How do you manage and protect login credentials shared by a client?

Situation

When I started working with a busy entrepreneur, she shared login details for her email, social media, and CRM over a plain text message. I knew immediately that was risky.

Task

I needed to secure those credentials and propose a safer workflow without making the client feel like she had to do extra work.

Action

I stored the logins in a password manager with strong encryption and shared access only with her. Then I drafted a short, friendly guide explaining that I would never store passwords in unsecured notes or chat logs. I set up two-factor authentication on all accounts where possible, using an authenticator app rather than SMS. For every new service she later needed me to access, I asked her to invite me via the platform's native user permissions instead of sharing her own login, minimizing credential exposure.

Result

The client appreciated the proactive security measures, and over six months we had zero security incidents. She later told me it gave her peace of mind that I treated her accounts as if they were my own.