CRM handoffs on Microsoft 365: a checklist for marketing, sales and delivery.

The method

1. Name the three handoffs.

   Lead to opportunity, from marketing to sales. Closed deal to project, from sales to delivery. Delivered work to invoice, from delivery to finance. Most stalled work sits at one of these three lines.

2. Write four things for each handoff.

   The trigger that moves it, the owner on the far side, the fields that must be complete before it may cross, and what done looks like once it has. If any of the four is "it depends", that handoff is not ready to automate.

3. Decide the record of truth per field.

   A customer name, a deal value and a project start date each live in exactly one system, and every other system reads it. Two writable copies of the same field is where most CRM disputes begin.

4. Put the approval where the commitment is.

   A quote, a signed scope and an invoice each create an obligation. Put a named approval before the system acts. Define which routine reminders or status changes may run within an approved policy, and send exceptions to a person.

5. Walk one real deal end to end by hand.

   Before switching on any automation, move a real closed deal across all three lines manually and note every field somebody had to look up or invent. That list is the specification for the automation.

6. Review stalled handoffs weekly.

   A handoff that has waited longer than its agreed window is a question for a person, not a notification to dismiss. Track how long each line takes and which side it waits on.

The checklist

What to have in place, or to have asked for, before you decide. Each line is something you can point at.

• The three handoffs named, with an owner on each side.
• Trigger, owner, required fields and definition of done written for each.
• One record of truth per field, with the reading systems listed.
• Approval points set where a quote, a scope or an invoice is created.
• A real deal walked across all three lines by hand, with the gaps written down.
• Duplicates: a rule for finding them and a person who resolves them.
• Reversals: what happens when a deal reopens or a project is cancelled, and whether the record shows it.
• Notifications go where people already work, and each one names the action expected.
• A weekly review of handoffs that have waited past their window.
• Who may see and change customer records, enforced in the tool.

Questions to ask

Ask these of any vendor, including us, and of any internal team proposing the work. A vague answer to any of them is an answer.

1. Which system is the record of truth for a customer, a deal and a project, and can the others only read it?
2. When a deal closes, what is created where, and by whom or by what?
3. Which fields must be complete before a handoff is allowed, and what happens when they are not?
4. Can a handoff be reversed, and does the record show the reversal?
5. Who is notified, where, and what are they expected to do?
6. How are duplicate records found and merged, and is the merge recorded?
7. When an AI drafts or suggests a record, is it marked as AI-generated, with a confidence and a reason?
8. What can we export if we leave?

Related products, and where each one stands

• Simple Growth The CRM that reads your Microsoft 365 calendar, not your data entry. Available on request
• Simple Marketing Marketing automation built for the Microsoft 365 partner channel. Available on request
• Simple Projects Project delivery that starts at the signed scope of work. Available on request
• Simple Time The Microsoft 365 timesheet that closes the billable-hours leak. Trial access

Related guides

• Reviewing captured time before invoicing Set billing rules and approval steps, then check captured entries against their sources each week.
• Choosing the first AI workflow to automate Score a first workflow, define its approval step and set a stop condition before the first run.

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