This agenda is part of the returns platform replacement guide, which explains why the decision chain matters. Use this page for the meeting itself.
Booking the 30 minutes
Agencies are good at project meetings and less used to meetings about history. Settle the format before you send the invite.
- Separate it from the build. Book it outside stand-ups and design reviews. A replacement project has its own pressure, and this conversation should not compete with it.
- Write the purpose in one line. "Thirty minutes on the returns history the old app holds before we switch. Description only; no exports." People answer more openly when they know nothing will be pulled.
- Pick the window. After the new app is chosen and its import scope is known, but before the old app's subscription is cancelled. Too early and nobody knows what migrates; too late and the decision has been made by default.
- Roles. You chair. Ask the agency project lead to keep time. Take notes in a four-column table: block, answer, who gave it, open item.
- Parking lot. Portal design, reason-code redesign and new app settings go to the project backlog. This meeting looks backward.
If the founder or CEO cannot attend, run the first four blocks with the team and book ten minutes alone with the decision-maker for the fifth.
Keeping to time. Each block has one question. When a block overruns, the timekeeper calls it, you write the open point down with a name beside it, and the meeting moves on. Ending on time matters more than finishing every thread, because the last six minutes carry the only output that counts. If two blocks overrun, shorten the fourth rather than the fifth.
Tone. Ask each question once, in plain words, and then stop talking. People fill silence with useful detail. Avoid leading phrasing such as "you probably kept all of that, right?"; it invites a polite yes that nobody has checked.
The people who answer
| Role | What they know | Blocks |
|---|---|---|
| Founder or CEO, with the head of operations | Contract dates, ownership, whether to talk to SourceX | 1, 4 and 5 |
| CX or ecommerce manager | What customers say when they send items back, and how requests are approved | 2 |
| Warehouse or 3PL lead | How returned items are checked and what gets written down | 3 |
| Finance lead | How money goes back to customers and who signs off exceptions | 2 |
| Agency project lead | What the new app imports and what stays behind | 1 and 4 |
The run sheet
Illustrative. A 210-person footwear brand is replacing its returns app. The agency runs this agenda the week after the new app is selected.
| Block | Question for the block | Who answers | What a good answer sounds like |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-5 min: switch dates | When does the new app go live, and when does access to the old app end under its contract? | Agency lead and finance | "Go-live is set; the old subscription runs to the end of its term, and we can read history until then." |
| 5-12 min: the chain | Are customer instructions linked to inspection and final refund approval? | CX manager and finance lead | "Yes for most returns since 2022: the reason, the grade and the refund sit on one return record in the app." |
| 12-18 min: inspection | Where do condition grades, photos and inspector notes live, and who records them? | Warehouse or 3PL lead | "Our warehouse grades in the returns app; photos attach to the return." |
| 18-24 min: migration and ownership | Does the new app import closed returns with their inspection records, and who decides about the old app's data? | Agency lead and owner | "Only open returns import. The COO decides about the archive." |
| 24-30 min: decision | Would the brand like to hear how licensing of approved business data works, and who would lead it? | Owner | "Yes, I can authorize it. Our COO is the working contact." |
What block two listens for
Shopify records parts of the chain on its own. A return moves through statuses: requested, open once approved, declined, closed once every item is processed with a restock decision, or canceled. Merchants approve or decline self-serve requests in the Shopify admin, and a decline reason is internal only and never shown to the customer. The inspection between the instruction and the refund is the part most likely to sit in the app being replaced. A good answer names where each link lives.
ShopifyWhy block one is not small talk
The real clock is the old app's access end as its contract states it, not the go-live date. Platform change adds context: Shopify introduced return processing in API version 2025-07 and asks existing return apps to migrate to it, which is one reason brands revisit their returns stack. It sets no date for any brand's history.
Answers that change the plan
| What you hear | What it usually means | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| "Everything is in Shopify." | Status and decline reasons are there; inspection may not be | Ask where grades and photos are recorded |
| "The 3PL handles inspection." | Inspection records may sit with a third party | Note it for the ownership block; rights may be affected |
| "We only migrate open returns." | Closed history stays in the old app | Flag it for the archive context checklist |
| "We cancel the old app at go-live." | Access may end sooner than the team thinks | Ask finance to confirm the contract terms |
| "Decline reasons are rarely filled in." | The chain has gaps at the approval step | Record "partial" and the years it covers |
What the owner hears before block five
What SourceX does. SourceX licenses approved business data directly from companies for AI training and evaluation, and manages agreement, rights review, data preparation, delivery and payout. Customer personal data is handled through de-identification and rights review with the company, never by the agency.
Your interest. You are a SourceX referral partner. If a qualifying license completes and every payment condition is met, SourceX may pay you a reward that is funded separately and never deducted from the brand's payout. The answer has no effect on the replacement project.
Fit. 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded; 3PL staff do not count), a documented operating history, rights to license the records, and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 90% of the data is in English.
What stays unknown until SourceX reviews it: SourceX's current data needs for returns decision data, the rights review result including 3PL and app terms, any offer and any reward.
Closing the meeting on a decision
| Outcome | When it fits | Who records it | What happens next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduce now | The chain is complete or partial, ownership is clear, the owner opted in | Agency lead | Send the annotated introduction email |
| Revisit after a date | Import scope or contract terms are still open | Finance or agency lead | Tie the follow-up to the old app's documented access end |
| Stop | The owner declines, or a 3PL or app agreement rules it out | Agency lead | Note the reason; the project continues unchanged |
Sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting. Attribution goes to the first valid introduction within the 90-day window, credited when the company submits a verified application, with one partner per company. Illustrative only: at an $800,000 qualifying payout to the brand, 25% would be $200,000, so the default reward stops at the $100,000 cap, which is cumulative per company. A reward becomes payable after SourceX has paid the referred company under its signed agreement and the payout conditions in the program terms are met, including finance approval and your tax and payment details.](/rewards) has every condition. The ecommerce industry page covers which workflows matter, and the quarterly board meeting agenda shows the timed format in another setting.
Next step
Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000. Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
If the meeting closed on "introduce now," register as a partner, check the brand against who qualifies, and read the program terms before you send the email.