# How to keep track of promises made to clients by email A short email can contain a promise that changes what your team must do next. Record the commitments that affect work or expectations, with enough context to distinguish an agreed action from an idea. Canonical: https://areinum.com/guides/client-email-promise-tracker/ Language: en Updated: 2026-10-31 ## Read enough of the thread to understand the commitment Identify the client, deliverable, date and any condition in the surrounding conversation. Keep the message date, identifier or link so someone can find the original wording. One email may need two rows if it promises a file and a separate meeting. Capture the words as they were written. A suggestion that the team could explore an import is not the same as a promise to perform it. ## Give each item an owner and a close condition Name the person responsible for the next action, who may differ from the sender. Record a due date when one was promised, or the event that starts the work when the commitment depends on client input. Define completion in observable terms. A file sent, an email delivered and a client response received are different events; record the evidence you actually have. Keep waiting on the client separate from work assigned to your team. 1. Copy the exact commitment and source reference. 2. Assign the next action and record its due date or trigger. 3. Update the status and link the evidence when the action takes place. ## Three different statements from fictional Alder Studio The fictional team promises a revised two-page proof by October 23. That is a dated commitment. In a separate message it says it can assess a contact import after inspecting a sample; the sample and a further decision are needed before anyone promises delivery of an import. A third message promises to confirm appointment options after the client supplies preferred days. That item is waiting on the client. The names, message IDs, dates and wording in the original tracker are fictional. ## Keep changes visible Review open and waiting items during account handoffs or project updates. When a commitment changes, add the confirmed change and its source rather than silently rewriting the original statement. Record a completion date and the available evidence, such as a sent message or client reply. Do not describe a message as received or read unless you have evidence of that event. ## Prepare a promise list with Areinum Ask Areinum Assistant to organize selected message references and identify dates, conditions and possible commitments for review. The account owner checks the wording and decides what belongs in the working tracker. ## Questions you may have ### Should every suggestion be entered as a promise? No. Keep possibilities and conditional statements distinct from confirmed commitments. ### Who owns an item if the sender is not doing the work? Name the person responsible for the next action and retain the sender and message as source context. ### Is a sent email proof the client received it? No. Record sending and any later delivery or response as separate events, based on the evidence available. ## Sources and further reading - [Our sales to onboarding handoff currently depends on people remembering stuff](https://www.reddit.com/r/CustomerSuccess/comments/1wqahi8/our_sales_to_onboarding_handoff_currently_depends/): One practitioner describes onboarding staff recovering promises and customer context from notes or conversations. The post does not say the promises were made by email. The author's role is unconfirmed. The email tracker is a proposed method. The original poster says onboarding reconstructs what was promised, client priorities, unusual sales context, and next steps by reading notes or asking the salesperson; the poster says customer success later repeats some of that work. This is a single self-report on Reddit and the poster's role is not independently verified. The post does not say that promises originated in email or establish prevalence or willingness to pay. It showed only a relative timestamp during access, so no absolute publication date is inferred. (2026-10-18) Download the original worksheet: https://areinum.com/guides/client-email-promise-tracker/client-email-promise-tracker.csv ## Client email promise tracker Alder Studio, message IDs, owners, dates, and all example wording are fictional. | Promise ID | Fictional client | Exact wording or proposal | Source message | Owner | Due date or trigger | Completion evidence | Status | Next action | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | P-101 | Fictional Alder Studio | We will send a revised two-page proof by 2026-10-23. | EXAMPLE-MSG-014, 2026-10-17 | Fictional owner: R. Patel | 2026-10-23 | Not yet recorded | Open | Prepare and send the revised proof | | P-102 | Fictional Alder Studio | We can assess importing the contacts after we inspect a sample file. | EXAMPLE-MSG-017, 2026-10-17 | Fictional owner: T. Green | After the sample file is received | Not yet recorded | Conditional, not confirmed | Review the sample before making any delivery commitment | | P-103 | Fictional Alder Studio | We will confirm appointment options after you send preferred days. | EXAMPLE-MSG-019, 2026-10-18 | Fictional owner: R. Patel | Waiting for preferred days from the client | Not yet recorded | Waiting on client | Ask for the dates if they are still needed | 1. Use one row for each commitment that changes work, timing, or what the client expects to receive. 2. Copy the message reference and preserve the wording. Record a trigger when the promised action depends on client input. 3. Mark conditional ideas separately from commitments. Add completion evidence before setting a row to done. 4. All client names, message IDs, dates, and promises are fictional. ### Limits of this method - The selected research class is H. The source supports a related handoff problem, while a tracker specifically for email promises remains a hypothesis. - The Reddit post does not say that the promises were made by email. This guide presents email capture as a manual method, not as a fact about the poster. - A tracker does not establish whether a statement is contractually binding. Ask the responsible business owner to clarify ambiguous or disputed commitments. ## Related reading - [What sales should hand over before delivery begins](https://areinum.com/guides/sales-to-delivery-handoff/) - [Turn a client email into a task and close the loop](https://areinum.com/guides/turn-client-email-into-task-and-close-loop/) Explore the demo: https://platform.areinum.com/ The demo is in English. Access may need to be arranged.