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Mastering the Sales to Customer Success Handoff

So, you’ve closed the deal—game over, right! Not even close–this is where the real work begins.

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The sales-to-customer success handoff is more than just moving a client from one team to another. It’s a pivotal moment that can make or break the relationship you just worked so hard to establish. A smooth handoff is where trust is built–and a clunky one? Well, that’s where customers start looking for the exit door.

Let’s walk through a step-by-step breakdown of how to create a sales-to-customer success handoff using HubSpot (because yes, it’s the best CRM in the game), set up templates, and even automate some of the heavy lifting. If you’ve been looking for ways to bridge the gap between your sales and customer success teams, you’re in the right place.

The Challenges of a Poorly Managed Handoff

We’ve all been there—whether as customers or on the business side—when things just don’t click after the sale. Maybe you’re excited about your new product or service, but then… silence. No follow-up, no clear next steps, and suddenly, that shiny new relationship feels a little tarnished. These handoff blunders are more common than you think, and they can seriously hurt your business.

As our Director of RevOps Products Brian Kreutz discusses in the RevOps MBA video series, the go-to-market model you choose—whether field sales, ABM, or inbound—impacts how customer success teams engage after the deal closes👇

 


The most glaring issues during a handoff usually boil down to a few key mistakes 👇

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  • Miscommunication: When sales says one thing and customer success does another, your customer is left confused and wondering what they actually signed up for.

  • Lack of Ownership: Without a clear point person or team responsible for the transition, customers can easily slip through the cracks.

  • Unclear Next Steps: If your handoff process isn’t crystal clear on what happens after the deal closes, both your team and the customer are left guessing. That’s a recipe for delays and frustration.

  • Manual Processes: Still using sticky notes or email chains to manage transitions? That’s a fast track to missed info and dropped balls. Automation is your friend here.

Impact on Customer Experience


Customers don’t care about the internal workings of your teams—they care about their experience.

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When there’s a disconnect between what the sales team promised and what customer success delivers, it’s easy for expectations to go unmet. And once that first crack appears, it can widen quickly. Misalignment often leads to onboarding delays, and delayed onboarding is a top contributor to customer dissatisfaction. You’re starting off on the wrong foot, and that’s a tough position to recover from.

Sales and Customer Success Conflict


When sales and customer success teams aren’t aligned, problems will mostly definitely occur. Sales teams might feel like their work is done as soon as the contract is signed, while customer success is left scrambling to pick up the pieces. This misalignment can create internal friction, leading to finger-pointing and, ultimately, a less-than-ideal experience for the customer.

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Key takeaway

  • Misalignment between sales and customer success creates a fragmented customer journey, leading to confusion and frustration.

  • Poor communication during the handoff often results in delays to onboarding, which can negatively impact the customer’s initial experience.

  • The longer the customer feels disconnected, the higher the risk of churn. A strong, well-managed handoff process is essential to minimizing that risk.

The Foundations of a Seamless Sales-to-Customer Success Handoff Process

So, how do you avoid the common pitfalls and ensure a smooth, seamless transition from sales to customer success? It starts with laying the right foundation. 


A successful handoff revolves around three key principles 👇

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  • Transparency: Both sales and customer success teams need to be open about what’s been promised, what’s expected, and what’s next. No guessing games.
  • Accountability: Ownership is crucial. Everyone involved in the handoff needs to know who’s responsible for what. Whether it’s the sales rep providing all necessary info or the customer success manager (CSM) taking the reins, clear ownership avoids finger-pointing and confusion.
  • Collaboration: Sales and customer success need to stay in sync to keep things running smoothly. Regular check-ins and shared goals keep everyone on the same page and moving forward.

What Should be Passed Along?

The handoff process isn’t just a box-ticking exercise. To truly set the customer success team up for success, here’s what should be transferred 👇


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  • Pain Points: What problems is the client hoping to solve? Knowing this helps the CSM prioritize what’s most important to the customer.
  • Key Goals: Whether it’s increasing efficiency, driving more revenue, or scaling operations, the customer’s main goals should be front and center.
  • Timeline: Any specific deadlines or timelines? This ensures there are no unwelcome surprises for either side.
  • Decision-Makers: Who’s in charge on the customer’s end? This helps the customer success team know exactly who to engage with.
  • Agreed-Upon Outcomes: What has the sales team promised? This is crucial to ensure the customer success team isn’t blindsided and can deliver on what’s been agreed.

Client Communication at Every Stage


One of the biggest handoff blunders is leaving the customer in the dark. They need to know exactly who’s handling what and when, right from the start.

Make sure the client is crystal clear on the following 👇

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  • Who their point of contact is at each stage.
  • What the next steps look like.
  • How communication will flow, and what they can expect during onboarding and beyond.

Setting these expectations early builds trust and confidence in the relationship.

Practical Tips for Getting Started


Ready to build out your own seamless handoff process? Start with this checklist 👇

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  1. Set up a shared handoff document: Create a standardized document or template (like in HubSpot) where sales can easily input key customer details.
  2. Schedule an internal handoff meeting: Have sales and customer success review the details together to ensure nothing is missed.
  3. Establish clear roles and timelines: Make sure both teams know who’s responsible for what—and when.
  4. Automate the process where possible: Leverage customer success tools like HubSpot to automate task assignments, streamline communication, and ensure that no detail is missed during the sales-to-customer success handoff. 
  5. Track and review the handoff: Once the handoff is complete, review it periodically to make sure the process is running smoothly and adjust as needed.

 


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Key takeaway

  • Clear roles, shared goals, and detailed customer handoff information set the customer success team up for success from day one.
  • A standardized handoff process improves efficiency and minimizes communication gaps, helping to ensure a smooth customer journey.

Sales-to-Customer Success Handoff Template

Creating a standardized handoff process is the key to good customer relationships and ensuring everyone gets the same high-quality experience, regardless of which sales rep or CSM they’re working with. That’s where a handoff template comes in handy. It takes the guesswork out of the equation and keeps everything structured, clear, and consistent.

Step-by-Step Guide: What a Strong Handoff Template Should Look Like

A good handoff template ensures that nothing is left to chance. Here’s how to break it down:

  1. Sales Summary: This is where the sales team provides a snapshot of the customer’s journey so far. 

    It should include👇

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  • Goals: What is the customer hoping to achieve with your product or service?
  • Pain Points: What specific problems are they trying to solve?
  • Solutions Sold: What did the sales team promise or sell to the customer? Are there any specific features or services they’re particularly interested in?

 

2. Timeline for Onboarding and Key Milestones: Outline the expected onboarding process and key milestones the customer should expect to hit along the way.

     Include👇

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  • Expected onboarding start and end dates.
  • Key milestones (e.g., onboarding kickoff, first product usage, first check-in, etc.)

 

3. Customer Success Metrics to Track: Make sure customer success knows how to measure and track success from day one.

     Include👇

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  • NPS (Net Promoter Score): Measure customer satisfaction early and often.
  • Churn Likelihood: Are there any red flags or concerns noted during the sales process that the CSM should be aware of?
  • Any other specific KPIs that are relevant to the customer’s success journey.

 

4. Resources and Escalation Points: Customers need to know where to turn if they need help.

    Make sure the handoff template includes👇

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  • Links to the Knowledge Base, FAQs, or any other self-service resources that will be helpful during onboarding.
  • Escalation Points: Who should the customer reach out to if something goes wrong? Clearly define the chain of escalation for any potential issues.

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Customization Tips: How to Adapt This Template for Different Industries or Service Levels


One size rarely fits all, and your handoff process shouldn’t be an exception.

Here’s how to tweak the template for different industries or service levels👇

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  • High-Touch vs. Low-Touch: For high-touch clients, you may want to include more detailed touchpoints, regular check-ins, and additional resources. For low-touch customers, simplify the process and leverage automation where possible.
  • Industry-Specific Metrics: Different industries value different metrics. In SaaS, you might focus on product adoption, while in B2B services, the emphasis may be on ROI or cost savings. Tailor the KPIs in your handoff to reflect what matters most to the customer’s industry.
  • Complex Products or Services: If the product you’re handing off is particularly complex, consider adding a step-by-step product training plan or assigning a dedicated technical resource.

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Key takeaway

  • A well-crafted handoff template guarantees clarity and consistency across your sales and customer success teams.
  • Customizing the template based on the unique needs of your business and customer types ensures a smoother and more tailored transition.

The Role of HubSpot in Managing the Handoff Process

Now that we’ve covered the principles and the template, let’s talk about how HubSpot can take your handoff process to the next level. If you’re serious about eliminating friction between sales and customer success, HubSpot will become your new best friend–it streamlines everything from communication to task management, making sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Using HubSpot to Eliminate Friction

HubSpot’s Ticket Pipelines


Setting up a ticket pipeline in HubSpot is one of the easiest ways to keep tabs on your onboarding process. With a dedicated onboarding pipeline, you can track every step of the customer’s journey after the sale, from their welcome email to technical issues and everything in between.

Here’s how you can customize it to work for your team👇


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  • Create stages like Onboarding Kickoff, First Check-in, Product Training, and Go-Live.
  • Add automation to move customers between stages automatically when certain tasks are completed (e.g., a product demo).
  • Use custom fields to capture essential customer data at each stage, ensuring everyone is working from the same info.

By keeping everything centralized in a pipeline, you create a clear visual of where each customer is in their onboarding journey, minimizing the risk of something slipping through the cracks.

Automation and Sequences


HubSpot’s automation features make your handoff process seamless. Instead of manually reminding team members or sending follow-up emails, HubSpot automates the whole thing.

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Task Automation

Assign tasks to the right person at the right time. For example, once a sale closes, you can automatically trigger a task for the CSM to schedule an onboarding call.

Sequences

Set up automated sequences for customer communication. After the sale, a sequence could send a series of onboarding emails at timed intervals, ensuring the customer feels supported without the team needing to manually send each message.

These automations ensure that no one is left waiting and that every customer receives the same high level of attention.

Free HubSpot Audit

Tracking Communication


The beauty of HubSpot is that every single interaction—whether it’s an email, call, or meeting—is logged automatically. This means both sales and customer success have a complete record of the customer’s journey. No more guessing who said what or when.

HubSpot’s communication tracking ensures👇

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  • Sales and CS teams stay on the same page.
  • Clients don’t have to repeat themselves.
  • You can reference past interactions to tailor future communications.

Plus, since HubSpot logs everything, it’s easy to pull up a history of conversations whenever needed.

Custom Reporting


Need to measure how well your handoff process is working? HubSpot’s custom reporting features let you monitor important KPIs in real-time.

You can set up dashboards to track👇

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  • Onboarding Progress: How long does it take on average to move through each stage of onboarding? Where are the bottlenecks?
  • Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and NPS: Keep a close eye on how customers feel during onboarding and beyond.
  • Churn Likelihood: Use data like NPS and onboarding completion to identify potential churn risks early.

By setting up real-time dashboards, you can ensure that both sales and customer success teams are aligned on how well the handoff process is going and where improvements can be made.

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Key takeaway

  • HubSpot’s automation tools reduce manual effort, ensuring a smooth and consistent handoff process.
  • Setting up ticket pipelines and sequences makes it easier to track progress and streamline onboarding.
  • HubSpot’s communication tracking and custom reporting give you complete visibility into the customer journey, ensuring that no detail is missed.

A Strategic Approach to Sales and Customer Success Alignment

Even with the best tools and processes in place, if your sales and customer success teams are operating in silos, things will inevitably fall apart. Breaking down these silos and ensuring alignment between these teams is critical for delivering a seamless customer experience. 

Creating Shared Goals for Sales and Customer Success


Sales and customer success often have different focuses: sales is all about closing deals, while customer success is about building long-term relationships and ensuring the client’s success. But these teams need to be working toward the same overarching goal: happy, successful customers.

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To break down these silos, start by creating shared goals that both teams can rally around.

These might include👇

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  • Customer retention rates: Both sales and customer success benefit when customers stick around.
  • First-time customer value: Ensure customers are getting immediate value from your product or service.
  • Customer satisfaction: Make customer happiness a joint priority.

By establishing shared goals, you create a sense of ownership across both teams that encourages collaboration and accountability.

Shared Metrics for Accountability


You can’t improve what you don’t measure. To ensure accountability, establish shared KPIs that both teams can track and contribute to.

These might include👇

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  • Onboarding Time: How long does it take to onboard a new customer? Both sales and customer success teams should have a stake in reducing this time to improve the customer experience.
  • First-Time Customer Value: How quickly is the customer realizing value from the solution? This metric helps both teams focus on driving immediate customer wins.
  • Customer Health Scores: Measure customer satisfaction and engagement throughout their journey. A low health score is an early warning signal that the sales-to-customer success handoff may need attention.

By tying both teams to these metrics, you promote a culture of shared responsibility for customer success.

Regular Alignment Meetings


Communication holds everything together. Without regular check-ins between sales and customer success, even the best-laid plans can fall apart. Establish a consistent meeting cadence to ensure both teams are on the same page.

These alignment meetings should focus on👇

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  • Pipeline Progress: Review the customer pipeline to ensure smooth transitions from sales to customer success.
  • Handoff Quality: Discuss how well the handoff process is working. Are there any bottlenecks or gaps that need attention?
  • Customer Feedback: Use customer feedback from surveys or direct interactions to make improvements to the handoff process and address any concerns early.

These regular touchpoints create a feedback loop that helps both teams continuously improve.

Best Practices for Alignment


So, what’s the secret to keeping everyone aligned?

Here are a few practical methods👇

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  • Shared Dashboards: Use tools like HubSpot’s dashboards to give both teams real-time visibility into the same metrics. This ensures transparency and accountability.
  • Documented Processes: Create a clear, documented handoff process that both teams can follow. This reduces ambiguity and ensures consistency across every handoff.
  • Celebrate Wins Together: Don’t forget to acknowledge successes! When both sales and customer success teams work together to achieve customer success, celebrate those wins as a united front.

By using these best practices, you’ll create an environment where alignment isn’t just a word—it’s the standard way of doing business.

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Key takeaway

  • Alignment between sales and customer success prevents communication silos and ensures a smooth, consistent customer experience.
  • Regular cross-team meetings and shared dashboards drive accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement.

The Bowtie Model: Integrating Sales to Customer Success Handoff in the Customer Journey


The Bowtie Model visualizes the entire customer lifecycle in two halves: the acquisition side (pre-sale) and the retention side (post-sale). Unlike a funnel that focuses primarily on acquisition, the Bowtie Model places equal emphasis on what happens after the sale, ensuring customers stick around long enough to drive real value for your business.

At the center of this model is the crossover point—the handoff from sales to customer success. This is where the relationship moves from “we’re here to sell you something” to “we’re here to make sure you succeed.” Done right, this transition solidifies trust and kicks off a long-term relationship. Done poorly, and you risk losing that customer before they ever realize the full value of your product.

Where the Handoff Fits


In the Bowtie Model, the handoff happens during the Select-to-Activate phase, where a prospect becomes a customer, and onboarding begins. This moment is pivotal because it marks the transition from “deal closed” to “value delivered.” It’s not just a formality—it’s a critical step that can make or break the customer’s experience.

When the handoff is smooth, the customer seamlessly moves into onboarding with clear expectations and the confidence that they’re in good hands. When the handoff is rough, you risk introducing friction that can delay onboarding and reduce customer satisfaction right out of the gate.

handoff process flowchart

Key Metrics to Track


Tracking the right metrics during this handoff is essential to understanding where your process shines and where it might need work.

Here are a few key metrics to focus on👇


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  • Conversion Rate from Sales to Onboarding (CR5): This metric tracks how many customers successfully transition from sales to onboarding. If you notice a drop-off here, it’s a sign that the handoff process might need some tweaking.
  • Time from Sales to Activation (t5): How long does it take to get a customer from deal close to first product use or value delivery? The faster you can activate a customer, the quicker they’ll experience the benefits of your solution.
  • Time to Repeat Customer (t6, t7): These metrics track how long it takes for a customer to come back for a second purchase or renew their contract. A long time between activation and repeat business could indicate a gap in the handoff or onboarding process.

By focusing on these metrics, you can zero in on where the handoff might be creating friction and make data-driven improvements.

Tracking Success with HubSpot


Good news—HubSpot integrates perfectly with the Bowtie Model. You can map your entire customer journey, including the sales-to-customer success handoff, directly in HubSpot.

Here’s how👇

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  • Use custom pipelines to track each stage of the handoff, from sales close to onboarding completion.
  • Set up custom reports to monitor key metrics like CR5 and t5, and visualize them in real-time dashboards.
  • Leverage HubSpot’s task automation to ensure that the right follow-ups happen at the right time, reducing the chance of delays during handoff.

By aligning your handoff process with the Bowtie Model and tracking it in HubSpot, you’ll gain a clearer understanding of how well your teams are working together and where improvements can be made.

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Key takeaway

  • The Bowtie Model provides a strategic framework to align sales, onboarding, and customer success, ensuring a smooth transition post-sale.
  • Tracking metrics like CR5 and t5 gives teams visibility into handoff performance and highlights areas for improvement.
  • HubSpot’s tools make it easy to map, track, and optimize your handoff process within the broader customer journey.

Measuring and Refining the Sales to Customer Success Handoff Process

Like anything in business, what gets measured gets improved. By tracking the right metrics and creating feedback loops, you can refine and optimize the handoff process to deliver an even better customer experience.

Key Metrics to Monitor


The handoff isn’t just about passing the baton—it’s about making sure the customer reaches the finish line (i.e. successful onboarding and beyond).

Here are the key metrics to track for an optimized handoff process👇

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  • Handoff Time and Efficiency (t5): How long does it take for the customer to transition from sales to onboarding? The shorter, the better. Track this metric to identify any delays or bottlenecks in the process.
  • Onboarding Satisfaction (CSAT, NPS): Customer satisfaction during onboarding is critical. Track Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS) to gauge how well the onboarding process is meeting client expectations.
  • Conversion Rates from Onboarding to Renewal (CR6, CR7): These metrics help you measure how many customers successfully move from onboarding to their first renewal or repeat purchase. If these rates are low, it could indicate issues in the handoff or onboarding stages.
  • Operational Ticket Resolution Times (t7): Track how quickly any issues or technical challenges are resolved during onboarding. Long ticket resolution times can erode customer trust early on.

By focusing on these key metrics, you can get a clear picture of how well your handoff process is functioning and where improvements might be needed.

Feedback Loops

A great way to continuously refine the handoff process is by creating feedback loops between your sales, customer success teams, and clients.

Here’s how to make it work👇

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  • Internal Feedback Loop: Have regular reviews between sales and customer success to discuss how the handoff is going, any recurring challenges, and potential areas for improvement.
  • Customer Feedback: Survey customers during and after onboarding to get their insights on the process. Were their expectations met? Was the transition smooth? Use this feedback to make adjustments.
  • Cross-Team Collaboration: Ensure that feedback from both teams and clients is shared openly and acted on. This might mean tweaking the Playbooks, adjusting automation workflows, or improving communication.

The goal is to make this a living, breathing process that adapts based on real-world feedback.

Using HubSpot Reporting


HubSpot’s reporting tools are perfect for keeping tabs on the health of your handoff process. You can set up real-time dashboards to monitor metrics like t5 (handoff time), onboarding progress, CSAT scores, and more. These dashboards provide your teams with immediate visibility into the process and help identify bottlenecks before they become major issues.

Here’s how to set it up👇

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  • Custom Reports: Build custom reports in HubSpot to track the key metrics we discussed earlier.
  • Automated Alerts: Set up automated notifications to alert teams when certain thresholds are hit (e.g., if handoff time exceeds a certain limit).
  • KPI Dashboards: Create shared dashboards for both sales and customer success to monitor handoff efficiency, onboarding progress, and customer satisfaction in real-time.

With these tools, you’ll have a clear view of what’s working and where improvements are needed.

Best Practices for Ongoing Optimization


Optimization is an ongoing process.

Here are a few tips to keep your handoff process running smoothly👇

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  • Review Data Regularly: Make it a habit to review handoff metrics on a regular basis. Look for trends, patterns, and any signs of trouble.
  • Incorporate Client Feedback: Use customer feedback to guide changes. If clients are consistently flagging the same issues, it’s time to make adjustments.
  • Foster Collaboration: Ensure that sales and customer success are in regular communication, sharing insights, and collaborating on improvements.
  • Test and Iterate: Don’t be afraid to experiment with changes to your handoff process. Test new approaches, monitor the impact, and iterate based on what works best.

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Key takeaway

  • Regularly reviewing handoff metrics such as t5, CSAT, and CR6 enables continuous improvement and better alignment between sales and customer success.
  • Creating feedback loops between teams and clients is crucial for refining the handoff process and delivering a better customer experience.
  • HubSpot’s reporting and automation tools help teams stay on top of performance, identify bottlenecks, and optimize the handoff process in real time.

RevPartners is Here to Help

Want the perfect sales-to-customer success handoff process in place for your company?

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We use HubSpot to take the guesswork out, automating and aligning every step. Let’s get you set up today!

 

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