Template · 12 min read

Mutual Action Plans 101: Tips, Tools, and Templates (with free template)

Dock Free Intermediate

Your answer says to give the deal a mutual close plan with dates and named owners, and this is the concrete artifact for it: a five-part structure (overview, success criteria, stakeholders, a phased evaluation to procurement to go-live timeline, and shared resources) plus a free copyable template. Co-building this with your champion is also the cleanest test of the relationship: if they will not put names and dates against the steps to the economic buyer, you have your soft no and can reallocate your energy.

  • A mutual action plan is co-authored with the buyer, so it doubles as a real test of whether your champion can actually route you to the decision-maker
  • Reverse-engineer the timeline from the buyer's own go-live deadline and attach a named owner to every step on both sides
  • Getting it built after the demo, not before, is often the difference between a deal that closes and one that quietly goes dark

The question it answers

  1. How do I handle a deal that stalls after a great demo and just goes quiet?

Read with it

  1. This is the research that proves your instinct right: analyzing 2.5 million recorded sales calls, Dixon and McKenna found 40 to... The JOLT Effect Article · 15 min read The JOLT Effect: How High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision Matthew Dixon and Ted McKenna
  2. This is the tactical companion to the JOLT diagnosis: it gives you word-for-word language to reopen a dead thread without... Mixmax Article · 10 min read Why Deals Stall After Discovery and How to Prevent It Mixmax
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