A mutual action plan (MAP) is a shared document in which the buyer and the seller agree the steps from today to a decision and to go-live, with an owner and a date for each. The template below adds one column most MAPs lack: the buyer's evidence that each step happened.
- 01Draft it once discovery is done
- 02Build dates back from the buyer's event
- 03Walk the buyer through it on a call
- 04Evidence column: what the buyer did
- 05Update after every buyer conversation
- 06Bring it to the deal reviewThe first row with no evidence is the real stage
That column is the difference between a plan and a hope. The first empty evidence cell shows what the deal is missing, which is the core idea of our deal coaching guide.
The template
Header (top of the page, read by every senior person who opens it)
| Field | What goes here |
|---|---|
| Why we are doing this | One or two sentences in the buyer's words: the problem and what solving it is worth |
| Decision date, and why then | The date, tied to an event on the buyer's calendar (a season, a board meeting, a contract ending) |
| Buyer team | Name and role of everyone involved, including who signs |
| Seller team | Name and role, including who supports each buyer person |
Milestones (seven to nine)
| # | Milestone | Buyer owner | Seller owner | Target date | Buyer evidence it happened | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Problem and cost agreed | The buyer stated the cost in their numbers | ||||
| 2 | Success criteria written | The buyer sent or approved the criteria | ||||
| 3 | Solution validated | The buyer said which criteria it meets and which it misses | ||||
| 4 | Business case reviewed by the signer | The signer was on a call or replied about it | ||||
| 5 | Security and technical review | The reviewer's sign-off email | ||||
| 6 | Commercial terms agreed | The buyer accepted terms in writing | ||||
| 7 | Legal and procurement | The contract is with a named person in procurement | ||||
| 8 | Signature | Signed order form | ||||
| 9 | First value delivered | The buyer confirmed the first result |
Keep it to seven to nine milestones; a longer plan stops getting read. The value statement sits at the top so a senior reader knows why the plan exists, and the last milestone is the buyer getting value, after the contract.
How to use it
Draft the plan once discovery is done, walk the buyer through it on a call, and update it after every buyer conversation.
- Draft it once discovery is done. You need the buyer's problem and cost in their words for the header. A MAP drafted on day one is the seller's plan with the buyer's logo on it.
- Build the dates backward from the buyer's event. Start from the go-live date the buyer needs and work back. If no buyer event drives the date, the date is yours.
- Walk the buyer through it on a call. Share your screen, go line by line and ask the buyer to name their owner for each step. A MAP emailed as an attachment rarely gets read.
- Fill the evidence column only with what the buyer did. "Positive call" is not evidence. "Sent the security questionnaire back on the 12th" is.
- Update it after every buyer conversation. Move dates in the open, with the buyer, and note why.
- Bring it to the deal review. The first row with no evidence is the stage the deal is really at.
A filled-in example
This example is illustrative. Arrowmere is a fictional 600-person logistics firm buying dispatch software. Dana is VP of Operations; the CFO signs.
Header. Why: "Thirty re-dispatches a month at about $1,800 each; we need that halved before peak season." Decision date: 15 February, because peak season starts in March. Buyer team: Dana (sponsor), the CFO (signer), an IT lead (security), procurement. Seller team: Riley (account executive), a solutions engineer, Riley's manager for the CFO.
| # | Milestone | Buyer owner | Target | Buyer evidence | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Problem and cost agreed | Dana | 10 Dec | Dana gave the $1,800 and thirty-a-month figures on call two | Done |
| 2 | Success criteria written | Dana | 17 Dec | Dana emailed three criteria on 16 Dec | Done |
| 3 | Solution validated | Dana, planners | 8 Jan | Dana: "covers everything" | At risk |
| 4 | Business case reviewed by the CFO | CFO | 15 Jan | None | Not started |
| 5 | Security review | IT lead | 22 Jan | Questionnaire sent; not returned | Waiting |
| 6 to 9 | Terms, legal, signature, first value | 29 Jan to 1 Mar |
Rows 1 and 2 have evidence. Row 3 has a compliment: "covers everything" does not say which of Dana's three criteria the solution meets. Row 4 has nothing, and the CFO has never been on a call. The CRM says this deal is at Proposal. The MAP says it is at row 3, and the next conversation is with Dana, to hear which criteria are met before the case goes to the CFO.
How to introduce the MAP to the buyer
Buyers who have never seen a MAP can read it as a closing tactic. Introduce it as a way to protect their date. On the call after discovery, try something like: "You said you need this live before peak season in March. Working back from that, there are a few steps on your side and ours. Can I share a draft and you tell me what is missing or wrong?"
Then let the buyer change it. Ask who owns each of their steps, what usually slows decisions like this down in their organization, and whether anyone who has to approve it is missing from the buyer team. Every correction the buyer makes is a sign they are starting to own the plan. If the buyer refuses to engage with any of it, that is useful too: the decision date may not be as firm as it sounded.
When a MAP is worth the effort
A MAP pays for itself when the deal has several people on the buyer side, a review the seller does not control (security, legal, procurement) or a date that matters to the buyer. For a one-call purchase with one decision maker, a dated next step in the follow-up email does the same job.
The same template works after the signature. For onboarding, rows 1 to 8 become the setup steps and row 9 stays as it is: the buyer confirms the first result. For a renewal or an expansion, the header changes to the result the customer has seen so far and what the next stage is meant to add, and the milestones run to the renewal date.
Three ways teams misuse a MAP
The seller fills it in alone. A MAP the buyer never edits is a close plan, which is a useful internal document and a different one: a close plan stays inside the seller's team, and a MAP is shared with and edited by the buyer. If the buyer has not named an owner for a step, that step is a guess. Our close plan glossary entry and how to write a close plan cover the internal version.
Status replaces evidence. "On track" in green reports the rep's mood. Read the evidence column first in the review, because it records what the buyer did.
Dates slip quietly. When a date moves and nobody says why, the plan stops describing the deal. Every slip goes back to the buyer: "We had the CFO review on the 15th. What changed, and what is the new date?" A deal whose dates keep slipping without explanation is a stalled deal.
Using the MAP in the deal review
The MAP is the agenda for a deal review. Walk the evidence column from the top, stop at the first empty cell and plan the conversation that fills it: who, the opening line, and what the rep needs to leave with. Across a rep's whole book, the pipeline review template uses the same rule to pick which deals get that review.
On Replicate Labs, the rep brings the deal to Caty on a call and talks it through, MAP included. Caty stages it by buyer evidence, names what is missing and plans the next conversation in the team's method. A rep who cannot talk can type it. For teams, see drive deal execution. To see it on one of your deals, talk to us.
FAQ
What is a mutual action plan in sales?
A mutual action plan is a shared document in which the buyer and seller agree every step from today to a decision and go-live, with a named owner and a date on each side. It works when the buyer edits it, and when each completed step is backed by something the buyer did.
What should a mutual action plan template include?
A mutual action plan template should include a why statement, a decision date, both teams by name, and seven to nine milestones. The why statement is the buyer's problem in their words, and the decision date is tied to a buyer event. Each milestone needs a buyer owner, a seller owner, a date and a column for the buyer's evidence that it happened.
What is the difference between a mutual action plan and a close plan?
A close plan is the seller's internal plan to win the deal. A mutual action plan is shared with the buyer, who names owners and agrees dates. Many teams keep both: the close plan for strategy the buyer should not see, and the MAP for the steps both sides own.
When should you introduce a mutual action plan?
Introduce it after discovery, once the buyer has stated the problem and its cost in their words and a decision date has a reason behind it. Introduced earlier, it reads as the seller's plan. Walk the buyer through it on a call and ask them to name an owner for each step.