Champion
Why it matters
A deal that stalls after a strong first call often has no champion. Without one, the buying decision depends on a salesperson's email being read and passed on by someone with no reason to push it. A champion also gains from success, since a good purchase reflects well on them, which gives them a motive of their own.
How to apply it
- Test a suspected champion with a concrete request, such as an introduction to the economic buyer. A real champion arranges it. A coach hesitates or offers to forward materials instead.
- Look for the champion early, not after the deal stalls.
- Equip them to win the internal argument: a short one-pager, clear numbers and answers to likely objections.
- Learn what success means for them personally and keep it in view.
- Build more than one relationship, so the deal does not depend on a single person who might change jobs.
What it is
A champion is an internal seller. Large purchases are decided in conversations the vendor never hears, so someone inside the account has to make the case when the salesperson is absent. The MEDDIC method lists the champion as one of its core elements. A true champion has three traits: they feel the pain the product solves, they have influence with the people who decide, and they are willing to act.
Many contacts look like champions and are not. A fan enjoys the demo and agrees with everything. A coach shares useful information about the company. A champion goes further and uses their own credibility to move the deal.
Common mistakes
- Treating a friendly contact as a champion because they reply quickly.
- Relying on one champion for the whole deal.
- Assuming the champion can sign. Champions influence the decision, and the economic buyer makes it.
