How Do You Politely Ask For An Update?

Knowing how to politely ask for an update is an essential part of effective business communication. When you request an update, you want to ensure you are staying on good terms with your customer, colleague or supplier. At the same time, it is important that you achieve the outcome you require – a status update. Follow these principles to get updates reliable and fast: 1. Make your request clear Keep your email simple and to the point. 2. Put a deadline for response Make it clear when you want a response by. This will provide clarity to the recipient about your own expectations. 3. Provide a call-to-action The call-to-action is the step that you want the person to take next and make sure it is reasonable in terms of workload and time needed. 4. Provide a “because” Justifying your request, will make it significantly more likely that people will follow through with providing an update. 5. Reassign if necessary If someone has failed to provide you with an update, that task could be reassigned to another person.