Purpose
This document establishes the standard process for handing off sold projects from the Sales team to Project Management. The goal is to ensure every project moves into production with a complete, accurate package that minimizes rework, reduces cycle time, and sets clear expectations for the customer.
Handover Requirements
must be completed and delivered to the Project Manager before any project is approved to move into production:
1. Finalized Design Drawings
CAD drawings and renderings must be reviewed by the Project Manager and finalized before presentation to the client. Draft designs should not be presented as final.
2. Dated Client Signature on Final Drawings prior to ordering
All design drawings require a dated client signature confirming approval. Production lead time begins at the date of client signature, not at verbal approval or proposal acceptance.
3. Complete Selection Sheet
A signed selection sheet covering all materials, finishes, hardware, and accessories must be submitted to the Project Manager no later than two weeks prior to the project start date. Selection sheets must not be left incomplete.
4. Accessories and Non-Cabinet Products Listed in Proposal
All cabinet accessories (rollouts, lazy Susans, organizers, etc.) must be explicitly listed in the proposal with item descriptions and quantities, even if included at no additional cost. Proposals do not include supplier or vendor names — the selection sheet carries vendor links, model numbers, and sourcing specifics. The proposal must match the CAD drawing; renderings do not supersede the proposal. Sales must provide manufacturer specs for in-cabinet accessories (rollouts, organizers) and sizing for other specified items. Any non-carpentry items required outside of standard KTU scope (windows, non-standard products, specialty items requiring special sourcing) must be identified in the proposal with item description and quantity. Vendor details, links, and availability confirmation for non-carpentry items are documented on the selection sheet. The Project Manager should not be responsible for sourcing design elements after client approval.
5. Pre-Measurement Preparation
Before any PM measurement appointment, Sales must provide: photos of the existing kitchen uploaded to CompanyCam (which syncs directly to the JobTread project record), a sketch if needed, confirmation of which existing elements are to remain, design direction, and general layout and scope context. The Project Manager should never arrive at a site without context on the project.
6. CompanyCam Documentation
Photo documentation is mandatory and is the responsibility of the Lead Sales Designer. Photos must be uploaded to CompanyCam before the Sales Designer leaves the property for every in-home consultation. Photos and a sketch must be uploaded by end of the same business day for every measurement appointment. The CompanyCam project tag must match the ServiceMinder customer name and be address-tagged so the project syncs to JobTread automatically. Handover packets submitted without complete CompanyCam coverage are returned to Sales for re-submission within three business days. A pattern of three packets returned for missing photos in a 30-day window will be reviewed by the Owner.
7. Timeline Communication
Sales does not commit to or promise specific project start dates to clients. Sales may communicate estimated production lead times based on current benchmarks: refacing 7–10 weeks from design approval, new cabinets (semi-custom) 11–17 weeks from design approval. Sales must clearly explain that scheduling will be confirmed by the Project Manager after handoff. A minimum of 5 business days must be added to all quoted lead times for order review and processing.
8. Appliance Specifications
Manufacturer specification sheets must be referenced for every refrigerator, microwave, and panel-ready appliance before design approval. If no appliance has been selected at the time of design, layouts must reflect worst-case clearance dimensions. Any product specified in the design must have a model number and confirmed availability before client presentation. Vendor details are documented on the selection sheet. Panel-ready appliances must include appliance pulls, listed separately from standard hardware.
9. Flooring Scope and Transitions
Where flooring is included in the project scope, the proposal must explicitly state whether removal includes full demo to the sub-floor and new plywood underlayment. Sales must confirm whether flooring transitions will be flush with adjacent spaces prior to handover, and the client must be informed that not all flooring materials have a matching transitional piece. Installers will match to the closest available finish where exact matches are unavailable.
10. Selection Process Ownership
For all full-scope projects, Sales is responsible for guiding the client through the complete material selection process: (a) scheduling and attending a showroom appointment for cabinet finishes, hardware, and accessories; (b) scheduling appointments with tile and flooring partners for tile, flooring, and backsplash selections; (c) scheduling countertop partner appointments when countertops are in scope. Sales coordinates the full selection calendar across all partner locations — the client should not be left to schedule their own partner visits. Every field on the selection sheet must be completed or marked N/A with a documented reason before handover. "Not selected" is not an acceptable status at handover. The selection sheet is a deliverable, not a tracking document.
11. Discovery Questionnaire
At the moment a contract is signed, the Lead Sales Designer issues the KTU Discovery Questionnaire to the customer via the company SalesAsk platform. The questionnaire captures household and lifestyle context, cooking and storage needs, an audit of the existing kitchen, style and aesthetic direction (including Pinterest, Houzz, or magazine references), appliance specifications, budget framework, hard timing constraints, and the decision-makers who will sign off on the design. Customer completion is required before any drafting hours are incurred. A streamlined version is used for refacing, redooring, cabinet painting, and standalone countertop projects.
12. Design Brief Signoff
Within five business days of contract signing on new-cabinet (custom kitchen) projects, the Lead Sales Designer presents a written Design Brief back to the customer: a one-to-two page document summarizing the customer requirements from the questionnaire, the agreed scope (in scope / out of scope / TBD), design assumptions, confirmed appliance specifications, and the budget framework. The customer signs the Design Brief, and that signature is the green-light for the in-house design team to begin First Draft work. No drafting hours are incurred until a signed Design Brief is in hand. This is the single biggest safeguard against producing a first design that does not reflect what the customer wants.
13. In-Person Showroom Review
For new-cabinet (custom kitchen) projects, the formal design lock-point is an In-Person Showroom Review at the KTU Bloomfield showroom. Virtual, FaceTime, Zoom, or iPad walkthroughs are not acceptable substitutes. The customer must physically see and touch door samples, finishes, hardware, and countertop slabs as the design is walked through. The in-house designer who drafted the work attends alongside the Lead Sales Designer. For refacing, redooring, cabinet painting, and standalone countertop projects, the Showroom Selection Appointment serves the same purpose, also in person — scheduled at contract signing, held within five business days, all selections finalized in that single visit.
14. Revision Cap and Change Order Discipline
After the Showroom Review on a custom kitchen project, the customer is permitted ONE round of revisions consolidating every change request. For refacing, redooring, cabinet painting, and standalone countertops, the design is locked once the selection sheet is signed at the Showroom Selection Appointment — no revision round. Any change beyond the permitted revision is a written change order with a new total price, customer signature, an updated Service Finance document signed within 48 hours where Service Finance is in use, and new target dates for delivery and installation. The Project Manager is empowered to refuse production scheduling on any project where re-design is occurring outside change-order discipline.
15. Cancellation Reason Logging
Every consultation appointment with status "Canceled" in ServiceMinder must have a cancellation reason recorded within 24 hours. The Sales Designer who held (or would have held) the appointment logs the reason. Categories: client-rescheduled, client-no-show, client-lost-interest, client-budget, client-timing, sales-rescheduled, lead-quality, or other (free-text required).
Existing Project Backlog
All pipeline projects with incomplete selection sheets or handover packages must be brought to these standards within 30 calendar days of the effective date. The PM provides the list; projects not brought to standard within 30 days are reviewed individually by the Owner.
Project Milestone Timeline
(from date of signed contract; benchmarks from NKBA standards, professional kitchen design firms, Elias Woodwork production schedules)
Two tracks effective 5/11/2026. Track B — Custom Kitchen (new cabinets) — follows the milestones below plus a signed Design Brief within five business days of contract before drafting begins. Track A — Refacing, Redooring, Cabinet Painting, Standalone Countertops — compressed: Showroom Selection Appointment scheduled at contract signing, held within five business days, all selections finalized in that visit, order placed within seven business days of contract. Cycle targets: Track A end-to-end 5–7 weeks (refacing/redooring), 4–5 weeks (cabinet painting/standalone countertops). Track B end-to-end 9–12 weeks.
- Pre-measurement package to PM — 5 biz days (benchmark same day–2 days) — Sales
- PM measurement completed — 5 biz days (benchmark 3–5 days) — PM
- Design presentation to client — 10 biz days (benchmark 5–7 days) — Sales
- Selection appointment completed, selection sheet 100% — client-paced (benchmark 1–2 weeks; Sales schedules + attends) — Sales
- Final design approval (signed drawings incorporating selections) — client-paced, follow-up every 5 biz days — Client
- Complete handover package to PM — 3 biz days (benchmark same day–2 days) — Sales
- PM review + Elias order placed — 5 biz days (benchmark 3–5 days) — PM
- Vendor production + delivery to site — 3–4 weeks (industry 4–8 weeks) — Vendor
Sales-Controlled Total: 18 business days — the phase where current delays occur and the phase these standards address. Operations Total: 4–5 weeks — already optimized. Client-Dependent: design approval + selection finalization, with minimum 5-business-day follow-up cadence documented in CRM.
Target End-to-End (excluding client time): Reface 7–9 weeks. Semi-custom 9–12 weeks. Current average: 14+ weeks — the gap is entirely in the Sales-controlled phase.
Production Gate
No project moves into production until the PM confirms the handover package meets all standards: CAD finalized + PM-reviewed · client signature on drawings with date · selection sheet complete · all accessories in proposal with quantities · non-carpentry items in proposal, vendor details on selection sheet · pre-measurement package received · appliance spec sheets referenced · proposal matches CAD (excl. brands) · selection sheet 100% complete 3 weeks before job start · Design Standards Reference requirements met · Discovery Questionnaire complete + signed Design Brief on file (Custom Kitchen) · single revision round adhered to after Showroom Review (Custom Kitchen).
Outcome: pass → Elias ordering. Any fail → returned to Sales with specific items identified; re-submission within 3 business days. The Production Gate is not a quality audit — it is a completeness check.
Required Tools And Systems
(non-optional)
- Company-Provided Cell Phone — all KTU client communication runs through the company line (channel of record; monitored for quality, compliance, continuity).
- JobTread — every won project created as a JobTread job at contract signing (customer/address, service type, all stage-gate dates as scheduled tasks, pre-measurement appointment, CompanyCam link). PM populates Production Gate, ordering, vendor delivery, install, and walkthrough tasks. Daily logs during install. Projects without a JobTread record are not considered active by the Production Gate review.
- SalesAsk — platform of record for the Discovery Questionnaire; issued at contract signing; completion confirmed before the next stage.
- CompanyCam — same-day photo upload for every consultation and measurement appointment; project tag matches ServiceMinder customer name; address-tag syncs to JobTread.
- ServiceMinder — system of record for contacts, appointments, proposals, invoices, payments, change orders, cancellation reasons; all stage-gate dates entered there too.
Acknowledgment
Signed: Steven Livingston (Owner) · Ben Yabra (Lead Sales Designer) · Mayra DaSilva (Senior Project Manager) · Karen Naithe (Designer).