B2B sales aren’t getting any easier. Long buying cycles, decision-making by committee, and shifting priorities make closing deals feel like an uphill battle. That’s why Mutual Action Plans (MAPs) exist—to create alignment between buyers and sellers, keeping everyone on track toward a shared goal.

The warning signs: is your MAP failing?

A MAP is only effective if both parties actively use it. If you’re constantly chasing your prospect for updates, or worse—if they’re not even looking at the plan—you’ve got a problem.

Here are the most common signs your MAP isn’t working:

🚨 Missed deadlines and slipping timelines – If your MAP has clear milestones but they keep getting pushed back, it’s a sign your buyer doesn’t see it as a priority.

🚨 Minimal buyer engagement – If you’re the only one updating the plan, and your buyer isn’t proactively using it, then it’s not a mutual plan—it’s just another sales document.

🚨 Poor stakeholder involvement – If your main contact is engaged but the rest of their team isn’t, the deal is at risk. Without buy-in from all decision-makers, deals stall or fall apart completely.

🚨 Scattered communication – If your updates are spread across emails, Slack messages, and endless follow-ups, then your MAP isn’t functioning as the single source of truth it should be.

🚨 Lack of accountability – When tasks don’t have clear owners from both the buyer and seller side, it’s easy for things to get deprioritised. Without joint ownership, critical steps get overlooked.

If any of these sound familiar, you’re not alone. Most sales teams struggle with MAPs because they’re built for the seller’s process rather than the buyer’s needs.

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Why it could be falling short

1. It’s all about you (Not the buyer)

The biggest mistake sales teams make is using MAPs as sales tools rather than buyer tools. Instead of focusing on helping the buyer achieve their goals, many MAPs read like a step-by-step guide for closing the deal. If the buyer doesn’t see value beyond signing the contract, they won’t engage.

2. You introduced it too late

Timing is everything. Introduce a MAP too early, and the buyer may not be ready to commit to specific steps. Introduce it too late, and it feels like an unnecessary admin task. The best time to introduce a MAP? As soon as a buyer is committed to moving forward, but before the deal becomes complex.

3. It’s a static document

Many MAPs live in spreadsheets or email attachments—which means they get lost, ignored, or outdated fast. A MAP should be a living document, evolving as the deal progresses. If updating it feels like a chore, or if it’s buried in an inbox, it’s not serving its purpose.

4. There’s no clear ownership

A MAP is only as strong as the people driving it forward. If every task is vague (e.g., "Buyer to review contract"), or if responsibilities are assigned to entire teams instead of individuals, then accountability disappears. Every step needs a named owner on both the buyer and seller side.

5. It’s missing a clear "Why"

Buyers are busy. If they don’t see the direct business impact of following the MAP, they’ll deprioritise it. Instead of framing it as a sales process, it should be positioned as a success roadmap—helping them reach their goals faster.

How to fix your MAP

Before rolling out a MAP, involve multiple stakeholders from the buyer’s team. This ensures it’s not just the champion driving things forward but the actual decision-makers and influencers within the company.

Assign joint ownership

Every deliverable in the MAP should have a clearly named owner—on both sides. Instead of "Legal to review contract," it should say, "Sarah (Buyer’s Legal) and Tom (Sales Rep) to finalise contract by [date]." This makes it clear who’s responsible and reduces delays.

Tie the plan to business impact

Instead of framing tasks around closing the deal, connect them to the buyer’s strategic goals. For example, instead of "Schedule product training," phrase it as "Enable [buyer’s team] to achieve [specific goal] faster with product training by [date]."

Ditch spreadsheets – Use the right tools

If your MAP lives in an Excel file or email attachment, you’re making life harder than it needs to be. Instead, use a dynamic, shared workspace that keeps everything in one place, provides real-time updates, and makes collaboration easy.

That’s exactly where trumpet comes in.

How trumpet transforms MAPs into sales weapons

Trumpet Pods take Mutual Action Plans to the next level by making them interactive, dynamic, and fully collaborative.

🔹 One central hub – No more lost emails or outdated spreadsheets. Everything—milestones, owners, deadlines, and documents—lives in a single shared space.

🔹 Real-time engagement insights – Know exactly who’s engaging (and who’s not) so you can keep deals moving.

🔹 Easy collaboration – Buyers and sellers can update progress, assign tasks, and track milestones together. No more guessing who’s responsible for what.

🔹 Keeps deals moving faster – With clear accountability and visibility, trumpet helps sales teams shorten deal cycles and improve close rates.

If your MAP is stuck in an email thread or spreadsheet, it’s time for an upgrade.

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Final thoughts: The future of MAPs

When done right, it keeps deals on track, aligns stakeholders, and turns complex B2B sales into a structured, predictable process.

Sales teams that embrace interactive, buyer-friendly MAPs—like those built in trumpet—will see shorter sales cycles, higher engagement, and more deals closed.

It’s time to upgrade.

Try trumpet and build MAPs that actually work.