Mutual Action Plans 101: Tips, Tools, and Templates

You can’t create fake urgency in a long sales cycle. 

Sellers often try to manufacture urgency with deadlines like, “We need to sign by Friday to lock in this pricing!”—but buyers see right through these tactics. When you’re months into a deal, sudden deadlines just feel off.

The only real way to create urgency is to remind the buyer of their own deadlines and requirements. 

Buyers have their own timelines in mind—maybe it’s a go-live date or a fiscal quarter deadline—and a mutual action plan helps you track and align all the key actions to hit those goals.

But here’s where it gets hairy—buying groups might not even understand their own goals. A typical B2B buying group, according to Gartner:

• Comprises six to ten people
• Each stakeholder consults four to five sources
• 95% of them will pivot the moment fresh insights drop
• 77% of them think the B2B buying process is “too complex”

As a seller, your primary job is to keep your buyers organized. When you lay out a clear plan and keep everyone aligned with a mutual action plan, you’re far more likely to win the deal. 

But here’s the catch: You want to lessen their workload, not add another monster spreadsheet or permission-controlled folder to their plate.

We'll show you how to stop playing Dr. Frankenstein with your sales process and craft a genuinely buyer-centric mutual action plan—using Dock.

👉🏼 Need a mutual action plan template? Grab a free, customizable mutual action plan template here.

What is a mutual action plan?

A mutual action plan (MAP) is a customer-friendly sales roadmap—a detailed checklist—shared between a sales account team and a buyer team. It outlines all the key actions, milestones, and responsibilities necessary to move the deal forward and achieve mutual success. 

Throughout the buying process, the mutual action plan acts as a living to-do list, keeping both parties aligned on the next steps by clarifying:

• Who’s responsible for what
• What actions need to be taken to close the deal
• Key dates and timelines
• What a successful deal looks like

Mutual action plans are particularly useful in higher-ACV deals with more complexity, multiple stakeholders, and longer sales cycles, where the biggest risk to closing is a lack of alignment and momentum. 

In Tom Williams’ The Seller’s Challenge, he says that there are three “seemingly simple” questions to answer when selling to multiple stakeholders:

1. Who buys?
2. Who cares?
3. What matters?

A mutual action plan answers all three questions.

But action plans aren’t only for enterprise-scale deals. They can also be used in more transactional deals to provide a clear, step-by-step list of what’s needed to close.

Either way, for the seller, this helps avoid unexpected roadblocks to closing a deal. And for the buyer, it creates a smoother buying process and reduces risk. Everybody wins.

Other common names for mutual action plans include:

• Mutually agreed action plan (MAAP)
• Joint execution plan (JEP)
• Mutual success plan (MSP): A newer term intended to highlight the end goal rather than the steps along the way.
• Go-live plan: Most often used in a software implementation context.
• Close plan: An internal-only version of a MAP that clarifies the sales steps needed to close a deal.

What makes a mutual action plan “mutual”?

A mutual action plan is “mutual” because it’s co-created and co-owned by both the buyer and the seller. 

But make no mistake—while the mutual action plan is technically a shared checklist between you and the buying team, you (as the salesperson) should take on the bulk of the work. It’s your job—not your client’s—to create the plan, share it regularly, keep it up to date, and keep the process moving forward until close (or disqualification).

“The worst mutual plans are selfish. You need to anchor them to the customer’s problem.”

Jason Fishkind, AVP of Sales at Cresta, talked to Dock’s CEO Alex Kracov, in a recent Grow and Tell episode about what an effective mutual action plan looks like:

“Sales reps can put together action plans all day, but if they’re not mutual in nature, they’re nothing more than your list of to-dos that the customer doesn’t buy into.”

MAPs are typically more mutually developed as the deal complexity increases—for example, when the buyer has strict procurement requirements or involves multiple stakeholders. But even in those cases, the goal of the mutual action plan is to ease the client's workload, not add to it.

Why every B2B sales team should use mutual action plans

In a messy, multi-stakeholder buying environment, it’s typically less of a question of whether you’ll use a mutual action plan and more of a question of how you’ll use one.

A mutual action plan helps relieve your buyer’s mental strain by laying out a single, crystal-clear source of truth about who needs to do what—and by when. 

Your buyer has a day job, a dozen other email threads, and six to ten colleagues weighing in on every purchase decision. That’s why most B2B deals are non-linear and can lead to “analysis paralysis.”

🧠 Buyer psychology tip: According to John Sweller’s cognitive load theory, the more tasks and data you shove at a buyer (or a seller, for that matter), the tougher it is for them to stay on track. So, the more digestible you can make the information, the swifter the decision making.

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Here’s why every great sales process uses mutual action plans:

1. Provide a better buying experience

Customer-focused businesses are 60% more profitable, and a large part of customer-centricity in the sales process is to reduce friction for the key decision-makers.

• Define the scope and steps: The buyer knows exactly what’s needed from them at the outset—no surprises.
• Hold key players accountable: Everyone sees their tasks, so it’s not just on you to chase them down.
• Reduce buyer workload: A clear framework means fewer frantic emails and “I need this ASAP!” requests.
• Build trust from day one: By staying organized, you look like a partner who truly wants to help—not just another vendor chasing a commission.

Remember to highlight these benefits when you introduce the mutual action plan; you need the buyer’s buy-in for it to really work.

📘 Related reading: Buyer Enablement Guide: To sell more, make it easier to buy

2. Forecast revenue more accurately

If you’re a sales leader working with a board or public markets, precise forecasting is essential. Yet most forecasting tools are fuzzy at best, often relying on broad deal stages or basic engagement signals (like email opens).

A mutual action plan tracks deals at a milestone level, giving you deeper visibility. With the right mutual action plan software:

• You can automatically sync milestone-level analytics to your CRM or forecasting software.
• You’ll see exactly when a deal reaches a critical step—like security review—which might correlate to a 90% likelihood of closing.
• You’ll have more accurate close dates, thanks to the buyer’s own milestone commitments baked into the plan.

3. Provide better deal coaching

Mutual action plans give managers a clear line of sight into each deal’s progress:

• Consistent process: New reps rarely know every step involved in closing a deal. A mutual action plan guarantees nothing gets missed—like legal or security reviews—before claiming a deal is “almost done.”
• Targeted feedback: Because mutual success plans let you track milestones at a granular level, you can pinpoint exactly where deals falter. Maybe a rep’s deals repeatedly stall after a big demo. That’s your coaching moment.
• Data-driven improvement: By identifying roadblocks, you can proactively address them, whether that means revising the demo strategy or offering more resources to guide the buyer at a specific stage.

4. Close more deals (and faster)

In an enterprise software buying journey, the deal may very well extend to almost a year—sometimes more. A mutual action plan helps everyone pick up the pace—without tripping:

• Early stakeholder discovery: You won’t get blindsided by a random VP showing up at the 11th hour.
• Mutual accountability: The buyer has tasks, too, so it’s not all on you—and their involvement shows genuine intent.
• Genuine urgency: By anchoring deadlines to the buyer’s own timeline (like “We need sign-off by next quarter’s budget review”), you’re creating a real incentive to move forward—no fake discounts needed.

Why don’t spreadsheets work?

Most sales teams fall back on spreadsheet templates or Google Docs for creating mutual action plans for two simple reasons: they’re free and they’re familiar. 

But a spreadsheet, in its creator’s, Bob Frankston’s own words, was meant to be “a magic sheet of paper that can perform calculations and recalculations”—not a client-facing workspace for B2B sales.

• Spreadsheets don’t feel premium. A clunky grid of cells doesn’t exactly scream “white-glove service” to your buyer. It’s visually cluttered, hard to navigate, and feels like more busy work rather than a shared strategy.

• They’re notoriously error-prone. All it takes is one mistyped date or misplaced decimal to throw off an entire deal cycle. In spreadsheets, data entry mistakes are disturbingly easy to make—and even harder to catch in time.

• They introduce digital clutter. Each time someone downloads a copy or makes an edit, you risk spawning multiple versions with cryptic names like “MAP_v2_FINAL_really_final.xlsx.” It’s only a matter of time before someone’s working off outdated information.
  
  
• They lack collaborative features. Need to assign tasks, set automated due dates, or track who’s responsible for what? Spreadsheets weren’t designed for real-time accountability or complex workflows.
  
  
• They waste your reps’ time. When sales reps spend hours wrestling with spreadsheets instead of selling, your pipeline suffers. On average, employees require help from their colleagues twice per week to resolve Excel-related issues, according to Acuity Training.

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Basically, spreadsheets trap you in a two-dimensional “flatland”—forcing you to choose between neat data or a neat layout—and sometimes giving you neither.

Sure, they get the job done. But the true cost lies in version-control nightmares, buyer frustration, and wasted sales cycles. 

A dedicated mutual action plan tool offers real-time collaboration, streamlined updates, and a polished look that buyers actually want to engage with. In the end, that kind of ROI more than justifies moving beyond the familiar grid.

What to include in your mutual action plan (+ template)

What are the key elements of an effective mutual action plan?

Here, we’ll walk through how LexCorp Industries is helping Monsters, Inc. buy a new project management solution—built using Dock’s sales rooms.

👉🏼 If you’re looking for a ready-to-use template, check out Dock’s Mutual Action Plan Template.

1. Overview

This is where you capture the essential “why” behind the project:

• Project purpose: Start with a brief narrative explaining the purpose of the deal. 
• High-level goals: Mention 2–3 core objectives (e.g., “Improve team collaboration,” “Integrate with existing tools,” “Demonstrate ROI within 3 months”).
• Target dates: If you have a deadline or a desired completion window, list it here (e.g., “Pilot completion by March 1, 2025”).
• Time and resources: Detail how much time and which resources will be required to achieve these results.

2. Success criteria

Make it easy to see the “why” behind the project and the “what” you’re aiming to achieve.

Clearly state your project’s goals and how you’ll know it’s a success. This shows the challenges your customer is facing and sets a clear target for what winning looks like.

• Outline the challenges: Identify the specific problems your customer is experiencing. For example, are they struggling with inefficient processes, high costs, or slow turnaround times?
• Key metrics: Are you aiming for a specific reduction in costs, a certain adoption rate, or faster project turnaround times? List them clearly.‍
• Define major deliverables (optional): Outline the tangible outcomes that must be achieved for the project to be considered a success. Major deliverables are the specific, concrete items or results—such as deploying a new system, completing user training, or integrating with existing workflows—that serve as checkpoints along the way.

3. Stakeholders

List all key individuals from both teams who will drive the project forward, including their roles and contact details.

👉🏼 Use Dock’s Contact Cards to display every key decision-maker’s details—including their picture, title, email, phone number, booking link, and more—so everyone knows exactly who to contact, and how.

4. Plan timeline & progress

As you shift into the heart of the mutual action plan, Dock’s timeline feature helps you visually organize the journey into clear phases like Evaluation, Procurement, and Implementation.

Here’s what each stage may look like:

Phase 1: Evaluation

Where you confirm the solution’s fit (e.g., product demos, internal reviews). You might schedule a product demo and Q&A session, assign tasks to the relevant team members, and set deadlines using Dock’s relative due dates. 

💡 Pro Tip: If any tasks are for internal coordination only, you can mark them as “Internal,” making sure the client’s workspace stays focused on what matters to them. These tasks will only show up for you, not your client.

Phase 2: Procurement

Here’s where you handle commercial details (e.g., legal review, pricing agreements)

With Dock’s “task actions” feature, you can attach all the necessary documents—compliance files, pricing spreadsheets, or contract drafts—directly to each task. This way, everyone has immediate access to the information they need, right when they need it.

Phase 3: Implementation

This phase is where you deploy your software and train your customer’s team (e.g., kickoff calls, and onboarding sessions). Including an onboarding checklist shows your client exactly what to expect after the deal closes, setting clear expectations and ensuring a smooth post-sale transition.

💡 Pro tip: Dock’s global task management lets your reps see all outstanding tasks across multiple clients in one streamlined view. Plus, you can embed an onboarding checklist to show the client exactly what to expect after the deal closes, setting clear expectations and ensuring a smooth transition.

5. Relevant contextual resources

To simplify things further for your client, house your mutual action alongside other relevant documents in a single workspace—a digital sales room—that can help the client stay organized. This includes:

• Meeting notes and executive summaries.
• Detailed project scopes and timelines.
• Product demos, case studies, and customer testimonials.
• ROI calculators and pricing breakdowns.
• FAQs, training materials, and onboarding guides.
• Security and privacy documents.

The less work your client has to do, the better their buying experience and the more likely your deal is to close.

⭐️ Dock Tip: Dock’s analytics let you track buyer engagement like a hawk—without the Google Docs-like intrusion. If you notice a stakeholder logging in non-stop but not checking off tasks, they’re probably stuck or need a nudge. Zero engagement? That’s your cue to give them a little push. 

Mutual action plan best practices

An effective mutual action plan is buyer-centric at every line item. The core objective is to decrease cognitive load for frictionless decision-making.

Here’s how you can design yours:

1. Create it from your buyer’s perspective—not your own

Build your mutual action plan like a dynamic and interactive instruction manual for your client, not just a checklist for your sales team.

Instead of labeling the final milestone as “Contract Close,” call it “Project Launch.” Imagine a busy CFO sorting through 100 emails a day—“Project Launch” instantly conveys progress and success, rather than another internal deadline.

When your MAP speaks your client’s language, it aligns with their goals. 

2. Tailor your mutual action plan to your business model

Match the complexity of your MAP to your sales cycle:

• For fast, transactional deals (like those typical of SMBs), keep it short and sweet—a clear, streamlined to-do list of 5-8 steps works best.
• For multi-million-dollar enterprise deals, provide more detail and structure to cover the longer, more intricate process.

3. Keep it focused

Limit your mutual action plan to the most important 8–12 milestones rather than listing every minor task. 

NIH’s research shows that “information overload” increases cognitive strain, slowing decision-making. A focused MAP helps both teams stay locked in on key actions without getting buried in the details.

If there are a lot of steps to take, break them into phases or milestones. It makes the process feel more manageable and keeps everyone focused on what’s next—without the overwhelm.

4. Share your mutual action plan with context

Your MAP shouldn’t just be a standalone checklist—it should live within the full context of your deal. Embed it in your Dock sales deal room alongside key sales materials, so buyers can see how your solution fits into their world.

With a multi-page workspace in Dock, you can organize all the relevant stakeholders, deliverables, and supporting content in one place. This keeps the deal moving and eliminates back-and-forth emails.

A well-contextualized MAP doesn’t just outline next steps—it reinforces your value at every stage, helping champions sell your solution internally and keeping momentum strong.

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You can embed anything in your shared Dock workspace—including step-by-step walkthroughs, detailed case studies, or key insights from your discovery sessions. 

5. Extend your action plan beyond the deal

For your customer, signing a contract is just the first step in working with you. So don’t make signing a contract the last stage of your plan. Your mutual action plan should feed into your customer onboarding process.

Dock makes that transition seamless, helping you switch your action plan over to an implementation plan or an onboarding plan so that your customer success team can continue to work from the same plan after the deal closes.

6. Keep it up to date and reverse engineer deadlines

A living, breathing action plan is your best defense against chaos. Instead of relying on fake urgency like “Sign by this date to get 20% off!” (which buyers see through), leverage real urgency—the buyer’s own deadlines. If the client’s go-live date is set for July 1st, start there and work backward. Set each milestone’s due date based on that final target.

This reverse-engineering technique ensures that every task and handoff aligns with the ultimate deadline, keeping the deal on track without the gimmicks. When you base your timelines on what the buyer actually cares about, you’re aligning with their real priorities—and that kind of urgency sticks.

According to Joey Wright, our Head of Sales at Dock, teams that use this method see a significant reduction in sales cycle time. When deadlines are clear, realistic, and tied directly to the buyer's own goals, everyone knows exactly what needs to be done and when. 

Plus, regularly updating your MAP means both buyers and internal teams are always looking at the most current, relevant information.

How to choose the best mutual action plan software

Below, you’ll find the key questions every B2B team should ask when selecting a mutual action plan solution—and how Dock maps to the key features every MAP needs.

1. How does it improve collaboration and engagement?

What to look for:

• ✅ A single workspace where you and the buyer can view the plan, assign tasks, and communicate.
• ✅ Advanced collaboration features—like tagging stakeholders, setting due dates, and tracking risks—that go beyond a basic spreadsheet.
• ✅ The ability to comment and discuss items directly within the platform.

How Dock delivers:

• Shared client workspace: Dock provides one unified space that holds your mutual action plan plus videos, decks, and other resources.
• Real-time communication: Assign contacts, create due dates, and mark risk levels all in-app—no separate docs or strings of emails.
• Streamlined feedback: Your client can comment directly on the workspace, cutting down on inbox clutter and missed messages.

2. Will it provide all the necessary sales context?

What to look for:

• ✅ The option to embed or attach critical resources (like demo recordings, sales decks, or meeting notes) so stakeholders have a clear view of the deal’s big picture.
• ✅ An intuitive user experience that helps late-joining decision-makers get up to speed quickly.

How Dock delivers:

• Context-rich workspaces: Dock lets you embed just about anything—videos, sales presentations, notes—keeping your content front and center for everyone.
• Onboarding latecomers: Anyone new to the deal can review historical context in a single place, with no need to hunt down old emails or scattered Google Docs.
• Value proposition at the forefront: By placing crucial information alongside the mutual action plan, you remind stakeholders why they’re investing in your solution at each milestone.

3. Does it offer a premium, buyer-friendly design?

What to look for:

• ✅ A polished, brand-consistent interface that elevates the buyer experience (and doesn’t look like a chaotic spreadsheet).
• ✅ The flexibility to customize layouts or templates to match your company’s look and feel.

How Dock delivers:

• Elegant dashboards: Dock presents your mutual action in a sleek, visually appealing unified workspace rather than a grid of Frankenstenian cells.
• Custom branding and templates: Tailor your workspace with your own logo, color palette, and embedded resources for a high-end, cohesive look.
• Premium client experience: Buyers see a clear, organized roadmap from the start, helping build trust that you’re a reliable partner.

4. Will it help you track results and gain insights?

What to look for:

• ✅ Integration with your CRM (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) so milestone progress automatically feeds into your pipeline.
• ✅ Robust analytics and reporting, letting you see where deals stall, who’s engaged, and how to improve future processes.
• ✅ Smart automation that streamlines your workflow and keeps the plan dynamic.

How Dock delivers:

• CRM integration: Dock effortlessly plugs into Salesforce and HubSpot, guaranteeing your forecasts are grounded in real-time progress data.
• Actionable analytics: Spot bottlenecks before they escalate, and keep tabs on how often stakeholders view key resources.
• Global task management: Filter and review all outstanding tasks across clients, helping reps keep track of everything in one view.
• Repeatable sales playbook: Use Dock’s templates—like our Mutual Action Plan template—to replicate winning approaches, letting you refine and scale your process.
• AI-powered MAP generation: Kickstart your plan by uploading meeting transcripts or notes—Dock’s AI crafts a tailored MAP, so you never start from scratch.
• API-driven automation: When key tasks are completed, Dock’s API can trigger follow-up actions automatically—like setting up free trials or sending notifications—making sure your process moves forward without manual intervention.

Other mutual action plan tools to consider

There are multiple standalone mutual action plan tools available:

• Aligned: Aligned’s mutual action plans are simpler and more prescriptive but don’t have the same depth of customization and project management capabilities Dock offers. Aligned sets straightforward goals and deadlines to make sure everyone stays on track, but it might not provide the flexibility to adapt to complex workflows.
• Recapped: Recapped is a client-facing deal room that focuses on simplifying the process into easy-to-follow steps. It’s designed to help teams track progress with clearly defined tasks and deadlines, but it lacks the robust integrations and customizability you get with Dock. If your deal requires more nuanced collaboration or deeper context, Recapped might feel a bit too basic.
• Accord: Accord’s mutual action plans help sales teams standardize deal processes with clear deadlines and task assignments, but its focus is more on internal workflows and sales enablement. Dock, on the other hand, offers more flexibility with customizable, buyer-centric action plans that keep all stakeholders in sync and empowered.

Many of these platforms focus primarily on the action plan, forcing you into a rigid, cumbersome one-size-fits-all process that can feel like more work than it’s worth. 

Dock nails all of the qualifying questions we’ve discussed above—combining advanced features like relative due dates, auto-assignment of tasks, internal-only items, and global task management into one clean, intuitive platform. 

💙 Customer Success Story: Nectar increased its win rates by 31% using Dock. Their Director of Sales, Andrew Hollis, noted that engagement with their Dock workspace was the best predictor of deal success—if a prospect viewed their Dock space 12+ times, there was a 97% chance of closing​.

How to generate a mutual action plan with AI

In three years of building Dock, we’ve learned that one of the hardest product problems to solve is a blank slate.

This is why we offer customizable workspaces to fit your unique business needs, and Dock AI—so you can generate a mutual action plan directly from a meeting transcript or document, without the guesswork.

Here’s how:

‍1. Select the Dock AI Widget

In the workspace editor, click on Add Section and select Dock AI from the options.

2. Choose “Project Plan” as your content type

‍Select Project Plan from the list of content types, so Dock AI knows exactly what to generate.

3. Pick a source

‍Decide where the mutual action plan content should come from. 

You can:

1. Copy and paste text from a meeting summary or notes.
2. Upload a prepared document that outlines initial the mutual action plan goals.
3. Select a recent Gong call recording, where Dock AI can extract insights and details to make a mutual action plan from scratch.

To help the AI, add specific instructions; for example, highlight certain uses or specify which success factors are most important. 

4. Generate the mutual action plan

Dock AI will produce suggested sections for your mutual action plan. You can then:

1. Refine individual sections with additional AI prompts.
2. Add sections one at a time to customize your workspace layout.
3. Use the Add All option to quickly drop everything into the workspace at once.

5. Edit and enhance in the workspace

‍Once added, the mutual action plan sections can be edited just like any other content. You can fine-tune the plan, add additional notes, or generate new sections as needed—making sure that the final plan is clear, compelling, and ready to share.

Create a winning mutual action plan with Dock

Between Asana, Google Sheets, Trello, and whatever new tool just launched this week, your buyers are one more login away from rage-quitting the buying process.

Enter Dock. 

Forget playing "Find That File" or "Guess Which Version Is Latest."

With Dock, you can:

• Generate custom mutual action plans with AI: Simply upload a meeting transcript or initial notes, and Dock’s AI turns it into a tailored mutual action plan. Relative due dates auto-populate based on your client's timeline, making sure every milestone is perfectly aligned.
• Visualize progress at every stage: Track your plan’s progress with clear timelines, easily readable dashboards, and shared checklists. Everyone sees real-time updates and risk statuses, so nothing falls through the cracks.
• Enjoy effortless CRM integration: Dock syncs with Salesforce, HubSpot, and other top CRMs so that every milestone feeds directly into your pipeline. Plus, with API triggers, you can even automate tasks—like setting up a free account—when certain actions are completed.
• Collaborate in a buyer-friendly workspace: Assign tasks, set relative due dates, and embed anything—all in one place. Buyers can check off tasks, leave comments, and even edit items if you allow it. 

Your buyers get the premium experience they deserve. You get the deal visibility you need. 

Try Dock’s mutual action plan template now, or sign up for Dock to get your first 5 workspaces for free!