Derisk Your Deal with Mutual Action Plans
Red flags appear early, they're just not mapped.
Deals often slip for reasons that feel like they came out of nowhere.
Legal takes longer than expected. Procurement appears late. A new stakeholder suddenly needs to approve. The buyer goes quiet.
Usually, those red flags were there earlier. They just were not mapped.
We are selling everyday, we see what the buying process usually looks like for our prospects.
Our buyers aren't going through internal buying processes everyday.
We can help them map their internal buying process with a Mutual Action Plan.
It gives both sides a shared view of what needs to happen, who owns it, and when, so the deal is less likely to drift or fall apart at the last minute.
Start with the buyer’s outcome
A mutual action plan is a prospect-facing document that sets out:
the actions that need to happen
who owns each action
when each action needs to happen
The important part is where the plan ends.
It should not end at “contract signed.”
It should extend far enough to show how the customer gets to the outcome they actually care about after implementation.
Work backwards from a critical event
The strongest MAPs are built around a date the prospect genuinely cannot afford to miss.
That might be a product launch, renewal, board meeting, hiring target or regulatory deadline.
That is a critical event.
It is different from a seller-created compelling event like an end-of-month discount.
Once the critical event is clear, you can work backwards and map the actions required to hit it.
Build it with the prospect, not for them
Do not build it by yourself and just email it over.
It will 'gather dust'.
Screenshare it and build it together. It's messy but it works.
Agree:
the action
the owner
the date
That creates accountability on both sides.
It also helps expose gaps in the buying process before they become surprises later in the deal.
Map the process before and after “yes”
The decision process does not stop when the buyer chooses you.
There are really two stages:
Getting to yes
Who needs to evaluate, approve and make the decision?
The paper process
What happens afterwards with legal, procurement, security and contracting?
Both need to be mapped out. The deal is not won at yes.
Your follow-up gets easier too
One sign that you do not have control of the process is constant:
“Just checking in.”
“Any thoughts?”
“Bumping this to the top of your inbox.”
With a good MAP, the follow-up becomes tied to something the buyer already agreed to.
“Legal review was due to start today. Are we still on track for the November rollout?”
That is a very different conversation.
You are managing an agreed plan rather than chasing for an update.
You have purposeful next steps & a reason for the prospect to stay engaged.
A coaching exercise for this week
Take five late-stage deals and ask:
Is there a mutual action plan?
Was it built with the prospect?
Does every action have an owner and a date?
Is there a genuine critical event?
Does the plan go beyond contract signature?
If not, the rep probably has a close plan rather than a mutual action plan.
A strong MAP gives both sides a shared path to the outcome.
That creates control.