Field notes
Handoffs that spare delivery a scavenger hunt
Closed-won should not mean delivery staff reconstructing promises from email threads. A short handoff pack belongs in the sales process itself.
Ask any delivery lead what they wish sales would capture. You will hear the same themes: who promised what, which exclusions were accepted, and which stakeholder actually holds budget. Those answers belong in a handoff pack defined as an exit criterion of the final pre-signature stage.
Minimum contents
- Signed commercial summary
- Scope inclusions and exclusions in plain language
- Key contacts and their roles in the buying group
- Open risks the seller already knows
- First meeting purpose for kickoff
Keep it short enough to finish
If the pack takes half a day to complete, sellers will skip it when a quarter end looms. Aim for a document that can be finished the same day as verbal agreement.
Involve delivery once
Invite a delivery lead into the process design workshop — not into every deal review. Their job is to say what must be present, not to redesign selling.
For firms redesigning stages end to end, this handoff sits inside our flagship diagnostic.