping an eye on this?
Explain how you’re watching what happens after a change to ease client uncertainty during a change
“We’ll be watching the data closely over the next two weeks.”
5. Success Criteria
Define what “good” looks like and what time frame you’re hoping to see some of those signs of success
“We’re looking for cost per lead to trend down by at least 15% by the end of the month.”
6. Contingency / Backstop
End with reassurance “If this doesn’t perform well, we’ll revert quickly and test another approach since I still think we should be aiming towards better optimization”.
This gives you an out in the future if this change doesn’t work out and it gives the client confidence that there’s a contingency plan.
Putting It All Together (Example)
Here’s how it sounds when you weave it into a client conversation:
“Hey [client name], we noticed the ads weren’t optimizing the way we’d like. We’ve been testing multiple creative, but we think it’s time to slim it down to just the top performers. So I’m cutting the non-performers and reallocating budget to the best ones.
This should help Meta’s system optimize better and get us out of the slump we’ve seen over the past two weeks. We’ll be monitoring results daily, and what we’re looking for is more consistent cost per lead by the end of the month.
If performance doesn’t pick up, we’ll revert and test another configuration. But for now, this is the best path forward.”
That explanation hits every element of the framework – leaves the client confident the account is in good hands and makes it easy to keep following up even if the changes you made aren’t going as expected.
The Takeaway
Clients don’t just want to know what you did – they just want to feel reassured things are covered. Hit every one of these points in an update or a call and your life will be less stressful and your clients will be happier.