Mutual Action Plans – The Secret Weapon for Helping Buyers

Imagine this: you’ve just agreed to take on the challenge of organising a wedding with your significant other. Exciting, right? Until you realise the colossal task ahead of you.

For those who haven’t experienced this whirlwind, it’s akin to a living nightmare. The level of planning required is both painstakingly meticulous and overwhelmingly detailed. Add 50 to 100 guests into the mix, and you soon discover that it’s akin to herding a swarm of wasps.

You’ve got to choose the perfect venue, hope it’s available on your chosen date, and then juggle the flowers, suits, dresses, music, food, dietary needs of guests, speeches, rings, travel, hotels – and the list keeps growing.

I once read that one of Monday.com’s most popular use case is helping couples plan their weddings. Now, you might be wondering, what does all this have to do with selling? The reality is, organising a wedding is actually simpler than modern businesses making purchasing decisions and navigating today’s complex buying processes.

To ensure your buyer successfully purchases a product or service, deploying a Mutual Action Plan (MAP) is essential. In this article, we will discuss its importance and the common mistakes sellers make when attempting to use one.

What is a Mutual Action Plan?

A Mutual Action Plan (MAP) in sales is your secret weapon for ensuring a smooth and successful process to close. It’s a collaborative document crafted by both the seller and the buyer that outlines every step, responsibility, and deadline needed to essentially help them buy. Here’s what makes a MAP indispensable:

1. Key Milestones and Deadlines: Picture this as your roadmap, marking out the critical stages from initial discussions to signing on the dotted line and beyond. Each milestone comes with a clear deadline to keep things on track.

2. Roles and Responsibilities: Think of this as your team roster. It specifies who’s in charge of what, both on the seller’s side and the buyer’s side, ensuring everyone knows their role and there’s no finger-pointing later.

3. Action Items: These are your play-by-play instructions. Every task, from sending documents to scheduling meetings and finalising agreements, is detailed here, leaving no room for confusion.

4. Dependencies and Contingencies: Consider this your backup plan. It highlights tasks that depend on others and outlines what to do if things don’t go as planned, keeping the process flexible and resilient.

5. Communication Plan: This sets the stage for regular updates, ensuring both parties are always in the loop and on the same page.

6. Goals and Objectives: This aligns both parties on the end game, making sure everyone is working towards the same victory.

By deploying a MAP, sellers can build trust with buyers, streamline the sales process, and significantly boost the chances of closing the deal successfully. It’s your guide to navigating the complex buying journey, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks and everyone stays aligned from start to finish.

Why Do Sellers Get It So Wrong?

The first challenge sellers face is the timing of the MAP. Often, this process is introduced too early in the buying journey. If the prospect hasn’t yet fully understood the problem you solve, the impact of that problem, or the value you provide, the MAP can be seen as just more admin work.

There are several indicators to look for before deploying a MAP. First, the buyer group must be aligned on the problem they are trying to solve. Then, you need to clearly articulate and gain agreement on the impact of leaving the problem unresolved. Next, you need confirmation that your product or service can indeed solve this problem. This might seem straightforward, but it’s often overlooked or assumed. Lastly, the MAP becomes truly powerful only when the buyer group or at least the champion confirms they are ready to proceed with the purchase. Ideally, you are the vendor of choice, but at the very least, you should be on the shortlist.

Getting these steps right ensures that the MAP is not just a bureaucratic exercise but a strategic tool that drives the buying process forward effectively.

Forgetting that it’s MUTUAL – the clue is in the title

A Mutual Action Plan is a collaboration tool, not something sellers fill out alone while crying into a glass of red wine of an evening. The heavy lifting must be shared. One common mistake organisations make is not detailing their tasks on the MAP. Including your tasks helps the buyer understand that you are also doing important activities in the background.

To successfully get a MAP up and running, you need the buyer’s commitment. They must see the value in using it, be willing to invest time and resources, and be held accountable for completing the tasks assigned to them. This collaborative effort ensures that the MAP is not just a document but a dynamic tool that drives the buying process forward.

Far too often, the salesperson ends up playing chess with themselves (and still losing) by doing it all on their own. This not only creates another annoying administrative burden but undermines the whole point of the MAP. The MAP is meant to be a shared roadmap, ensuring that both parties are engaged and working towards the same goal.

Positioning the tool

Ultimately, the true beneficiary of the MAP is the buyer. If we don’t make this clear, it will feel like just another task we’re doing to appease our bosses, leaving a very unpleasant taste in the buyer’s mouth.

First, we must explain that, in our experience, the MAP is designed to help them. We should empathise with how daunting and complicated the buying process can be and assure them that the MAP is meant to steady the waters. Think of it as a figurative lighthouse, guiding them to extract value and de-risk their buying decision. When they see the MAP as a tool for their benefit, it transforms the entire experience into a more collaborative and reassuring journey.

Tying the Knot with a MAP

In the same way that organising a wedding requires meticulous planning, shared responsibilities, and clear communication, so does navigating the modern sales process. A Mutual Action Plan (MAP) serves as the wedding planner for your sales journey, ensuring every detail is accounted for and everyone knows their role. By introducing the MAP at the right time, clearly outlining tasks for both parties, and emphasising its benefits for the buyer, you create a collaborative environment that guides the deal to a successful close. Just as a well-coordinated wedding leads to a joyous celebration, a well-executed MAP ensures a smooth, successful buying process where everyone feels like a valued participant in a meaningful partnership. So, let’s raise a glass to mutual success and a perfectly orchestrated sales journey!

If you’d like a free copy of a Mutual Action Plan click here