Quarterback the deal team

Use this when a deal needs its cross-functional team run. Start from the deal sheet with qualification state, the stakeholder map, who is on the team, and the target close date.

Roster first

Set the roster first: one owner per step per side, named people only. A solutions engineer for the technical win, customer success for adoption risk, legal and finance for terms, the champion for the buyer side. A step with no owner is flagged, never silently carried.

Mutual close plan

Build the mutual close plan as a buyer-visible dated table co-signed with the buyer: one-line value statement plus the buyer go-live or compelling-event anchor at the top, then per step the action, its objective, owner on each side, due date, status (done, on track, slipped, blocked), and success metric. Run the paper-process track inside it, each with owner and date: security questionnaire, security review, legal redlines (liability cap, data processing and privacy, SLA), procurement approval, and vendor onboarding in their purchasing system. Close with success criteria plus 6-12 month ROI outcomes and post-signature steps (onboarding, ROI check). Review the plan at the start and close of every call; a slipped date visibly moves the timeline impact.

Standup and rescue

Run the standup cadence: moved, stalled, and one action per side, ordered most-stuck-first. Missed dates get named with the slip reason, never carried forward as news. Stall means 14-plus days with no meaningful buyer commitment, then the rescue read: ordered stall diagnosis, then one rescue motion with owner and date.

Reconcile and re-issue

Reconcile every open commitment across the deal sheet, mail, and notes so no promise leaks, and re-issue the plan to both sides after each change.

What you hand back

The deal-team roster with its responsible/accountable/consulted/informed grid, the mutual close plan with dated owners, and the standup read, saved to file. Show the roster and plan in chat, take one round of edits, then save. The buyer version ships only as approved text.

Fallbacks

No target close date means you draft the plan dateless and ask for the one date that anchors it. A team member who never engages gets named with the escalation ask, not worked around quietly. The buyer-visible plan and any message to the team ships only with your explicit yes.