The template completes the TSA expiry playbook for M&A integration advisors. It is the last step after the 30-minute owner meeting, and only for an owner who said yes at the end of it.
Is it time to write?
A TSA introduction has one feature most introductions do not: two companies hold pieces of the answer. The buyer owns the records; the seller runs the systems. Check that the email will land in the right company before writing it.
- The record owner is named, and is on the buyer's side. If the purchase agreement leaves the records with the seller, or shared, stop until counsel has settled it.
- A keeper is named, with a date. The email reads very differently when it can say the history is being preserved rather than at risk.
- The owner opted in after hearing the disclosure. Not a nod in a steering meeting; a clear yes.
- Your partner agreement is signed. The Channel Partner Agreement comes before any introduction is submitted.
Keep it short enough to read on a phone, in plain text. If you would be uncomfortable seeing it forwarded to the seller's legal team, rewrite it.
The template
Illustrative. Placeholders in brackets.
Subject: Introduction: [Business] and SourceX, history in the seller's systems
Hi [Record owner name], copying [Keeper name],
As the TSA services for [Business] wind down, access to the seller's [system names] ends on [confirmed date]. When we met, you described the history that sits outside the cutover: roughly [years] years of [record types, for example resolved service tickets and former-staff mailboxes]. [Keeper name] is preserving the approved inventory by [date].
You are the right person to decide whether that history is worth discussing with SourceX, which licenses approved business data directly from companies for AI training and evaluation and handles the agreement, rights review, data preparation, delivery and payout. I have not seen, exported or shared any records.
For transparency: I am a SourceX referral partner, and if a qualifying license completes, SourceX may pay me a reward from its own funds; it never reduces what [Business] is paid. Would a 20-minute call about record types, years and systems, and nothing else, be useful before [confirmed date]?
[Your name]
Annotated, line by line
Each row is one line of the template. The third column lists what goes wrong most often.
| Line | Why it is there | What never goes in it |
|---|---|---|
| Subject line | Tells the reader the topic and both parties before they open it | "Opportunity", a dollar figure, the deal code name or the seller's name |
| "Hi [Record owner name], copying [Keeper name]" | The person who can authorize is in To; the person who can preserve is on copy | The seller's admin, the integration steering group or a shared inbox |
| "...access to the seller's [system names] ends on [confirmed date]" | States the real access event, which is why the email is timely | An unconfirmed date, or "before it is too late" |
| "...roughly [years] years of [record types]..." | Describes the history at metadata level: what and how long | Mailbox names, customer names, ticket content or a guessed count |
| "[Keeper name] is preserving the approved inventory by [date]" | Shows the history is already being kept, so the email is not a rescue pitch | Any suggestion that SourceX will preserve or move anything |
| "You are the right person to decide..." | Confirms the owner's authority and hands them the choice | Pressure, or a hint that the reward depends on what is kept |
| "...SourceX, which licenses approved business data..." | One accurate sentence on what SourceX does | Buyer names, prices or "this will sell" |
| "I have not seen, exported or shared any records." | Confirms the company's records stayed inside | Any sign you hold a sample, export or screenshot |
| "For transparency: I am a SourceX referral partner..." | Discloses your interest and that SourceX funds the reward separately | The reward percentage, or wording implying the business pays it |
| "Would a 20-minute call... before [confirmed date]?" | A small ask tied to the real timeline, easy to accept or decline | A request for files, logins, the TSA schedule or the purchase agreement |
Why name the keeper in an introduction
Without the keeper line, the email reads as "your history is about to disappear, talk to SourceX". That is the wrong message, and it is not true once a keeper is preserving the inventory. Microsoft's own documentation shows why the gap exists in the first place: cross-tenant mailbox migration moves mailbox data only, and after a successful move the source mailbox is deleted and replaced by a mail-routing object in the old tenant. Mailboxes outside every batch stay behind. Naming the keeper shows the company has already dealt with that, and that the licensing question is a separate, optional one.
Why the disclosure sits in the body
The FTC's guidance on endorsements says a material connection such as a payment or commission should be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, and that disclosures hidden behind links are not clear and conspicuous. A referral reward is that kind of connection. Keep the sentence in the body of the email, in plain words, ahead of the ask.
Rewrites that break the email
| Rewrite | Why it seems helpful | What it actually does |
|---|---|---|
| "The seller is about to delete your history" | Creates urgency | Overstates the risk once a keeper is in place, and blames a party not in the room |
| Attaching the TSA service schedule | Proves the date | Shares a transaction document outside its intended readers |
| Copying the seller's admin "for the dates" | Saves a follow-up | Brings a commercial conversation into the other company |
| "This history is valuable to AI companies" | Builds interest | States a market claim nobody has assessed |
| Dropping the keeper line to shorten it | Shorter email | Turns a calm introduction into a rescue pitch |
The introduction email builder offers other openings, and the wealth advisor introduction email shows the same disclosure for an owner-client relationship. Keep the disclosure and the metadata-only ask in any version.
Before you press send
- Recipient: the record owner in To, the keeper on copy, nobody from the seller.
- Company fit: 50+ full-time employees at peak in the separated business (contractors excluded), 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 70% of the data is in English.
- Dates: every date in the email was confirmed by the company; the TSA archive context checklist holds them.
- Attribution: the first valid introduction within the 90-day window is credited when the company submits a verified application, one partner per company.
- Reward: nothing is payable on the email, a call or a signature alone. 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. There is no cap per referred company. The rewards page lists every condition.
Unknown until SourceX reviews it: whether the records fit a dataset need, the rights review result and any offer. If the owner asks what happens to licensed data later, the data after license ends page answers it; deal-timing questions are covered in what happens when LOI exclusivity expires.
Next step
Refer a company. No cap on rewards. Default reward on a company's first qualifying transaction: the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap; further qualifying transactions first agreed within 12 months of the first Closing pay 15%. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, including the USD 100,000 Minimum Transaction, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
When the record owner has opted in and a keeper is named with a date, register as a partner, confirm the business on who qualifies, and keep the program terms open while you send the email.