Skill

AE-to-CS Handoff

Build an AE-to-CS handoff brief that captures what was promised, how the customer defined success, and who the people are, drawn from the sales conversations.

Overview

AE-to-CS Handoff captures everything the incoming customer success manager needs from the sales conversations: what was promised, what success looks like in the customer's words, and who the people are. It builds an engagement timeline of the sales cycle, then reads the highest-signal conversations to pull requirements, commitments, stakeholders, and the relationship state. The CSM starts from context instead of a cold account.

The skill is built for account executives closing deals and the CSMs who inherit them. It targets the two to four engagements that carry the most signal, such as discovery, the important demos, negotiation, and commitment moments, and runs a conversation intelligence read on each. Account research and contact research fill in the structural picture around those conversations. Keeping the deep reads scoped to a handful of engagements keeps AI credit use in check.

The brief draws a clear line between what was promised, which must be honored, and what was merely aspirational. Every requirement and commitment is attributed to the conversation it came from, and the skill does not invent commitments. Conversation intelligence sees only the last few engagements, so the skill anchors on the identified key moments rather than expecting full history. When no conversation data exists, it builds the structural handoff from research and flags that requirements and working style could not be captured.

What It Does

Deal summary: Captures what was sold and the core problem behind the purchase in a couple of lines.
Success criteria: Records how the customer defined a win, in their own words, with the source conversation attached.
Commitments made: Lists what the AE promised the customer, including timelines, and marks these as obligations that transfer to the CSM.
Stakeholder map: Describes each person's role, influence, and champion or skeptic stance, plus how they like to work where the conversations show it.
Open items and risks: Names anything unresolved at close so nothing gets dropped in the transition.
Recommended first move: Suggests the CSM's best opening action, grounded in the rest of the brief.

Use Cases

Post-Sale Transition

A deal just closed and the account executive needs to hand it off cleanly. The skill builds the sales-cycle timeline, reads the discovery and negotiation conversations, and produces a brief that separates firm commitments from aspirational discussion. The CSM inherits the success criteria and open items without a scheduling scramble or a lossy verbal handoff.

Onboarding a Newly Assigned Account

A customer success manager picks up an account mid-flight and has no history with it. Running the handoff surfaces who the decision-makers are, how each prefers to work, and what was promised during the sale. The recommended first move gives the CSM a concrete starting action rather than a blank page.

Clean Handoff on a Complex Deal

After a drawn-out deal with several stakeholders and competing priorities, an AE wants to be sure nothing gets lost. The skill anchors on the highest-signal engagements, attributes each requirement to its source, and flags the sensitivities that surfaced along the way, so the CSM understands the room before the first call.

Skill Definition

The raw markdown Claude uses when this skill is invoked.

---
name: ae-cs-handoff
description: Produce an AE-to-CS handoff brief — everything the incoming CSM needs from the sales conversations. Builds an engagement timeline, then runs conversation_intelligence in parallel on the key engagements to pull requirements, success criteria, stakeholders and how they like to work, and the relationship state. Identify the account by ZoomInfo company ID (preferred) or name/domain (triggers a lookup). Use when someone says "build the handoff for Acme", "what does the CSM need to know", "prep the post-sale transition", or closes a deal that needs a clean handoff.
---

# AE-to-CS Handoff Brief

Capture what was promised, what success looks like, and who the people are — so the CSM starts from context, not a cold account.

## Prerequisites

`browse_engagements` (timeline) requires an active calendar/email/meeting integration; `conversation_intelligence` (the deep read) requires at least one connected source and consumes AI credits, as do `account_research` and `contact_research`. If no conversation data exists, build the structural handoff from research and flag that the conversational detail (requirements, working style) is missing, pointing the user to their ZoomInfo admin.

## Input

Provided via `$ARGUMENTS`:

- **Account** (required) — ZoomInfo company ID (preferred), or a name/domain to resolve via `search_companies`.
- **Context** (optional) — the product sold, deal size, go-live timing, anything the CSM specifically needs.

## Workflow

1. **Resolve the account.** Use the ZoomInfo ID directly, or resolve a name/domain via `search_companies`.
2. **Build the timeline.** Call `browse_engagements` (account-scoped) for the sales-cycle engagements; identify the few that carry the most signal (discovery, key demos, negotiation, commitments). Limit to roughly the 2-4 highest-signal engagements — each gets its own `conversation_intelligence` call in step 3, which costs AI credits, so do not fan out across the whole timeline. Keep their engagement IDs.
3. **Deep-read the key engagements in parallel.** Run `conversation_intelligence` on those engagement IDs (one CI call per engagement) for stated requirements and success criteria, commitments made to the customer, decision-makers and how they like to work, and any sensitivities. Pull `account_research` and `contact_research` for the structural picture. CI sees only the last few engagements, so anchor on the key ones rather than expecting full history.
4. **Assemble the handoff.** Synthesize a CSM-ready brief. Distinguish what was promised (must be honored) from what was aspirational. Attribute each requirement and commitment to the conversation it came from. Do not invent commitments.

## Output Format

### AE-to-CS handoff — [Company]

**Deal summary** — what was sold, why they bought (the core problem and desired outcome), in 2-3 lines.

**Success criteria** — how the customer defined success, in their words, with sources.

**Commitments made** — what the AE promised the customer (and any timelines). These transfer to the CSM.

**Stakeholders** — per key person: role, influence, champion/skeptic, and how they like to work (cadence, format, sensitivities) where the conversations show it.

**Open items & risks** — anything unresolved at close that the CSM inherits.

**Recommended first move** — the CSM's best opening action, tied to the above.

### When there is no data

If conversation data is unavailable, give the research-based account and stakeholder structure, and flag that requirements, commitments, and working style could not be captured from conversations.

Install Plugin

This skill runs via the ZoomInfo MCP plugin for Claude Code.

Get Plugin on GitHub

Created by

Rowan Bailey

Senior Director, Product

Provided by

ZoomInfo ↗

Capabilities

Deal summary covering what was sold and the problem behind the purchase
Success criteria in the customer's own words with sources
Commitments made to the customer, kept distinct from aspirational talk
Per-stakeholder read on role, influence, and how they like to work
Open items and risks the CSM inherits at close
Recommended first move for the incoming CSM