The “Closed-Won” Handoff

What It Is

The Closed-Won Handoff automates the critical transition from sales to customer success. When a deal closes, it compiles all relevant context—discovery notes, call highlights, success criteria, technical requirements—into a structured handoff document, assigns the CS owner, and triggers the onboarding workflow.

Why It Matters

Poor handoffs lead to customers repeating themselves, missed expectations, and early churn. Automation ensures CS teams start with full context and customers experience a seamless transition. First impressions matter—onboarding sets the tone for the entire relationship.

Who It's For

• Customer Success teams receiving new customers
• Sales teams wanting smooth customer transitions
• Onboarding specialists needing complete context
• Revenue leaders focused on retention

Required Tools

• CRM with stage-based triggers
• CS platform (ChurnZero, Gainsight, Vitally)
• Document generation (Notion, Google Docs)
• Slack for notifications
• Calendar for scheduling

Required Fields/Properties

• Deal data (value, products, terms)
• Primary contacts and stakeholders
• Discovery notes and success criteria
• Technical requirements or integrations
• Contract details and timeline

Definitions Required

• CS assignment rules (by segment, product, region)
• Handoff document sections
• Onboarding workflow steps
• SLAs for kickoff scheduling

Handoff Document Template

🎉 NEW CUSTOMER HANDOFF
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

**Customer:** {{company_name}}
**Contract:** {{contract_value}}/{{term}} | Renewal: {{renewal_date}}
**CS Owner:** {{csm_name}}
**Sales Rep:** {{ae_name}}

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

## 👥 Key Contacts

**Champion:** {{champion_name}}, {{champion_title}}
{{champion_email}} | {{champion_phone}}
*Relationship notes:* {{champion_notes}}

**Executive Sponsor:** {{exec_name}}, {{exec_title}}
*Involvement level:* {{exec_involvement}}

**Day-to-Day:** {{daily_contact_name}}, {{daily_contact_title}}

## 🎯 Why They Bought

**Pain Points:**
{{#each pain_points}}
• {{pain_point}}
{{/each}}

**Success Criteria:**
{{success_criteria}}

**Alternatives Considered:** {{competitors_evaluated}}
**Why They Chose Us:** {{win_reasons}}

## 🔧 Technical Context

**Products:** {{products}}
**Integrations Required:** {{integrations}}
**Data Migration:** {{data_requirements}}
**Security/Compliance:** {{security_notes}}

## 🤝 What We Promised

{{#each commitments}}
• {{commitment}}
{{/each}}

**Implementation Timeline:** {{implementation_timeline}}

## ⚠️ Risk Factors

{{#each risks}}
• {{risk}}
{{/each}}

## 🎥 Key Recordings

• [Discovery Call]({{discovery_call_link}})
• [Technical Evaluation]({{tech_eval_link}})
• [Negotiation/Close]({{close_call_link}})

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

**Next Steps:**
1. Schedule kickoff call within 48 hours
2. Send welcome email with onboarding guide
3. Create project plan based on success criteria

CSM Assignment Notification

🎉 *New Customer Assigned!*

**{{company_name}}** just closed!

**Contract:** {{contract_value}}/{{term}}
**Products:** {{products}}
**Your AE Partner:** {{ae_name}}

**Champion:** {{champion_name}} ({{champion_title}})
**Why they bought:** {{elevator_pitch}}

<{{handoff_doc_link}}|📄 View Full Handoff>
<{{schedule_link}}|📅 Schedule Kickoff>
<{{crm_link}}|🔗 View in CRM>

*Kickoff SLA: Schedule within 48 hours*

Customer Kickoff Email

Subject: Welcome to {{your_company}}! Let's get started 🚀

Hi {{champion_first_name}},

I'm {{csm_name}}, your Customer Success Manager, and I'll be your primary point of contact from here on.

{{ae_name}} shared the details from our sales conversations, and I'm excited to help you achieve {{success_criteria_short}}.

**Here's what happens next:**

1. **Kickoff Call** - Let's meet to align on goals and timeline
   → [Book a time that works for you]({{scheduling_link}})

2. **Onboarding Guide** - Get familiar with the platform
   → [View Guide]({{onboarding_guide_link}})

3. **Implementation Plan** - We'll create this together in our kickoff

**Your team:**
• {{csm_name}} (Customer Success) - {{csm_email}}
• {{support_contact}} (Support) - {{support_email}}

Looking forward to our partnership!

Best,
{{csm_name}}

Assignment Rules Reference

| Segment | ARR Range | CSM Capacity | Assignment Logic |
|---------|-----------|--------------|------------------|
| Enterprise | >$100K | 20 accounts | Named CSM, manager approval |
| Mid-Market | $25K-$100K | 40 accounts | Round-robin by region |
| SMB | <$25K | 80 accounts | Pooled/digital-first |
| Strategic | >$500K | 5 accounts | VP approval required |

Test Cases Checklist

• Deal marked Closed Won → handoff doc generated within 5 minutes
• Mid-market deal → assigned to CSM in correct region with capacity
• Scheduling link sent → customer books within 48 hours (track)
• Handoff doc includes all key call recordings → links functional
• CS platform record created → onboarding playbook started

Common Failure Modes

• Incomplete CRM data: Missing discovery notes or contacts makes handoff thin. Enforce data quality before close.
• CSM capacity issues: All CSMs at capacity causes assignment failures. Build escalation path to manager for overflow.
• Delayed kickoff scheduling: Customer doesn't schedule, momentum lost. Follow up aggressively and escalate if no response.
• Context not transferred: CSM asks customer to repeat discovery. Ensure handoff doc is read before kickoff.

Troubleshooting Tips

• If handoff docs are incomplete: Audit CRM data requirements before close stage
• If assignments fail: Review capacity rules and add manager escalation
• If kickoffs are delayed: Shorten SLA and add automated follow-up sequence
• If CSMs feel unprepared: Add required handoff review checklist before kickoff

KPIs to Track

• Time to Kickoff: Kickoff scheduled within 48 hours of close
• Handoff Doc Completeness: >90% of handoffs have all required sections
• Time to First Value: Track time from close to first value milestone
• Onboarding Completion Rate: >85% of customers complete onboarding within SLA
• 90-Day Retention: Track early churn as handoff quality signal

Suggested Dashboard Widgets

• New Customers Pipeline: Customers in handoff/onboarding stages
• Kickoff SLA Compliance: Percentage scheduled within 48 hours
• CSM Capacity Dashboard: Current load vs. capacity by CSM
• Handoff Quality Scores: Doc completeness and CSM feedback