Mutual Success Plans: Because guessing isn't a strategy

In enterprise sales, aligning with your customer’s buying journey isn’t just helpful, it’s essential for forecast accuracy.

One of the most powerful tools for maintaining this alignment and driving momentum is the mutual success plan (MSP), mutual action plan (MAP) or close plan. When embedded into a qualification framework like MEDDPICC, an MSP gives structure to the Decision process, builds trust, and helps ensure predictable mutual accountability.

In this blog, we’ll explore:

• What a mutual success plan is
• How it supports the MEDDPICC Decision process
• What makes a great MSP in practice
• Top questioning techniques to drive engagement
• When and how to introduce an MSP
• Common pitfalls to avoid
• Why MSPs improve forecast accuracy

You can download your own mutual success plan template here

What is a mutual success plan (MSP)?

A mutual success plan, or close plan, is a shared document - often a simple, collaborative reverse timeline - that outlines key milestones, responsibilities, and success criteria from both the buyer and seller. Unlike a rigid project plan, an MSP is a living document that evolves with the deal, ensuring both sides stay aligned throughout the sales cycle, ending in a successful sale and implementation.

It’s mutual, because it’s built with the customer - not for them. It reflects what they need to achieve and what you need to deliver in order to help them get there.

How does a mutual success plan support the MEDDPICC Decision process?

In MEDDPICC, Decision process and Paper process refer to the steps, approvals, and criteria the customer must navigate to purchase and implement your solution. A clear understanding of this process is critical to qualifying and forecasting accurately.

Here’s how an MSP supports this:

• Clarifies key decision milestones – specifies who needs to approve, what documentation is required, and by when.
• Builds a timeline for action – improving deal velocity and allowing early detection of delays.
• Uncovers risk – if a stakeholder can’t commit to a date or skips ownership of a task, it may signal misalignment.
• Creates mutual accountability – you're no longer “chasing” the buyer; you’re partnering on delivery.
• Drives forecast confidence – especially in late-stage deals, the plan anchors your forecast to real progress.

“Would it help if we mapped out the key milestones together?”

This simple question opens the door to collaboration and positions you as a trusted partner rather than a vendor.

What does an effective mutual success plan (close plan) look like?

A well-crafted MSP is structured but adaptable. It should be:

1. Customer-centric

Start with their goal. What problem are they solving? What does success look like for them?

2. Outcome-oriented

Use language like “Go-live,” “Board approval,” “Procurement sign-off,” or “Training completed.” Avoid internal seller jargon.

3. Milestone-based

Break the plan into stages with clear, achievable dates:

• Internal stakeholder meetings
• Technical validation
• Budget approval
• Security reviews
• Contract execution
• Launch timeline

4. Owned and reviewed

Agree who owns each milestone on both sides. Use regular check-ins to review progress. This isn’t a one-and-done document.

Top tips and questioning techniques

Great salespeople use the MSP as a conversational anchor throughout the sales cycle. Here are key questions to drive engagement and momentum:

“Are we still on track for [insert milestone]?”

Use this to check commitment and flush out silent blockers.

“What could stop this from happening on time?”

This encourages your Champion to think ahead and surface potential risks. It also builds trust by showing that you care about avoiding surprises.

“Who else needs to be involved before we get to this stage?”

This expands your view of the Decision process and helps uncover additional stakeholders, especially those linked to procurement or legal.

“What’s changed since we last reviewed the plan?”

This keeps the plan alive and relevant, especially in long enterprise cycles where priorities may shift. At the end of a sales cycle, you’ll be using this plan as the main agenda for your customer meetings to track change.

“Is this plan still aligned to your buying and governance processes?”

A subtle way to pressure-test the MSP and uncover changes to internal processes or political dynamics.

When and how to introduce a mutual success/close plan

Timing is everything. The best moment to draft a mutual success plan is at the time of the EB meeting, as the business case is being created. This ensures you identify gaps across approvals, finance, procurement, legal, and technical teams early, and start driving actions with both the Champion and the Economic buyer.

Here’s how to frame it:

“To make sure we’re fully aligned and avoid delays on either side, I suggest we put together a mutual success plan. It’ll outline the steps we need to complete to deliver on the business case and the desired business outcomes. Would that be helpful?”

This approach:

• Establishes you as a partner, not a seller
• Creates transparency in the buying process
• Prepares you for stakeholder reviews, especially when navigating to the Economic buyer.

Common pitfalls to avoid

Even experienced sellers can fall into traps when using MSPs. Watch out for:

• Seller-led timelines – if it only reflects your internal processes, it’s not mutual.
• Lack of stakeholder input – if the customer hasn’t contributed, it won’t drive accountability.
• No real dates – vague phrases like “early Q4” or “soon” lead to ambiguity.
• Infrequent updates – if you don’t revisit it, it becomes shelfware.
• Missing key departments – many deals stall because critical functions like IT, Procurement, Legal, Security, or Finance were not engaged early. A strong MSP includes checkpoints and milestones for each relevant department to avoid late-stage blockers.

Why MSPs improve sales forecast accuracy

The MSP isn’t just a planning tool... it’s a forecasting multiplier.

When deals stall or slip, it’s usually because a critical step in the Decision process was misunderstood or missed. By using the MSP to track and confirm milestones, you can:

• Identify early warning signs
• Adjust your close date with precision
• Flag risks for leadership before it’s too late
• Convert pipeline into revenue with greater predictability.

Summary of MSPs: All about business outcomes, not a tactic

Using mutual success plans/close plans should be a standard operating rhythm, not a situational trick. Reps should be trained to introduce, build, and update MSPs as part of every qualified deal. A great trick to embed this is for sales managers to ask for them in pipeline reviews. Champions should expect them.

This is about delivering business outcomes for everyone – not a sales jedi-mind-trick-tactic!

The best enterprise sellers don’t just track the Decision process. They co-author it.

This blog is one of our Decision process series. These blogs are accompanied by our newsletter, and a member-only live webinar.

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