---
name: "quarterback-the-deal-team"
description: "Use when a deal needs its cross-functional team run: solutions engineers, customer success, legal, finance, and the buyer side, with a mutual close plan to signature."
triggers: ["deal team", "mutual close plan", "standup", "deal rescue", "paper process", "stalled deal", "close date"]
version: "1"
---
# 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.