Start with the customer work that must continue.
Imagine changing the place where your team manages inquiries. You can open a file of customer names, but you cannot tell which estimate is current or who promised the next update. The information arrived; the work still has a gap.
Before choosing a new system or planning a departure, list the customer work that must remain understandable. Start with open requests: the latest verified state, relevant conversation, responsible person, next action and any agreed commitment or contact restriction.
This guide helps you prepare questions and inspect a proposed handover. Actual rights, available exports, costs and timing depend on the service and your agreement. If you are still choosing an approach, use the process, software and managed-service comparison alongside these questions.
Ask about each kind of information separately.
“Can we export our data?” is a useful opening, but it needs a more specific answer. Ask what each part contains and what remains elsewhere.
On a small screen, swipe or scroll sideways to read the full table.
| Item | Question to resolve |
|---|---|
| Customer and request records | Which records and fields are available, and how will separate requests from the same customer remain distinguishable? |
| Conversation and attachments | What history, dates and files are included, and how are they connected to the right request? |
| Open work and appointments | Can the recipient identify the current owner, next action, commitments and confirmed arrangements? |
| Contact instructions | Where are relevant channel preferences and restrictions recorded, and how will authorized staff find them? |
| Accounts, services and other assets | Who controls each item, what permission is needed, and is transfer, continued access or a separate arrangement actually possible? |
Export scope can differ even within one product. HubSpot’s record-export documentation distinguishes current record properties and associations from activities such as calls and notes, which have separate export paths. That is a reason to ask precisely, not a claim about what another provider offers.
Turn a broad answer into a checkable plan.
For every necessary item, record the available format or method, what is included, known exclusions and the person confirming those details. Ask whether the receiving person can use that format for the intended job. A readable archive and a working replacement process are different outcomes.
Identify the approved destination, who may prepare the material and who will check it. Keep customer information limited to the purpose and people authorized to handle it. Use references in the planning sheet rather than copying complete conversations into it.
Record timing, charges, retention and access questions as unresolved until the responsible party confirms them. A blank field does not mean something is free, immediate or retained indefinitely. Ask for the source behind important answers: the applicable agreement, current service instructions or a verified capability. This checklist organizes those questions; it does not interpret the agreement.
Read two requests before calling the handover usable.
Fictional example: A repair business reviews a proposed handover using two invented requests. Both customer rows are present. The receiving office then tries to explain what happens next using only the material it would receive.
On a small screen, swipe or scroll sideways to read the full table.
| Sample | What the reader finds | Question before relying on it |
|---|---|---|
| R-104: estimate question | A customer record and two estimate attachments, with no clear current version or owner for the remaining scope question. | Where is the verified current estimate, and who has accepted the next answer? |
| R-105: appointment request | A conversation mentioning a preferred visit time, with no confirmation included. | Was a time actually agreed, and where can the responsible person verify it? |
These findings do not prove the service cannot provide the missing information. It may be available separately, excluded from the chosen export or still unresolved in the original record. Ask which applies. Do not label R-105 booked just to complete the sheet.
Check references, current versions and relevant dates, then record exactly what the sample established. A matching row count is only one check. Two readable samples do not establish that every request, attachment or exception will transfer correctly. Any real sample requires the appropriate permission and an approved handling location.
Keep the handover separate from ending the service.
Downloading, transferring, ending a subscription, removing access and deleting information are separate actions. For example, Google’s data-download guidance says a download does not delete the source data. It also notes that changes made between an archive request and its creation may be absent. Other services need their own checks.
Agree how the responsible people will account for work that changes during a planned move. Keep the current owner visible while that is unresolved. Do not shut off a working route because a file arrived.
The actual approved plan should explain service and access dependencies, who performs each action and how completion is confirmed. A cancellation acknowledgement alone does not confirm an effective date, stopped charges or completed data transfer. If unexpected unavailability interrupts customer work, use the continuity plan.
Leave the next person a decision they can understand.
Download the blank customer-system exit checklist (CSV). Use one row per necessary item. Keep the completed copy in an approved restricted location; leave passwords, recovery codes and unnecessary customer details out.
For each row, distinguish a provider’s answer, a sample you inspected and a handover actually completed. Give every unresolved question a responsible person and an agreed next check. Record limitations plainly instead of treating an empty cell as a successful result.
The useful finish is a clear record of what the recipient can use, what remains elsewhere, which customer work still needs attention and who owns it. A source-checked conversation handoff can help a teammate understand an individual request. Neither a worksheet nor a summary substitutes for verifying the actual transfer.