close-plan-generator

name	close-plan-generator
title	Close Plan Generator
description	Generates comprehensive close plans for Epiphan Video deals. Maps stakeholders to MEDDIC roles, identifies decision processes, assesses competitive position, and creates actionable next-best-actions with a close confidence score (0-100). Outputs ASCII report + optional mutual action plan for prospect outreach.
version	1
author	Epiphan Sales Engineering
trigger_phrases	["close plan [company]","build close plan","how do I close [company]","close strategy","deal close checklist","what's blocking [company]","close plan for","closing plan"]

Help Epiphan AEs (Phil Sandler, Lex Evans) move deals to close by generating data-driven close plans that surface stakeholder dynamics, decision blocks, competitive threats, and specific this-week actions. Combines MEDDIC qualification, HubSpot deal data, Clari call intelligence, and activity momentum to assign a deal confidence score and mutual action plan.

<quick_start>

1. Say: "close plan for [Company Name]" or "build close plan [Deal Name]"
2. Skill pulls deal stage, contacts, call history, and company context (parallel calls)
3. Outputs: Close plan report + optional Gmail draft of mutual action plan
4. Share report with BDR Tim Kipper and/or SE for final review before execution </quick_start>

<success_criteria> ✓ Stakeholder map is complete (all contacts identified with MEDDIC roles + ATL/BTL) ✓ Close confidence score explains top 3 drivers (MEDDIC, momentum, competitive) ✓ This-week actions are specific (owner, prospect contact, deliverable, deadline) ✓ Risk register flags actual blockers (budget, legal, procurement, incumbent) ✓ Mutual action plan is ready to email or share in meeting ✓ Timeline aligns with target close date (reverse-engineered milestones) </success_criteria>

<core_content>

Workflow

Stage 1: Deal Discovery & Data Collection

On trigger, gather parallel data:

• HubSpot Deal: hubspot_search_deals / hubspot_get_deal (stage, amount, close date, collaborators, notes, last activity)
• Contacts: hubspot_search_contacts on deal company, extract all contacts with:
  • Name, title, email, phone, engagement level
• Clari Calls: clari_search_calls (rep_email) + clari_get_call_summary (pull 3-5 most recent calls with sentiment, objections, next steps)
• Activity Timeline: ask_agent question for deal momentum (last 30 days: calls, emails, meetings, sentiment trend)
• Company Context: apollo_organizations_enrich (industry, headcount, location, tech stack)

Parallel calls accelerate stage 1 from 2-3 min to <1 min.

---

Stage 2: MEDDIC Role Mapping & Stakeholder Analysis

For each contact, assign:

MEDDIC Roles (may overlap):

• Economic Buyer (EB): Budget authority, final approval
• Champion: Internal advocate, pushes deal forward
• User: Day-to-day operator, influenced by tool
• Coach: Insider ally, provides intel, unblocks internal process
• Blocker: Opposes or delays (incumbent vendor advocate, budget gatekeeper, skeptic)

ATL/BTL Classification:

• ATL (Above-The-Line): Visible, stakeholder map known to all
• BTL (Below-The-Line): Hidden, only coach/champion know, key for consensus

Engagement Scoring (0-10):

• 10 = Champion, multiple recent calls, driving momentum
• 8-9 = Engaged User, attended demo, asking questions
• 5-7 = Aware but passive (email only, single call)
• 1-4 = Blocker or unaware

Output: Stakeholder table with role, ATL/BTL, engagement, risk.

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Stage 3: Decision Process Map

Document procurement/approval flow:

• Who signs PO? (EB name, title, typical SLA)
• Legal review required? (If yes, who, timeline, typical objections)
• Budget cycle alignment? (FY-to-date spend, remaining budget, next approval cycle)
• Vendor evaluation? (RFP process, incumbent incumbent, incumbent defense playbook)
• Competing alternatives? (Extron, Blackmagic, Crestron, vMix, Teradek—note which)

Source from: Clari call summaries, HubSpot deal notes, coach intel via activity timeline.

Output: Decision process flowchart (text-based, ASCII).

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Stage 4: Competitive Landscape & Displacement Strategy

Incumbent/Alternative Assessment:

• Who is they comparing against? (Incumbent or alternatives?)
• Incumbent advantage: What are they protecting?
• Displacement angle: Why Epiphan Pearl + Epiphan Connect?
• Battlecard: Key differentiators (price, ease of use, cloud integration, customer support)

Epiphan Competitive Advantages (by vertical):

• Higher Ed: NDI + Kaltura/Panopto integration, multi-campus cloud
• Courts/Legal: SRT reliability, secure RTMP/S, compliance-ready
• Live Events: Pearl Nano portability, EC20 PTZ flexibility, low latency
• Corporate AV: Pearl Mini simplicity, Epiphan Connect for hybrid work
• Houses of Worship: Affordable Pearl Nano, YouTube Live + Vimeo streaming

Output: 1-2 sentence competitive summary + battlecard reference.

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Stage 5: Close Timeline (Reverse-Engineered)

Given target close date, work backward:

• Close Date (T): When signature needed?
• T-5 days: Legal sign-off complete
• T-10 days: PO approved by EB + budget confirmed
• T-15 days: Final demo + SOW signed
• T-20 days: RFP response complete (if applicable)
• T-25 days: Procurement kick-off, champion secures budget

Map to: Clari call sentiments, activity momentum, deal stage velocity (from ask_agent).

Output: Milestone calendar (text-based).

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Stage 6: Risk Register (Top 3)

For each risk:

• Risk: What could derail close?
• Probability: Low/Med/High
• Impact: Deal slip 30/60/90 days or lost entirely?
• Mitigation: Specific action (who, when, deliverable)

Common risks:

• Budget freeze / competing priority (mitigate: champion confirms budget with EB)
• Incumbent won RFP round (mitigate: battlecard demo vs. incumbent, customer reference call)
• Legal review delays (mitigate: pre-circulate SOW to counsel, coach escalates)
• EB disengaged (mitigate: AE calls EB directly, demo with EB + Champion together)

Output: Risk table (risk, probability, impact, owner, action, deadline).

---

Stage 7: Next-Best-Action (This Week)

Specific, time-bound actions for THIS WEEK:

For each action:

• Action: What to do (e.g., "Send competitive battlecard + customer reference to Champion")
• Owner: AE, BDR, or SE?
• Prospect Contact: Whom to reach (name, title, email)
• Deliverable: What to send/share (deck, reference, SOW, demo time)
• Deadline: Day of week (e.g., "Tuesday EOD")
• Success Metric: How to know it worked (reply received, meeting scheduled, objection surfaced)

Derive from:

• Clari call objections (unaddressed concerns → action items)
• Stakeholder engagement gaps (EB disengaged → schedule EB call)
• Decision process blockers (legal review pending → pre-circulate SOW)
• Competitive threats (incumbent advantage → battlecard demo)

Output: Numbered action list (format: "1. [Action] | Owner: [AE/BDR/SE] | Contact: [Name] | Deadline: [Day]")

---

Stage 8: Mutual Action Plan (Prospect Share)

Format as a shared document (can email or share in meeting):

MUTUAL ACTION PLAN: [Company] - [Product/Solution]
Date: [Today]
Close Target: [Date]

EPIPHAN COMMITMENTS:
1. [Specific deliverable] by [date] from [person]
2. [Second deliverable] by [date] from [person]
(etc.)

[PROSPECT COMPANY] COMMITMENTS:
1. [Budget confirmation] by [date] from [decision maker]
2. [Legal review / RFP response] by [date] from [approver]
(etc.)

OPEN ITEMS / RISKS:
- [Risk or open question]
- [Incumbent concern or budget question]

NEXT MEETING: [Date/Time/Format] with [stakeholders]

Output as Gmail draft (optional) or copy-paste ready.

---

Stage 9: Close Confidence Score (0-100)

Weighted scoring framework:

MEDDIC Completeness (25 pts):

• EB identified + engaged (8 pts)
• Champion identified + pushing (8 pts)
• Users identified (4 pts)
• Coach confirmed (3 pts)
• No major Blockers surfaced (2 pts)

Stakeholder Breadth + EB Engagement (20 pts):

• 4+ contacts identified (5 pts)
• 2+ recent calls/meetings (5 pts)
• EB attended demo or call (5 pts)
• EB sent email or question last 7 days (5 pts)

Activity Momentum (15 pts):

• 3+ activities last 14 days (5 pts)
• Upward sentiment trend in Clari (5 pts)
• Deal stage velocity on track (5 pts)

Competitive Position (15 pts):

• No incumbent advantage identified (5 pts)
• Clear Epiphan differentiator vs. alternatives (5 pts)
• Battlecard executed with Champion (5 pts)

Timeline Integrity (15 pts):

• Target close date reasonable (5 pts)
• Milestone dates achievable based on velocity (5 pts)
• Budget approval likely by target close (5 pts)

Champion Strength (10 pts):

• Champion actively pushing (engagement 9-10) (5 pts)
• Champion has EB ear (5 pts)

Score Interpretation:

• 80-100: High confidence, proceed with close
• 60-79: Moderate, address top 2 gaps
• 40-59: Cautious, needs work on MEDDIC/momentum
• <40: At risk, reassess or reset close date

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Output Format

Full ASCII Close Plan Report template and email-ready Mutual Action Plan format: see reference/output-format.md.

---

Dependencies

HubSpot CRM Integration (Portal 21530819):

• hubspot_search_deals — find deal by name or company
• hubspot_get_deal — fetch deal details (amount, stage, close date, notes)
• hubspot_search_contacts — find all contacts at prospect company
• hubspot_get_contact — contact details (title, email, phone, engagement)

Clari Call Intelligence:

• clari_search_calls — find calls by rep email or attendee
• clari_get_call_summary — sentiment, objections, action items (30-60 sec per call)

Epiphan CRM AI Agent:

• ask_agent — activity timeline (calls, emails, notes, meetings, sentiment trend last 30d)

Apollo Database:

• apollo_organizations_enrich — company context (headcount, industry, location, tech stack)

Gmail (Optional):

• Create draft mutual action plan for prospect outreach

Google Calendar (Optional):

• Check AE/prospect availability for next meeting booking

---

Integration with Other Skills

Cross-References:

1. deal-momentum-analyzer:

   • Close Plan Generator references momentum score for "Activity Momentum" stage
   • Use deal-momentum-analyzer output to populate Stage 1 deal health

2. meddic-call-prep-auto:

   • Pulls MEDDIC roles + call questions from prior prep
   • Close Plan extends MEDDIC qualification to full stakeholder map + decision process

3. ae-handoff-brief:

   • Close Plan builds on AE handoff context (discovery, champion, use case, budget)
   • BDR Tim Kipper uses ae-handoff-brief to qualify; AE uses close-plan-generator to close

4. epiphan-ai-mcp-guide:

   • Product context (Pearl-2, Pearl Mini, Pearl Nano, Pearl Nexus, EC20, Epiphan Connect)
   • CMS integrations (Kaltura, Panopto, YuJa, Echo360, Opencast)
   • Protocols (RTMP/S, SRT, HLS, NDI, RTSP)
   • Competitor profiles (Extron, Blackmagic, Crestron, vMix, Teradek)

---

Usage Examples

Three worked examples (Enterprise Higher Ed, Corporate AV, Courts/Legal competitive displacement) with full inputs and outputs: see reference/usage-examples.md.

---

Tips & Best Practices

Seven best practices for Phil Sandler & Lex Evans (run cadence, stakeholder mapping, Clari objections as actions, score interpretation, mutual action plan usage, BDR coordination, reference calls): see reference/tips-best-practices.md.

---

Troubleshooting & FAQs

Eight common questions (missing EB, low confidence score, sparse Clari data, mutual action plan timing, incumbent price matching, renewals/expansions, when to run): see reference/troubleshooting-faq.md.

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Key Definitions

MEDDIC Roles:

• Economic Buyer: Controls budget, final signature authority
• Champion: Internal advocate, pushes deal forward, coaches you on process
• User: Day-to-day operator, influenced by product experience
• Coach: Insider ally, provides intel on decision process, unblocks obstacles
• Blocker: Opposes deal (incumbent advocate, risk-averse, budget gatekeeper)

ATL (Above-The-Line): Stakeholder visible to entire team, known to all BTL (Below-The-Line): Stakeholder known only to Champion/Coach, key for consensus-building

Close Confidence: 0-100 weighted score across MEDDIC completeness, stakeholder engagement, momentum, competitive position, timeline, champion strength

This-Week Actions: Specific, time-bound, deliverable-driven actions (not vague tasks) to move deal forward in the next 5 days

Mutual Action Plan: Shared document with Epiphan and prospect commitments, used in meetings and follow-up emails to create accountability

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Version History

• v1.0 (April 2026): Initial release for Epiphan AEs (Phil Sandler, Lex Evans)
  • 9-stage workflow: discovery, MEDDIC mapping, decision process, competitive analysis, timeline, risk register, this-week actions, mutual action plan, confidence scoring
  • ASCII report output + Gmail draft capability
  • Integration with deal-momentum-analyzer, meddic-call-prep-auto, ae-handoff-brief, epiphan-ai-mcp-guide
  • Example workflows for Higher Ed, Corporate AV, and Courts/Legal verticals

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Support & Feedback

For questions or improvements:

• Slack: Reach out to Sales Engineering
• Bug reports: Note skill output, deal stage, which stage failed
• Feature requests: "Add X vertical battlecard" or "Add SE collaboration workflow"

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License & Attribution

Internal Epiphan Sales tool. For authorized AE use only. Built on: HubSpot CRM, Clari Intelligence, Apollo Database, Gmail, Google Calendar

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END OF SKILL.MD

</core_content>