The Toolkit / Service / The Handshake
Service · Tool 15 of 16
The Handshake
Both sides keep their word.
Turn a yes into a commitment both sides keep: what we'll deliver and when, written first, and what they give in return.
The board
Ten sections on one page
Print it, fill it in, and score each section from 1 to 5. Your score is out of 50.
How to use it
The ten sections of the Handshake
What to do in each section, and what a 1, a 3 and a 5 look like. Score yourself honestly; the low scores tell you where to work next.
- 1
Their yes
Who said yes, to which Promise.
Name who said yes, and to which Promise.
- 1Started
- A maybe.
- 3Good
- A clear yes.
- 5Excellent
- A clear yes to a named Promise, with the date.
- 2
What we'll deliver
Our promise, written first.
Write what you'll deliver and when, first, in plain words.
- 1Started
- Vague.
- 3Good
- Clear deliveries.
- 5Excellent
- Every delivery with a date, in words the customer would use.
- 3
The first moment of value
Soon after the yes.
Set the date of the first moment of value.
- 1Started
- After the paperwork.
- 3Good
- A date.
- 5Excellent
- A date soon after the yes, already in the diary.
- 4
If we fall short
What we'll do.
Copy the remedy from the Promise.
- 1Started
- Nothing.
- 3Good
- A remedy.
- 5Excellent
- The Promise's remedy, agreed by both.
- 5
What they give
What they pay, and for how long.
Write what they pay, and for how long.
- 1Started
- Unclear.
- 3Good
- A price and a period.
- 5Excellent
- A price and a real period, agreed in plain words.
- 6
Who keeps the promise
One named person.
Name the one person on your side who keeps it.
- 1Started
- The company.
- 3Good
- A team.
- 5Excellent
- One named person, with their name on this page.
- 7
How they reach us
So the promise can be held to.
Write how they reach that person.
- 1Started
- A general inbox.
- 3Good
- A way to reach the team.
- 5Excellent
- A direct way to reach the named person.
- 8
Making the start easy
Value before paperwork.
Write what you removed so value comes before paperwork.
- 1Started
- Forms first.
- 3Good
- A simpler start.
- 5Excellent
- A start so easy the first moment of value comes before any admin.
- 9
Agreed by both
Both names, and the date.
Both sides agree, with names and the date.
- 1Started
- One side only.
- 3Good
- Both agreed.
- 5Excellent
- Both agreed, with names and the date.
- 10
What happens next
The first moment, in the diary.
Put the first moment of value in the diary, for the Pulse.
- 1Started
- Left open.
- 3Good
- In the diary.
- 5Excellent
- In the diary, with the Pulse watching for it.
How it works
- Made inStep 15 · CommitmentsTurn a yes into a commitment both sides keep: what you will deliver, and what they give in return.
- What it's forTurn a yes into a commitment both sides keep: what we'll deliver and when, written first, and what they give in return.
- It feedsThe PulseKeep the promise, again and again.
