Agency operating guide
Agency Client Promise Handoff to Delivery
Before kickoff, make delivery accept the real promise, including assumptions and client dependencies that never fit neatly inside the proposal.
The short answer
A signed proposal is evidence of an agreement. It is not always a delivery-ready record. Delivery also needs the outcome the client expects, the commitments made during sales, the assumptions behind the date, the inputs still owed, and the person allowed to resolve a gap.
The handoff is complete only when delivery can say what it accepts, what it needs clarified, and what cannot be scheduled yet.
What delivery must inherit
| Record | Question it answers | Failure if missing |
|---|---|---|
| Client outcome | Why did the client buy this work? | The team optimizes for the deliverable instead of the result |
| Sold scope | What is included, excluded, and conditional? | Verbal extras enter delivery as assumed work |
| Promise evidence | Where was the commitment approved? | Memory becomes the source of truth |
| Dependencies | What must the client or agency supply? | Dates survive after their assumptions fail |
| Decision rights | Who can approve a change? | Questions circulate without an answer |
| Delivery acceptance | Has the team accepted the plan? | A sales date becomes a delivery commitment by default |
The promise-to-delivery record
Client and project: Outcome the client expects: Signed scope and exclusions: Other commitments made during sales: Assumptions behind price and dates: Client inputs, owners, and due dates: Agency owner and delivery owner: Client decision owner: Open questions before kickoff: Delivery verdict: accept / accept with conditions / do not schedule yet Conditions and next review date:
Link each material promise to the proposal, email, call note, or client confirmation that supports it. A promise without a source should be treated as an open question, not as settled scope.
Run a 20-minute handoff review
1. Let sales state the promise
Start with what the client believes will happen. Do not start by walking through every discovery note.
2. Let delivery test the assumptions
Ask whether the people, inputs, review rounds, access, and lead time support the promised plan.
3. Separate clarification from change
A clarification confirms what the agreement already means. A change alters effort, sequence, scope, or risk. Do not hide a change inside a kickoff note.
4. Record the delivery verdict
Use one of three routes: accept, accept with named conditions, or do not schedule yet. “We will work it out” is not a route.
5. Confirm one client-facing message
The client should hear one coherent version of the start plan, open items, owners, and next date.
Worked example
An agency sells a landing-page project for a campaign launch. Sales discussed a four-week delivery window, but the signed scope makes the date conditional on final copy and brand approval.
| Field | Record |
|---|---|
| Promise | Launch-ready page within four weeks of receiving approved copy and brand assets |
| Open dependency | Client marketing lead must provide approved copy by 22 September |
| Delivery verdict | Accept with conditions |
| Condition | If copy arrives later, the launch date moves by the same number of working days |
| Client message | Confirm the dependency and revised date rule before kickoff |
When to stop the handoff
Do not schedule the work when a material scope contradiction is unresolved, a required owner is missing, a critical client dependency has no date, or the team cannot staff the promised window. A delayed honest start is usually easier to repair than a kickoff built on a promise nobody accepted.
Related Qubit resources
Sources and operating boundary
This is an operating record, not a replacement for the signed agreement or qualified legal advice. The contract controls when it conflicts with an internal handoff note.