How to Identify the Right Person to Build as your Champion.
You are in early discovery on a deal and need to work out who inside the account is worth investing in as a champion - before you have spent weeks on the wrong person.
Not every friendly contact can carry a deal internally. Some people like you, engage well, and have no real influence. Others have influence but no personal stake in the outcome. A champion needs both. Picking the wrong person early means you build a relationship that feels productive but does not move the deal. Picking the right one means someone inside is working the deal alongside you.
Where it goes wrong
You spend two months building rapport with a director who loves your product. When it goes to the VP for approval, the director has no relationship there and no credibility on budget decisions. The deal gets deprioritised and your contact cannot do anything about it.
What you'll be able to do
You can assess a potential champion against a short set of practical criteria during discovery and make a deliberate choice about who to invest in - rather than defaulting to whoever responds fastest.
How to do it
Look for someone who owns a KPI your solution
Look for someone who owns a KPI your solution moves directly. If they are measured on the outcome you improve, they have a personal reason to push for it. Friendly contacts without skin in the game rarely spend political capital.
Watch for behavioural signals in early conversations
Watch for behavioural signals in early conversations: do they share internal context you did not ask for? Do they mention the politics or risks around a decision? Do they offer to connect you with others? These are signs of someone who is already thinking like a champion.
Check their history
Check their history. On LinkedIn, look for people who have led or sponsored tool rollouts, process changes, or cross-functional projects. Someone who has championed change before is more likely to do it again.
Test them with a small ask early
Test them with a small ask early. 'Could you pull together the last exec summary where this problem came up, so we can make sure we are using your internal language?' A real champion will try. Someone who is just friendly will find a reason not to.
See the difference
AE defaults to the person who booked the first meeting and responds to every email within the hour. That person is an analyst with no budget influence and no relationship with the VP who will make the call. Three months later, the AE still has not met anyone who can actually approve the deal.
AE notices in discovery that the Head of Operations keeps referencing a KPI she owns - order processing time - and mentions twice that her bonus is tied to it. She also volunteers that the CFO is skeptical of new software spend and explains how decisions like this usually get made. The AE asks her directly if she would be willing to help shape the business case and bring in finance. She agrees and sets up the meeting within a week.
You can assess a potential champion against a short set of practical criteria during discovery and make a deliberate choice about who to invest in - rather than
How you'll know it's working
You have got it when you can name your champion, explain what they personally gain if the deal succeeds, and point to at least one thing they have already done to move it forward.
Questions people ask
How do you identify the right person to build as your champion?
Not every friendly contact can carry a deal internally. Some people like you, engage well, and have no real influence. You can assess a potential champion against a short set of practical criteria during discovery and make a deliberate choice about who to invest in - rather than defaulting to whoev
What is the most common mistake to avoid?
You spend two months building rapport with a director who loves your product. When it goes to the VP for approval, the director has no relationship there and no credibility on budget decisions.
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