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