Prepare a sales-to-delivery handoff that preserves the customer's real goal
AI-assisted editorial field note · Educational planning framework
What should sales hand over to delivery?
Hand over the agreed outcome, scope, decision context, commitments, dependencies and unresolved questions. A copied proposal alone may omit why the customer selected the service or which expectations were discussed verbally. The handoff should give delivery enough evidence to confirm the starting conditions and identify a mismatch before work begins.
Put it into practice
State the customer outcome
Describe what the customer wants to achieve and how they will judge the result. Separate their operational goal from your internal revenue target.
Record actual commitments
List promised deliverables, timing and availability. Flag any statement that requires confirmation rather than quietly passing it as an agreed capability.
Identify owners and dependencies
Include the customer reviewer, delivery owner, required inputs and access process. Record who is responsible for obtaining missing information.
Hold a confirmation checkpoint
Let delivery ask questions before kickoff. Summarize any changes with the customer so the transition does not introduce a different scope silently.
A worked example
Illustrative scenario — not a customer case study
Sales records that a customer needs a review-ready report, not merely a dashboard. Delivery learns that an operations manager must approve the format and that source data arrives every Friday. The handoff prevents a technically completed dashboard from missing the customer's actual weekly decision workflow.
Make the next decision
Complete the handoff when delivery can explain the promised result, dependencies and open issues. Pause kickoff when a material sales promise exceeds the available delivery capability.
A mistake to avoid
Do not treat the handoff as a blame document. Its purpose is to surface misunderstandings early and establish shared responsibility for resolving them.
Does a founder doing sales and delivery need a handoff?
Yes, a lightweight record still helps. Time between the sale and delivery can make assumptions disappear, and another teammate may need to support the work later.
Take the next step
Check the broader business context with the free six-question assessment. Use your own evidence to choose the next action.
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