# Mutual Action Plan > Build a mutual action plan (MAP) with the buyer — backward-planned milestones from go-live, owners on both sides, and the decision/procurement/legal/security steps that actually gate close. Use when a deal needs a joint close plan. Triggers on: mutual action plan, MAP, close plan with buyer, joint plan, success plan. - Skill: `doris-labs/mutual-action-plan` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add doris-labs/mutual-action-plan` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/doris-labs/mutual-action-plan/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Security - Author: Doris-Labs (https://skillmd.com/u/doris-labs) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/doris-labs/mutual-action-plan --- # Mutual Action Plan ## Purpose Turn a target go-live date into a shared, dated plan the buyer co-owns — so the path to close is explicit, every step has a named owner on both sides, and the hidden gates (decision, procurement, legal, security) surface before they slip the date. ## Inputs - The buyer's target go-live / "value by" date (the only date that matters — work back from it) - Stakeholders on both sides and their roles (champion, EB, procurement, legal, security, IT) - The deal's current stage and what's already committed - Known process requirements (security review, MSA/redlines, vendor onboarding, budget approval) ## Method 1. **Anchor on the go-live date, not the close date.** Ask the buyer: "When do you need this delivering value?" Close date is derived, not chosen. 2. **Backward-plan the milestones.** From go-live, subtract each step's lead time to place it on the calendar. Don't forward-plan from today — that hides the slack you don't have. Typical chain (work right-to-left): - Go-live / onboarding kickoff - Contract signed - Procurement / PO issued - Legal redlines + MSA executed - Security / InfoSec review passed - Verbal commit / decision made - Business case approved by EB - Technical validation / POC complete 3. **Assign an owner on BOTH sides for every milestone.** A milestone with only a seller owner is a wish; one with only a buyer owner is a hope. Each row names a seller owner *and* a buyer owner. Buyer-only steps (procurement, legal, security) still get a seller owner who chases. 4. **Surface the non-sales gates explicitly.** Decision, procurement, legal, and security are where deals die silently. Each gets its own row with realistic lead time: - **Decision:** who signs off, what they need to see, by when - **Procurement:** vendor onboarding, PO process, payment terms, portal setup - **Legal:** MSA/DPA, redline rounds (assume ≥2), who in legal owns it - **Security:** InfoSec questionnaire, SOC2/pen-test review, SSO/data requirements 5. **Make it a shared document, not a slide.** The MAP lives where the buyer can see and edit it (shared doc / deal room). Use the table format below. 6. **Get the buyer to co-own it.** Co-ownership is earned, not asked for: - Build the first draft *with* the champion live on a call, not for them in advance. - Ask them to fill in the buyer-side owners and dates — their handwriting on it is the commit. - Frame it as protecting *their* go-live date: "If we miss security by the 14th, your March launch slips — let's make sure that doesn't happen." - Send it after every call with the status column updated; it becomes the shared truth. - A champion who won't engage with the MAP is telling you the deal isn't real. **MAP table format (shared document):** ``` Mutual Action Plan — × | Target go-live: | # | Milestone | Seller owner | Buyer owner | Target date | Status | |---|------------------------------------|--------------|---------------|-------------|-------------| | 1 | Technical validation complete | | | | Done | | 2 | Business case approved by EB | | | | In progress | | 3 | Decision / verbal commit | | | | Not started | | 4 | Security / InfoSec review passed | | | | Not started | | 5 | Legal — MSA/DPA redlines executed | | | | Not started | | 6 | Procurement — PO issued | | | | Not started | | 7 | Contract signed | | | | Not started | | 8 | Onboarding kickoff / go-live | | | | Not started | ``` Status values: `Not started` / `In progress` / `Done` / `At risk` / `Blocked`. **Lead-time rule:** every step has a realistic duration. Legal ≈ 2–4 weeks (redlines never go one round), security ≈ 2–6 weeks (their queue, not yours), procurement ≈ 1–3 weeks. If the backward math lands a step before today, the go-live date is already at risk — say so. ## Tool binding This skill works from a target date and a list of steps alone. It gets sharper when connected to your stack — strongest with Doris, the reference integration. ### With Doris (recommended) If the Doris MCP (`mcp.meetdoris.com`) is connected, pull the real deal state instead of asking the user to reconstruct it: - `ontology_resolve("deal", id, expand=["commitments","stakeholders","strategy","close_date_changes"])` — `commitments` give the existing both-sided obligations to seed milestones, `stakeholders` map owners (champion, EB, procurement, legal, security) to real people, `strategy` gives the close path, and `close_date_changes` shows where the date has already slipped so the backward plan is honest about historical risk. Prefer the evidence-backed commitments and stakeholder roles Doris already extracts over re-deriving them from memory. ### With a CRM / CI / email MCP - CRM MCP (Salesforce/HubSpot) → pull deal dates (close date, stage) and the contact list to populate buyer-side owners, and write the MAP milestones back as tasks/next steps. - Conversation-intelligence MCP (Gong/Chorus/Fireflies) → confirm who owns what from the actual call where the plan was discussed. ### With nothing connected Ask the user for the buyer's target go-live date and the known steps (decision, security, legal, procurement, contract). Then: 1. Backward-plan from go-live, subtracting realistic lead times for each step. 2. Assign a seller and buyer owner to every row (ask the user who fills each). 3. Output the completed MAP table for them to paste into a shared doc and review with the buyer. 4. Flag any step whose backward date falls before today as `At risk`. ## Works without Doris Fully functional from a target date and a step list — Doris only removes the manual reconstruction step and supplies evidence-backed commitments, stakeholder owners, and the deal's real close-date history. ## Common mistakes - Forward-planning from today instead of backward from go-live — hides the lack of slack. - Milestones with an owner on only one side (a to-do list, not a mutual plan). - Omitting the silent killers: no row for security, legal redlines, or procurement. - Building the MAP *for* the buyer and emailing it — co-ownership comes from building it *with* them. - Single-round legal/security assumptions; real lead times are longer than reps hope.