How do you qualify a champion, and if they are deemed unqualified, how do you enable introductions to others in the organisation?

Effective champions are crucial to securing a deal, especially when there isn't a direct path to an executive sponsor.

However, if your champion is too junior or lacks the necessary influence, it becomes imperative to elevate the conversation quickly. To make meaningful progress, you need to amplify the perceived urgency around the pain points and advocate for expanding the evaluation committee as soon as possible.

An unqualified champion can still be valuable if they can help secure introductions or arrange additional meetings with other stakeholders. Your objective is to empower your champion to be effective even when you are not present. This requires a deep understanding of how the executive team views their own strategic initiatives, particularly identifying any key initiatives that align with your solution. Positioning your offering as directly relevant to the company’s strategic goals can make your champion a more effective advocate within their organization.

To achieve this, begin by uncovering the language, priorities, and key initiatives that resonate at the senior levels of the business. During your discovery phase, encourage your champion to orient you on the strategic imperatives that matter most to the executive team. Use this insight to craft customized value assets and pain-focused narratives that speak to broader organizational goals. Equip your champion with these tailored materials to help them socialize your solution effectively.

The goal is to position your solution as an answer to the company’s most pressing challenges, ensuring that your champion can articulate its value in a way that resonates with senior decision-makers. By guiding your champion to align your solution with key strategic initiatives, you turn them into a conduit for executive-level engagement, significantly increasing your chances of success.

Here are some of my tips on how to qualify an internal customer champion

A true champion should have:

1. Influence – Can they drive internal conversations and decisions?

2. Access – Do they have direct connections to decision-makers?

3. Advocacy – Are they invested in your solution and willing to push for it when you are not in the room?

4. Knowledge – Do they understand the business problem and see your solution as the answer?

To validate potential champions, ask questions like:

• “Who else needs to be involved in this decision?”

• “How have similar decisions been made in the past?”

• “What challenges could come up internally, and how can we address them together?”

If They’re Not a Strong Champion

• Ask for Introductions – Position it as bringing in the right expertise:

• “To make sure this aligns with your company’s goals, who else should we loop in?”

• Grow the army – Offer resources that help them build internal buy-in.

• Leverage Leadership – If you have a senior contact, use them to request an intro from the top down.

If they resist, they may not be fully bought in—keep testing their commitment before investing too much.