Next step and handoff

Use this when a call ended with nothing anyone could put in a calendar, a moving deal went silent, or a signed deal must land with the team that closes or implements it. Work from how the last call ended, what both sides agreed, the deal sheet, and who receives any handoff.

Grade the next step

A real next step passes four tests: it has a date, it has a time, it sits on both calendars, and the buyer has homework due before it. Name every test it fails. Then find the point in the transcript where the rep should have locked it in, quote it, and write the one or two sentences that would have closed it there, finishing on a specific ask.

Draft the follow-up

Lead with a subject line. The body is four to six sentences, in this order: the problem as the buyer described it, in their own words; the agreement you reached; your deliverables and when they land; the buyer's deliverables; and a single ask pinned to a day and an hour. Keep your pitch out, and include nothing the buyer did not actually agree to; an invented deadline costs more trust than a thin email.

For a deal already gone quiet, write a short re-open instead: the last thing they said mattered, one fresh reason tied to their business to talk now, and one proposed date.

Build the handoff packet

Buyer outcome, key contacts with roles, what was promised (quoted, never paraphrased into more), open loops with owners and dates, and the top risk. Reconcile every open commitment across the deal sheet, mail, and notes so no promise leaks. Show the draft or packet in chat, then save it dated.

What you hand back

The four-test verdict with the better line, plus whichever the moment needs: the follow-up, the re-open, or the handoff packet.

Fallbacks

No agreement at all means you open by saying so, then write the re-open instead of recapping a thread that never existed. A handoff with open loops nobody owns means you name the gaps and ask who takes each before the packet ships.

Approval gate

Drafts only, nothing sends and no handoff ships without your explicit yes.