It should be an obvi­ous tac­tic, but for most peo­ple it’s just an after­thought that occurs too late. I’ve recently started ask­ing each of my clients for a let­ter of ref­er­ence that I can use in my port­fo­lio. All are will­ing and most are even eager to pro­vide one, which is for me a sure sign that the client is happy. If ever one weren’t this would be a good way to uncover and address an issue… another reminder that a wrap-up meet­ing is a good idea at the end of a project. This is the nat­ural time to review what’s been done, do any train­ing nec­es­sary, and plan future steps. My favorite email response though, was this one: