<aside> 📋 Frequency: Trigger-Based | Time: 30 min | Trigger: When a major phase or milestone is completed

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Milestones that pass without acknowledgment become invisible — to the client and to you. The work disappears into the next phase, the client loses the felt sense of progress, and you lose a natural moment to reinforce the engagement's value. This SOP marks the close of each major phase deliberately: with a client-facing note, a filed deliverable, and a clear handoff to what comes next.

Prerequisites

• The milestone or phase confirmed as complete — all deliverables accepted, all action items for this phase closed
• SOW open to confirm what this milestone represented and what phase comes next
• Any outstanding client inputs or approvals needed for the next phase identified before you close this one

Procedure

1. Confirm milestone completion against the SOW criteria. Every deliverable associated with this phase should be filed, client-approved, and logged in the engagement record before you proceed.
2. Run the Milestone Celebration Note skill with the milestone name, what was accomplished, and one or two specific outcomes the client can point to as input. Output: a brief, warm client note marking the phase close.
3. Review and personalize the note. The skill generates the structure — you add the specific detail that makes it land. Send within 24 hours of milestone completion, not at your next weekly cadence.
4. Run the Deliverable Draft Builder skill to produce a phase summary document if this milestone represents a significant body of work. This becomes part of the engagement record and, eventually, a proof asset you can reference with future clients (anonymized).
5. Update the engagement record with the milestone close date and log any outstanding items moving into the next phase. If this was the final milestone, initiate the Client Offboarding Process SOP.

Expected Outcome

You'll have a client-facing milestone note sent, a phase summary document filed, and the engagement record updated with the close date and next-phase inputs. The client has an explicit moment of recognition. You have a documented proof asset.

<aside> ⚠️ Common mistakes:

— Rolling straight into the next phase without closing the current one — milestones blur together, the client loses track of what's been accomplished, and by the time the engagement ends they can't articulate what they got. That's a renewal and referral risk.

— Writing a generic "great work this phase" note instead of naming the specific outcome — vague celebration feels hollow. The client remembers specifics. "You've completed the capacity audit and now have a clear picture of where your 12 hours per week are going" hits differently than "great progress."

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