# Sales-to-CS Handoff Checklist

> The information that must transfer from AE to AM/CSM at close, organized into eight categories, so the first 90 days don't start with a scramble.

Free checklist for sales managers. Topic: [Account Management, Retention & Expansion](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/topic/account-management-retention-expansion/). Published by PeerLab in the [Sales Enablement Resource Library](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/). Source: https://www.peerlab.ai/library/sales-to-cs-handoff-checklist/

## How to use it

AE completes every section at or immediately after signature and walks the CSM through it live in a 20-minute handoff call before kickoff: treat any blank field as a risk to flag, not a box to skip.

## What's inside

- Deal and account economics transfer fields (ARR, terms, discounting rationale)
- Full stakeholder map with buyer/champion/blocker roles
- Champion identity and internal political context
- Technical and implementation requirements with integration priorities
- Verbatim log of every promise made during the sales cycle
- Risk-flag section covering urgency drivers, budget stability, and near-miss objections
- Customer's own success criteria and renewal-judging metrics
- Kickoff logistics and access-provisioning checklist
- Dual sign-off section for AE and CSM

Use this at signature, before the ink is dry. Every unchecked box is a landmine that goes off in week 3 of onboarding.

## 1. Deal & Account Economics
- [ ] Final ARR/MRR and contract term (start date, end date, auto-renew terms)
- [ ] Billing frequency and payment terms (net 30/60, PO required, invoicing contact)
- [ ] Any non-standard discounting and the business reason for it
- [ ] Multi-year ramp schedule, if applicable
- [ ] Upsell/expansion products included, excluded, or promised "later"
- [ ] Contract redlines or non-standard legal terms Legal should flag to CS (custom SLAs, data residency, indemnity carve-outs)

## 2. Stakeholder Map
- [ ] Full list of everyone in the buying process: name, title, role (economic buyer, champion, user, blocker, influencer)
- [ ] Who signed vs. who will actually use the product day-to-day (often different people)
- [ ] Org chart or reporting lines between the above, if known
- [ ] Anyone who was NOT won over: a skeptic, a blocker, someone who preferred a competitor
- [ ] Stakeholders likely to leave/move roles in the next 6 months (flight risk = knowledge/relationship risk)

## 3. Champion & Political Context
- [ ] Who is the internal champion: name, title, why they championed this deal
- [ ] What the champion personally needs this deal to deliver (their internal win, not just the company's)
- [ ] Champion's relationship with the economic buyer
- [ ] Any internal politics CS should know about (replaced a competitor, prior failed vendor, contested budget)

## 4. Technical & Implementation Requirements
- [ ] Required integrations and priority order (must-have for go-live vs. nice-to-have)
- [ ] Data migration scope: what's coming from where, who owns extracting it
- [ ] Security/compliance requirements surfaced during the sale (SSO, SOC 2 ask, DPA)
- [ ] Environment/instance requirements (sandbox, specific role/permission structure)
- [ ] Any pilot/POC results: what was tested, what passed, what was a caveat

## 5. Promises & Commitments Made During the Sale
- [ ] Every feature, timeline, or capability promised verbally or in the deck that isn't in the standard contract: verbatim, not paraphrased
- [ ] Roadmap items the customer was told are "coming soon," and the real target date (or "no committed date")
- [ ] Specific individuals promised specific service levels (dedicated CSM, quarterly business reviews)
- [ ] Pricing or renewal commitments made for future terms

## 6. Risk Flags
- [ ] Why did they buy NOW: the trigger event, and does that urgency evaporate post-signature?
- [ ] What alternative were they seriously considering, and why did we win
- [ ] Any hesitation or "soft no" overcome late in the cycle: what was it, how was it resolved
- [ ] Budget source and stability across the full term
- [ ] Anything unusual about the buying process suggesting organizational dysfunction (rushed, under-scoped, missing stakeholder buy-in)

## 7. Success Criteria & Definition of Value
- [ ] The customer's own words for what "this worked" looks like
- [ ] Specific metrics they will use to judge renewal
- [ ] Timeline they expect to see value by
- [ ] Who internally will be asked "was this worth it" at renewal, and what they care about

## 8. Kickoff Logistics
- [ ] Kickoff call scheduled with correct stakeholders invited (not just the champion)
- [ ] Access provisioning status: logins, SSO config, admin rights assigned
- [ ] Onboarding/implementation timeline shared with the customer before or during kickoff
- [ ] Internal AE-to-CSM handoff call completed live (minimum 20 minutes); AE attends kickoff call #1

## Sign-off
- [ ] AE confirms this document is complete and accurate
- [ ] CSM/AM confirms receipt and has scheduled kickoff within [X] business days of close
- [ ] Both parties agree: no field above is blank without an explicit "N/A, confirmed not applicable"