In many MSPs there’s a recurring problem we can call “pig tossing.” Picture throwing a large, complicated deliverable — a project, a client transition — to another department without proper planning or communication, like heaving a pig over a fence and expecting someone to catch it without injury to themselves or the pig. The outcome is predictable: a chaotic process that breeds confusion, delays, and frustration for your team and your client alike.
It typically happens at critical handoffs — when a client moves from sales to operations, or a project passes from implementation to ongoing support. Handle those transitions badly and you erode the trust clients place in you, which leads to dissatisfaction and, eventually, lost business.
What pig tossing actually looks like
Pig tossing happens when a complex deliverable — something involving multiple teams on different parts of the solution — gets handed off without the communication, planning, or process to land it. Maybe it’s a service sales promised but never fully explained to operations, or a project thrown to support with no documentation. The result is confusion, inefficiency, and frustration. Imagine being on the receiving end of a client handoff with no context, no preparation, and no understanding of what came before or what needs to happen next. The odds of dropping the ball — or the pig — are high.
The consequences
When pig tossing happens, it does more than annoy people. Client trust erodes, because clients expect seamless service and a fumbled transition makes them doubt your ability to deliver what was promised. Internal efficiency drops, as teams burn time making sense of incomplete handoffs and miss deadlines. And employee morale suffers — receiving a handoff with no direction creates stress and confusion that drives turnover.
Pig catching: gentle handoffs with communication and planning
To stop pig tossing, shift to a pig-catching mindset where handoffs are planned, communicated, and executed with precision. Four steps land the deliverable smoothly.
1. Identify potential issues early
Look for red flags: ambiguous deliverables where the receiving team can’t tell what success looks like, unclear responsibilities where no single person owns the handoff, and poor documentation full of gaps the next team has to reverse-engineer. Spot these early and you can mitigate them before they grow.
2. Coordinate clear handoff processes
Set measurable baselines for what a successful handoff looks like, with a process for each stage. Build checklists — when a project moves from implementation to support, what documentation and training must be in place, and which KPIs do both teams agree on first? And define roles: who communicates the transition, who sets up the client onboarding call. Everyone should know their part.
3. Communicate consistently and transparently
Most failed transitions come down to communication. Teams assume everyone has the information they need, and they rarely do. Set regular touchpoints covering what’s done, what remains, and what challenges are open. Use proper channels — document everything in your PSA or project-management system instead of back-channel chats. And keep the client informed: tell them who their point of contact will be and what to expect, which sets expectations and reinforces trust.
4. Follow up and review
Don’t assume the transition’s over once the handoff happens. Review the process — what worked, what didn’t — ideally before the handoff is considered complete, so you can adjust. And ask the client whether the transition met their expectations and whether the new team picked up cleanly. Their feedback exposes gaps to fix next time.
Handoffs are a trust problem
At the heart of avoiding pig tossing is trust — clients trust you to deliver, and teams trust each other to fulfill their roles in a coordinated way. Smooth transitions strengthen that trust both internally and externally. This is the same theme as aligning sales and operations and making trust your competitive advantage: standardize the process, communicate clearly, and make sure everyone — client and internal teams — knows what to expect. A clean client handoff is also exactly what a strong onboarding checklist is built to guarantee.
So take a moment to evaluate your handoffs. Are you tossing projects and client accounts over the fence with little regard for how they land, or carefully planning, coordinating, and communicating each step? Identify the problems early, build clear processes, and communicate transparently, and you replace dropped pigs with seamless transitions that make your MSP stand out as a reliable partner.
At Ridgeview Advisors, we teach MSP teams how to engineer handoffs that protect client trust and your NOI — in cohorts with operators solving the same problem. When you’re ready to stop pig tossing, join a cohort.
