Champion Identification & Development Checklist

Part 1 — The 12 Signals of a Real Champion

A "friendly" likes you. A champion has power, a personal stake, and takes action on your behalf when you're not in the room. Check each signal against your contact — 8+ checked is a real champion; below 5 is a friendly you still need to develop or replace.

1. Personal stake — they have something to personally gain (promotion, reduced workload, a KPI they own) if this deal closes
2. Internal credibility — others in the org listen to them; not the newest or most junior person in the room
3. Unprompted access — they've introduced you to someone else internally without being asked
4. Internal information sharing — they've told you something they didn't technically have to (budget range, competitor intel, internal politics)
5. Coaching you to win — they've proactively told you how to position against a competitor or navigate an internal blocker
6. Time investment — they've spent real time outside scheduled calls (prepping you before a meeting, reviewing a proposal draft)
7. Public advocacy — they've said something positive about you in a meeting where you weren't present (confirmed via a third party or their own recap)
8. Survives pushback — when someone raised an objection, they defended you rather than staying neutral
9. Answers hard questions — they'll tell you bad news, not just positive updates
10. Process fluency — they know and can explain their own org's buying process and decision-makers
11. Responsiveness under pressure — they respond promptly even when the deal isn't moving smoothly
12. Skin in the outcome — they've stated what happens to them personally if this doesn't get done

Scoring:

• 10-12 checked: Strong champion — arm them and protect the relationship
• 6-9 checked: Developing champion — targeted development needed (Part 2)
• 0-5 checked: Friendly contact only — do not forecast on this relationship; find or build a real champion in parallel

Part 2 — Development Plan by Stage

Stage 1: Identify (weeks 1-2)

• Map every contact against the 12 signals above
• Ask directly: "Who in the building would be personally affected if this problem got solved?"
• Ask: "Has anyone here tried to fix this before? What happened to them?"
• Identify who owns the metric your solution moves — they have the strongest personal stake

Stage 2: Test (weeks 2-4)

• Give a small, low-risk ask (share an org chart, introduce one more stakeholder, forward an email) — see if they follow through
• Ask a question only an insider could answer well and see how forthcoming they are
• Watch what happens when you raise a mildly difficult topic (pricing, timeline) — defensive on your behalf, or go quiet?

Stage 3: Develop (weeks 3-8, runs in parallel with the deal)

• Give them language and material to sell internally — a one-page summary written in their voice, not yours
• Make their personal win explicit and repeat it back to them
• Loop them in on strategy so they feel like a partner, not a lead
• Introduce them to a peer at a reference customer who fought a similar internal battle

Stage 4: Arm & Protect (proposal through close and handoff)

• Equip them with a business case built from THEIR numbers (see CLTV Calculator / discovery Implication answers)
• Prep them explicitly for internal meetings you won't be in
• Protect their political capital — never make them push back on their own economic buyer; that's your job
• Confirm they're still engaged post-signature — hand off warmly to CS with full context (see Sales-to-CS Handoff Checklist)

Red flags that a "champion" is actually a false positive

• They agree with everything and push back on nothing
• They can't get you access to the economic buyer after multiple asks
• They're new to the role or org (under 6 months) with no track record of internal influence
• All communication is reactive, never proactive
• They've said "I like it but I don't know if I can get this through" more than once with no plan to address why