An onboarding handoff should preserve the customer's reason for choosing the business and make the first internal action obvious.
Capture the commitment
Record the customer's goal, promised scope, stakeholders, timing, dependencies, and risks. Separate what was agreed from what still needs confirmation.
Assign the work
Name the account owner, delivery contact, customer contact, first milestone, and escalation path. Confirm that every handoff item has a source record and due date.
Review the first outcome
Check whether the customer reached the first meaningful milestone and note friction early. A growth assistant can coordinate the review and surface gaps; the accountable owner decides the recovery action.
Make promises traceable
Compare the handoff with scope, meeting notes, and correspondence. Mark items confirmed, pending, or out of scope. Escalate an unagreed expectation before delivery begins.
Check the first milestone
Define an outcome in customer language, not “kickoff held.” Ask what was attempted, what blocked progress, and who acts next. Record evidence and dates. The delivery owner decides recovery. Use the customer onboarding handoff checklist on a real account before the kickoff. Confirm the promised outcome, implementation owner, dependencies, access needs, and first success signal with both sides of the handoff.
Review the first completed milestone against that record. Send a scope mismatch to the account owner immediately, while routing minor documentation gaps to the checklist maintainer for the next revision.
