Every client relationship carries a history that is written down nowhere: what they care about, what went wrong last spring, what was promised informally, who really makes the decision. When the person holding that history moves on, it tends to go with them. A good handover is the work of getting it out of one head and into another before the client notices a gap.
What the new owner needs to know
- The people. Who signs, who uses the product daily, who is sceptical. Names, roles and how each prefers to be contacted.
- Open promises. Everything that has been committed to and not yet delivered, with dates. This is the most important item on the list.
- The history. Past problems and how they were resolved. The client remembers them, so the new owner must too.
- How they like to work. Formal or casual, email or calls, long updates or short ones.
- What is coming. Renewal dates, planned expansions, known risks.
Write it down in a single document. A handover given only in a meeting is forgotten within a week.
The handover email to the client
It should come from the person the client already trusts, with the new owner copied. Four things belong in it:
- What is changing, and from when.
- Who the new person is, with one line on why they are a good fit for this client in particular.
- What is not changing: open commitments, pricing, the people behind the scenes.
- A concrete next step, usually a short call with all three of you.
"Hi Laura, from 1 November Arjun Mehta will be your main contact here. Arjun has run our two other retail accounts for three years and already knows your rollout plan. Nothing changes on the migration timeline we agreed, and I have walked him through the reporting issue from August. Could the three of us take 20 minutes next week so you can meet him?"
The first thirty days
- The new owner replies to that thread the same day, in their own words.
- Deliver one open promise quickly. Nothing builds confidence faster.
- The previous owner stays reachable for a few weeks, but stops answering the client directly. Two voices confuse people.
- Ask the client, around week four, what they would like done differently.
Keeping the history out of one person's head
The best handover is the one that needed very little, because the context was shared all along. That is the idea behind team memory in Pranan for Teams. Facts, commitments and relationship context about shared contacts are visible across the team, so a new owner can see what was promised and what was said. Mailboxes, drafts and voice profiles stay private to each person, and each teammate keeps their own voice. More on how team plans work, and see pricing for the team plans.
Software does not replace the introduction or the first call. It means the new person walks into them already knowing the account.