# Customer Kickoff A **customer kickoff** is the formal first meeting between the customer and your implementation or customer success team after the contract is signed. It anchors the onboarding plan. ## What to cover 1. **Why you bought it** — customer recaps the problem they're solving (anchors success criteria) 2. **Stakeholders** — exec sponsor, project owner, end users 3. **Success criteria** — measurable outcomes for 30/60/90 days 4. **Implementation plan** — milestones, owners, dates 5. **Communication cadence** — weekly standup vs biweekly vs Slack 6. **Risks + dependencies** — IT involvement, data access, change management ## Common pitfalls - Skipping the "why you bought it" recap → drift toward features - No exec sponsor identified → escalation path is unclear at first hiccup - Vague success criteria ("better collaboration") → impossible to declare value ## How BlueHill helps Kickoff templates clone with relative dates; kickoff agenda + meeting notes live in the customer interaction timeline; action items become tasks with owners and due dates in one click. Related: [Onboarding](/glossary/onboarding) · [Implementation](/glossary/implementation) · [Success plan](/glossary/success-plan)